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How to Sourdough for Beginners!

Greetings everyone! Allow me to introduce myself–I am Sourdough Hooked, and true to my name, I have developed a deep passion for the intricate art of sourdough. I’ve crafted this beginner’s guide to address common questions about sourdough bread making. I was once a complete beginner myself and strive to help others achieve their goals in being able to create an artisan loaf of sourdough. 


First things first, you’ll want to ensure you have all the proper tools and equipment that make crafting a delicious loaf as easy as can be. You’ll need the following:




Now let’s start with our starter! You can always purchase a dehydrated starter online, but I personally wanted to create my own from scratch to really get into the craft. Our starter is the most important part of making sourdough so you’ll want to take care of it. The fermentation process is what makes this bread different from other yeast breads in how it’s made and in how it tastes. The fermenting process is how sourdough gets its name. Similar to the way alcohol ferments.


You’ll want to make sure when creating and feeding your sourdough starter that you measure it in grams. Volume measurements are not always accurate, and a lot of the time it will instruct you to feed equal parts flour and water. But if you do this with volume measurements you will essentially be drowning your starter because water weighs double flour. So if you absolutely must use volume, use half the amount of water to flour.


Something to note as well, when creating your starter and even once established, I highly recommend using UNBLEACHED flour and FILTERED water. I use Food Lion unbleached all purpose flour and we have community well water that we then filter through our berkey filter. The reason you use unbleached flour is because bleached flour can cause your starter to take longer to develop or potentially cause it to never feed at all. The bleaching process can kill off the microorganisms that help your starter feed. Filtered water is the same thing, chlorine and other chemicals in typical tap water can kill off the good bacteria you need for the fermenting process.


If you receive a dehydrated starter, simply add in 25g of the starter to Day 1. Since it is a dehydrated and mature starter, you can keep any discard. With a dehydrated starter as well, you will start seeing progress much sooner than starting one from scratch. Once it is doubling 3-5 days consistently within the 4-6 hour window, it is ready to start baking with!




How to create your own sourdough starter:

Day 1

  • Get your clean glass jar with screw on lid and add in 25g of unbleached flour and 25g warm (NOT HOT) filtered water to your jar and mix with your silicone spatula. Cover with your lid and very lightly screw it on. It shouldn’t fall off but needs enough wiggle room to release any gasses from the fermentation so it doesn’t explode. Leave in a warm (75-80F) spot for 24 hours. By the stove, on top of the fridge, or in your oven (TURNED OFF) with the light on for the first hour or so are great options. If you choose the oven, be careful to not forget your starter and preheat the oven. Be sure to make sure it doesn’t become too hot with the light as it can kill any potential yeast growth. 

Day 2 

  • There may be some bubbles on the surface, but if not there’s no problem! Let it rest and wait another 24 hours. Leave it in the same warm spot.

Day 3 

  • Get your food scale and place an empty glass on it and zero it out. Pour in half of your starter (25g), it should be getting thicker, and discard the rest. Clean out your jar making sure to remove any residue. To your cup, add in 25g of filtered warm water and 25g of unbleached flour. Mix your starter and add it back into your clean glass jar. Mark with your permanent marker or rubber band where your starter sits along with the time in marker if you’d like from here on out so you can see if and how much your starter grows. Cover with your lid again and place in your warm spot.

Day 4

  • Your starter may be starting to double! If so that’s great, and if not it’s normal as well. This early rise is considered a false rise and is simply the bad bacteria being fought off by the good in order to continue the fermentation process safely. Again place your empty glass onto your food scale and zero it out. Pour in 25g of starter into the glass and discard the rest. Note you should not be keeping your discard yet because it can still contain harmful bacteria. Add in your 25g flour and 25g water and mix. Clean your starter jar and then pour in your mixture once again. Screw on the lid as usual and place in your warm spot.

Days 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

  • Repeat day 4. By day 10 it is normal to start seeing your starter double. Hopefully within the 4-6 hour window. If not, try getting your starter a little warmer. Use warm (NOT HOT) water, and keep in a warmer spot. 

Day 11

  • At this point your starter should be doubling within 4-6 hours, however sometimes it can take longer. Sometimes up to a few weeks. Either way it is normal! Continue your feeding process as normal, except now whenever you discard, you can start safely keeping the mixture you were once throwing away. I recommend keeping your discard in a glass jar with an airtight sealed lid in the refrigerator. Doing this keeps a backup starter ready to go just in case anything happens to your mother starter. You can pull it out and feed it at any time. You can also use your discard in many discard recipes.


Once your starter has become active and doubles regularly within the 4-6 hours for 3-5 consecutive days, it should be ready to use! Just make sure you wait until at least day 14 to start baking bread with an active starter, although many wait until it’s around 1-2 months old. Once you reach day 11 you may start using your discard in recipes to help curb that baking craving!


For daily baking, or even every few days, I recommend keeping your starter on the counter at room temp and feed daily. I personally choose to do this so when family requests bread or I need to plan a loaf for sandwiches or dinner, I won’t have to wait for my starter to wake up from being cold in the refrigerator. If you don’t plan to bake frequently, keep your starter in the refrigerator with an airtight screw on lid preferably with the date written on the jar so you can keep up with when it needs to be fed. Feed your refrigerated starter once a week to maintain.


If you choose to refrigerate, you may notice a thin layer of gray liquid beginning to form on the top that looks like water separation. This is what’s called hooch. It is caused by the fermentation process separating out the alcohol because the starter is hungry. This is normal and safe. If you prefer a more sour loaf of bread, mix it in! If not, pour it out and feed as normal. 



