Here’s the thing about making Sourdough: people are not kidding when they say it’s complex.
There’s so much to learn. I was regularly making loaves for over a year before I truly grasped how and why certain things were and weren’t happening. It was definitely an example of practice makes perfect – or, I should say, practice makes better.
Don’t worry, though; I’ve got you covered with a TON of tips, tricks, and a complete step-by-step guide factoring in all the variables possible, so you can NAIL the perfect Sourdough Loaf!
Tips for Mastering Sourdough Bread
- The best advice I can give you is to learn how it should look and feel; don’t just go blindly by timing.
- A process that may work for one person – or even one loaf (like an hour between coil folds, 3 folds every time, and 6 hours total bulk fermentation) won’t necessarily be how your loaves work. Sometimes it might need fewer folds, sometimes more; some doughs need longer between folds, some need half an hour between each fold; some need 4 hours bulk, and some need 8 hours bulk.
- It’s all about the conditions at the time in your kitchen, and how strong your starter was at the time of adding to your dough.
The Baking Vessel for Sourdough Bread
I can’t overstate how much I love my Challenger Pan, personally, but it is a bigger investment. I started with a fairly inexpensive Dutch oven that I purchased from Target, and that worked great. Cast iron pans with deep lids will work perfectly, too.
Keep in mind that the shape of the baking vessel matters; if you’re using a Dutch oven, your loaf will need to be round (and your banneton will also need to be round, and your shaping technique will differ slightly from what I describe below). I wanted oblong loaves, so I switched to an oblong banneton when I bought my Challenger pan.
Scoring Sourdough Bread
Scoring is probably the most fun part of the whole process, but it can be quite daunting. While you’re still getting the hang of it, I recommend using a bread lame or very sharp knife, and just slicing down the middle (or off-center). Of course, the patterns are really fun, but it can be tricky when you’re not confident.
Until you’re comfortable with scoring, chose a point about 2/3 to 3/4 from one side, and confidently but quickly slice top to bottom.
Once you’re more comfortable, before the large score, cut smaller slices at alternating 45° angles to the left, for a pretty wheat pattern. Keep in mind, scored patterns will look nicer if you very gently flour the loaf first, so the pattern shows up better after baking.
Don’t skip scoring! Whatever you do, don’t skip scoring. Breads expand as they bake, so they need a good spot to create space, so we provide one for them. If you skip this, the bread will blow out at any random spot, which looks awful.
Loaf Flavor Variations
There are countless ways to flavor your Sourdough bread, from different flours, to seeds, cheeses, even fruit and vegetables. The trick is to learn to master a basic version like this, before experimenting further. Start with less than you think, and work your way up. Just keep in mind that dry mix-ins work better; wet or oil mix-ins tend to create gummy pockets that are unpleasant to eat.
Some of my favorite flavor variances (added during lamination):
- 100 grams of shredded smoked cheddar, intense Gruyere, or earthy blue cheese
- 200 grams of cooked, cooled, mashed purple sweet potato, regular sweet potato, or squash (pushed through cheesecloth first, if wet)
- Cloves of roasted, cooled garlic (or black garlic!)
- Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or ‘everything bagel’ mix
- Toasted, cooled, and roughly chopped walnuts or pecans + dried cranberries or cherries
- Anything else your heart desires!
Learn More About Sourdough
Read a lot. Watch YouTube videos made by real experts who have passion for the craft. Listen to their advice, and try it out for yourself – but please, don’t expect perfect results the first time, and don’t expect your loaves to look like the loaves you see on Instagram. The big open holes, the huge oven spring, the gorgeous ear, and perfect scoring don’t just happen automatically; it takes time, practice, and getting to know both your starter, and your dough!
Don’t underestimate the power of your starter! Be sure to feed your starter frequently and consistently until it’s strong, healthy, and its rise and fall are predictable. Get to know its habits well before embarking on your own sourdough journey.
More Recipes You’ll Enjoy:
Sourdough Bread
Ingredients
- 400 grams bread flour, I like King Arthur Bread Flour
- 275 grams water, about 75°F / 24°C
- 80 grams active, bubbly sourdough starter
- 9 grams fine sea salt
Instructions
Autolyse:
- In a large bowl, mix the bread flour and 265 grams of the water together. You can use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, but I typically just mix by hand.
- Cover and leave it for at least half an hour, and up to three hours. This is essentially a rest period, during which, the water hydrates the flour, and gluten bonds begin to develop, giving your bread sort of a kick-start of elasticity, which allows it to expand more easily. This helps so much later on in the process; it helps make shaping easier, allows the dough to increase in volume as it rises, and aids in creating a better, more even crumb structure once baked.
Bulk Fermentation:
- Add the active starter. Mix thoroughly (again, I just use my hands – about 5 minutes of hand kneading is usually enough to combine everything well).
- The moment your starter hits that water/flour mixture, your dough enters the bulk fermentation period! Cover and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
- At this point, take the temperature of your dough. If it's too warm (above 80°F / 27°C), the next step will require slightly cooler water – around 60°F / 16°C, to try to bring the temperature down a little, so it doesn't rise too fast and overproof. If the dough is too cool (under 74°F / 23°C), warm the remaining water up a little in the microwave before adding (nothing above 80°F / 27°C).
- Your goal is to keep your dough around 74°F / 23°C throughout the process. If your kitchen is cold, keep your dough in the oven with the light turned on (DO NOT turn the oven on!), to keep the dough at a slightly warmer temperature. If your kitchen is too warm, keep it as cool as possible (without refrigeration) and watch your dough very closely, to avoid over-proofing.