Now that we’ve got our starter bubbly and ready to go, let’s make a loaf of sourdough!!


You’ll need

  • 100g active, bubbly starter (If you prefer a more sour taste, use 50g. The fermentation time will go up)

  • 500g bread flour 

  • 370g warm filtered water

  • 9g kosher salt

  • All purpose flour for dusting


Feeding your starter

  • Early in the morning you'll want to feed your starter. Pour 50g of starter into a clean cup and discard the rest. Add in 50g of filtered water and 50g of unbleached all purpose flour. Mix, move back to your jar, and lightly cover with a lid and store in a warm place. Once it has doubled, it’s ready to go!

 

Mixing your bread

  • Pour your starter and water into a bowl. Make sure the water is warm, but not hot. Hot water can kill your starter. Combine with your bread whisk until milky. 

  • Add in your salt and whisk to combine

  • Add your bread flour, and whisk until shaggy. If you have made a yeasted dough before, the texture will be very different. So if it still seems wet and not fully combined, don’t worry!

  • Cover your dough with a damp tea towel and let rest for 30 minutes.


Stretch and folds

  • Remove the tea towel, and you’re going to grab a portion of your dough and stretch it towards the ceiling and fold it into itself in the center. Turn your bowl 90 degrees and repeat the stretch and fold. Do this 2 more times. Making a total of 4 stretch and folds, turning the bowl a complete 360 degrees. Replace the towel onto your bowl and rest for 30 minutes. You will repeat this process 3 more times, making a total of 4 sets of stretch and folds with 30 minutes of rest between each set. 


Bulk fermentation

  • After your fourth set of stretch and folds, you want to place your dough into a clear, straight sided container for your bulk fermentation. I’ve personally used a 2 quart glass drink pitcher simply because that’s what I had on hand, and it worked great! Mark on your container where your dough begins along with the time. This way once your dough has doubled in size, you can see it clearly, and significantly decrease the risk of over proofing. Cover with your damp tea towel and let it rest in a warm place. If your home is between 68 and 70°F it will take around 7 to 8 hours to double. The time can vary depending on the temperature of your home.


Shaping

  • Once your dough has doubled in size, lightly flour a clean surface and place your dough. Stretch the edges of your dough outward and fold them onto the center of the dough ball. Do this on all sides to create a smooth underside. Flip the dough over and cup your hand around the bottom edge and push the dough in a counterclockwise motion to the 12 position, then with your hands cupped gently pull the dough back towards you at the 6 position. If you notice your hands sticking to the dough, wet them with water. Repeat this until you have created tension and have a nice smooth surface. Rest your dough for 30 minutes on the counter.

  • After resting your dough, you’re going to want to shape it one more time. Repeat the pushing and pulling motion while cupping the dough. Lightly flour the smooth side of your dough. This will be the nice top part of your loaf that you’ll score.

  • Heavily flour your banneton or bowl with a clean tea towel. Gently scoop up your dough with the seam side in your hand. Carefully place the top side down into your banneton or bowl. Cover your loaf with a clean tea towel and place in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour and maximum of 48 hours until you’re ready to bake!


Scoring

  • When it comes to scoring, this is one of my favorite parts of sourdough! You’ll want to use a very sharp knife or blade. You can also use a bread lame which is my preference!

  • Pull your dough out of the fridge and lay out either a bread sling or a piece of parchment paper lightly floured. Gently turn your loaf of bread onto your surface, seam side down. Lightly flour and rub it on the top of your loaf if you’d like your design to show through a little bit more.

  • Scoring is necessary so you give it a place to release steam rather than it bursting on its own in random places. 

  • You’ll want to make sure you score one deeper score so it has a good place to release steam without it bursting through any shallow scores you do for a design. There’s lots of inspiration online, especially Pinterest! I recommend starting simple.



Time to bake!

  • I’ve used both a 6 quart dutch oven, and a small roasting pan to bake my loaves in and I personally don’t see a difference in the result. Although I prefer my roasting pan when making a batard (oval shaped loaf) and I prefer my dutch oven for boules (round shaped loaves).

  • If using a dutch oven, place it in your oven cold. Preheat your oven to 450 F, and set a timer for 40 minutes. This will ensure it has plenty of time to get nice and hot.

  • If using a roasting pan, place in your oven cold. Preheat your oven to 450 F. Once your oven is to temp, your pan will be as well. So no need to heat it any longer. I like to preheat while I score my bread!

  • Once preheated, place your dough with the parchment or bread sling into your dutch oven or roasting pan. Replace the lid and return it to your oven. Bake for 30 minutes at 450 F.

  • After 30 minutes, remove the lid from your bread and turn the oven temperature down to 400 F. Bake for 10 to 15 more minutes until the top is a nice golden brown. If you have a thermometer, the center should read around 205 F once fully baked. 

  • IMPORTANT! As tempting as it may be, you must wait until your bread is completely cooled before you slice. I typically wait at least 2 hours but usually closer to 3 or more. If you cut it too soon, the inside of your bread will be gummy and although it should still taste delicious, the texture is not the best. You’ll thank me later on waiting.

  • Your bread should last 3 or so days in an airtight container. After 3 days I slice what’s left and freeze in a ziplock bag and use as needed!

  • ENJOY YOUR FRESH SOURDOUGH!







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