Add the Salt:
- Add the remaining 10 grams of water, and 9 grams of salt, to your dough. Mix thoroughly. This takes me about 5-10 minutes and definitely requires some elbow grease if doing it by hand, as the added water will cause the dough to separate slightly. Continue to mix and knead, scrunching the dough back together with your hands, until everything seems evenly incorporated and cohesive again. The dough will be a little sticky – that's okay, it's meant to be. Cover and allow to rest for an hour.
Bulk Fermentation:
- Okay, let's talk about bulk fermentation. This part can be long (8 – 9 hours) if your kitchen is cold, and short (3 – 4 hours) if your kitchen is hot. Keep a close watch on your dough's temperature and its growth. Watch your dough carefully, set timers for every 30 minutes or so, and just check on the dough. During the bulk process, I will sometimes need only one fold to help build my dough's structure; sometimes I will need 5. Sometimes they are needed 30 minutes apart; sometimes 90 minutes apart. It's all about watching for the dough's reaction to its environment, and reacting as needed.
- How to know when to perform a fold: If the dough has slackened completely, and lost all its shape since your last fold, you need another fold. If it looks the same as it did when you last checked on it, come back and check in another half hour. This will take practice, and you will eventually know what you need to do, just by looking at, or feeling, your dough.
Lamination:
- An hour into bulk fermentation, I like to do a lamination. Wet your countertop, and your hands, with a light misting bottle. Don't get it too wet; you just want that light mist so it doesn't stick too much to the surface or your hands. Too wet, and not only will you add a ton of unnecessary water to your dough, but the dough will also slide around on the surface, making lamination near impossible (trust me – I've done that!).
- Spread your dough as far and wide as possible, gently pulling it out as far as it will go, but being careful not to break or tear it.* Fold your dough back up onto itself, place the dough back in your dish, and cover for another half hour to hour (depending, again, on the temperature of your dough).
- To better explain lamination, and to see the process, watch Full Proof Baking's tutorial on this (6:44 mark talks about this).
Folding:
- Okay, your dough has lost its shape again, so it's time for the first fold. You can do any type of fold you like. Watch some experts perform them, and see which you are most comfortable with. I like coil folds, but stretch-and-folds have their place. In an ideal environment, when my kitchen is a nice 74°F / 23°C, I generally end up with 3-4 coil folds, spaced 45 minutes to 1 hour apart.
Pre-Shaping:
- Once your dough is nice and proofed (and has risen about 50-60% in size), tip it on to your workbench. Give it a basic pre-shape, rolling it gently into a ball, without working the dough too much. Cover and rest for 20 minutes or so.
- Note: I sometimes skip this step if I think my dough is close to over-proofing, and just jump right into shaping.
Shaping:
- There are a million different ways to do this, and YouTube has countless videos with different methods, so watch and try some out for yourself, and just go with whatever feels comfortable.
- My method: Lightly dust your workbench with flour. Gently encourage your dough into a rectangular shape. Fold the dough gently on top of itself, in three sections (think folding paper to place in an envelope). Then, starting at one end of the short side of the dough, use your fingers to roll it up, and use your thumbs to ensure a taught surface as you roll. Once the dough is rolled up, pinch the seam and ends tightly together with your fingers to seal. Excess flour will make it impossible to seal the ends neatly, and the dough will keep opening back up, so brush off what you can to make this easier.
- Prepare your lined banneton with rice flour (it helps prevent sticking much more than regular flour) and gently place your dough in the banneton, seam side up. If your seams look as though they are opening back up, pinch closed again, using more pressure than you did before.
- Cover with a clean, lightly floured kitchen towel and rest for 15 minutes. This just helps relax the dough a little before its cold overnight nap (skip this step if your dough may be over-proofed, and place your banneton right in the fridge to stop the dough from continuing to proof).
Retardation (Cold Proofing):
- Place your covered banneton in the fridge, in the coldest spot, for at least 12 hours**. My fridge is coldest on the top shelf, so that's where I place mine. The cold slows the fermentation process almost entirely, so the dough won't grow any more, but the flavor intensifies, giving that beautiful sourdough flavor. My fridge is set at about 39°F / 4°C. That temperature is ideal, and will not allow any noticeable proofing or rise to continue (which is exactly what you want).
Bake:
- The following day, preheat your oven to 500°F / 260°C (or as hot as your oven will go). Preheat your baking vessel, too. This will help create steam, when your cold dough hits that hot vessel***. Preheat the oven for an hour, to ensure it's extremely hot.
- Carefully remove your baking vessel from the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 425°F / 220°C. Carefully place your cold dough, straight from the fridge, inside. Score your loaf with a bread lame, specialty razor blade, or a very sharp knife. Carefully place the lid back on your baking vessel, and bake for 20 minutes with the lid on.
- Carefully remove the lid from the baking vessel, and continue to bake the sourdough, lid off, for another 30 minutes, or until the loaf has reached your desired level of browning.
- When fully baked, your dough should be a dark golden brown, and sound hollow when tapped on the base. You can also take the bread's internal temperature if you're unsure; it should be around 205 – 210°F / 96 – 99°C.
- Cool for at least 30 minutes (or ideally, a couple of hours) before slicing and serving. Sourdough bread will keep for about 1 day inside an airtight container (less if sliced, as it will dry out) or up to 1 month frozen.
[…] you read my post on Sourdough Bread before embarking on this focaccia – I won’t repeat all my advice here, and much of it […]