Basic Sourdough Bread

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Remove the barm from the refrigerator and measure it out 1 hour before making the firm starter to take off the chill. To do this, dip a 2/3-cup measuring cup into a bowl of water, then scoop it into the barm to fill (the wet cup will allow the barm to slide out easily). Transfer it to a small bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and allow it to warm up for 1 hour.

   Step 2

   Add the flour to the bowl and mix together the barm and the flour, adding only enough additional water so that you can knead this into a small ball, about the texture of French bread dough. You do not need to work this very long, just until all the flour is hydrated and the barm is evenly distributed. Lightly oil a small bowl or mist the inside of a plastic bag with spray oil, and place the starter in the bowl or bag, turning to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl or seal the bag.

   Step 3

   Ferment at room temperature for approximately 4 hours, or until the starter has at least doubled in size. If it takes more time than 4 hours, give it additional time, checking every hour or so. Then, put it into the refrigerator overnight.

   Step 4

   Remove the starter from the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough. Cut it into about 10 small pieces with a pastry scraper or serrated knife. Mist with spray oil, cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour to take off the chill.

   Step 5

   To make the dough, stir together the flour and salt in a 4-quart mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer). Add the starter pieces and enough water to bring everything together into a ball as you stir with a large metal spoon (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment).

   Step 6

   Sprinkle the counter with flour, transfer the dough to the counter, and knead by hand for 12 to 15 minutes (or mix with the dough hook for 4 minutes on medium-low speed, allow the dough to rest for 5 to 10 minutes, and then mix for 4 minutes). Adjust the water or flour as needed. The dough should be firm but tacky, like firm French bread dough. It should pass the windowpane test and register 77° to 81°F. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

   Step 7

   Ferment at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours, or until the dough has nearly doubled in size.

   Step 8

   Gently remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into 2 equal pieces (about 22 ounces each), or divide it into smaller pieces if you are making rolls, being careful to degas the dough as little as possible. Gently shape the dough into boules, bâtards, or baguettes, as shown on pages 72–74.

   Step 9

   Proof the dough in bannetons or proofing bowls, on couches, or on parchment-lined sheet pans that have been dusted with semolina flour or cornmeal (see pages 34–38). Regardless of the method, mist the exposed part of the dough with spray oil and loosely cover the dough with a towel or plastic wrap, or slip the pans into a food-grade plastic bag. At this point you can either proof the loaves for 2 to 3 hours, or retard overnight in the refrigerator. If retarding, remove them from the refrigerator approximately 4 hours before you plan to bake them.

   Step 10

   Prepare the oven for hearth baking as described on pages 91–94, making sure to have a steam pan in place. Preheat the oven to 500°F. Carefully remove the towel or plastic wrap from the dough, or slip the pan from the bag, 10 minutes before baking.

   Step 11

   Generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal and gently transfer the dough to the peel or pan, carefully removing the cloth liner from the top of the dough for dough proofed in a bowl. (If the dough was proofed on a sheet pan, it can be baked directly on that pan.) Score the dough. Slide the dough onto a baking stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan). Pour 1 cup hot water into the steam pan and close the door. After 30 seconds, spray the oven walls with water and close the door. Repeat twice more at 30-second intervals. After the final spray, lower the oven setting to 450°F and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the loaves 180 degrees, if necessary, for even baking and continue baking for another 10 to 20 minutes, or until the loaves are done. They should register 205°F in the center, be a rich golden brown all over, and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.

   Step 12

   Transfer the finished loaves to a rack and cool for at least 45 minutes before slicing or serving.

2. BREAD PROFILE

   Step 13

   Lean, standard dough; indirect method; wild yeast

3. DAYS TO MAKE: 2 or 3

   Step 14

   Day 1: 5 hours firm starter

   Step 15

   Day 2: 1 hour to de-chill firm starter; 15 to 17 minutes mixing; 5 to 7 hours fermentation, shaping, and proofing; 20 to 30 minutes baking (day 2 or 3)

4. Commentary

   Step 16

   This dough is made with a 3-build method: barm to firm starter (also called the levain or chef) to final dough. As noted earlier, this process could go on to 4, 5 or 6 builds, but by using cold fermentation (retarding), we develop maximum flavor without all the intermediate builds.

5. Step 17

   I encourage you to veer from this method and modify either the technique or the ingredients. Consult the Grace Note for a number of options, but only your imagination limits the full range of possibilities.

6. Grace note: Variations of Sourdough Ingredients and Methods

   Step 18

   Some bakers prefer to work exclusively with firm starters, keeping even the mother starter in a firm state. Professional bakers like this because they can throw the firm piece easily into a mixer for either refreshing or elaborating. It is less messy than working with big batches of wet sponge. One of my baking friends, Keith Giusto of Giusto Mills in South San Francisco, keeps his mother starter as a very dry dough, like bagel dough. This is not only easy to transport and handle (assuming you have a mixer capable of handling such stiff dough), but also makes a very sour bread, for those who like it extra sour. Acetic bacteria prefer the denser, less-aerated environment of the firm starter; lactic bacteria prefer the wetter sponge of the barm method. Home bakers, I find, prefer keeping a wet sponge, as it is easy to refresh and keep track of it in small batches. However, if you prefer to use the firm starter system, simply reduce the water weight to 50 to 57 percent of the flour weight when you refresh your mother starter and then make your elaborations.

7. Step 19

   It is also perfectly acceptable to make your final dough directly from the barm. You will have to diminish the water in the final dough to compensate for the wetness of the barm, but otherwise you can proceed with an equal amount of barm for firm starter.

8. Step 20

   To spike the dough with commercial yeast, which guarantees a 90-minute first fermentation and a 60-minute final proofing (and a less sour flavor), add 1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast to the final dough.

9. Step 21

   You can substitute other types of flour, including whole-wheat flour, for some or all of the high-gluten or bread flour. A classic French pain au levain includes about 10 percent whole-wheat or rye flour (or a combination—about 1/2 cup total).

10. Step 22

    You can make a meteil rye bread (less than 50 percent rye flour), or a seigle rye bread (more than 50 percent rye flour), by substituting the desired amount of rye flour, either white rye or a blend of white and pumpernickel grind. This can be done either in the final dough or in the firm starter (or you can use a rye barm—see the formula for 100% Sourdough Rye Bread on page 239).

11. Step 23

    You can add roasted garlic; lightly toasted walnuts, sunflower seeds, pecans, or other nuts and seeds of your choice; raisins and other dried fruit; or cheese. The standard amount is about 40 percent of the final flour weight. It is best to add these ingredients during the final 2 minutes of mixing to protect against breaking them up too small. My all-time favorite is a blue cheese and walnut bread with 25 percent toasted walnuts and 15 to 20 percent crumbled blue cheese (firm, not creamy), adding the walnuts during the last 2 minutes of kneading and carefully folding in the blue cheese by hand at the end of kneading. You can do this by flattening the dough and sprinkling one-third of the cheese over the top, then rolling it up and repeating this two more times until all the cheese is incorporated. If you are using salty cheese, such as blue, feta, or Parmesan, reduce the salt in the formula by 25 percent (to 1 1/2 teaspoons). Incidentally, the oil from the walnuts will turn the dough a burgundy color and the delicious flavor of the walnuts will permeate the entire loaf.

12. Step 24

    Cooked potatoes can be used to tenderize and flavor the dough. Use a ratio of 25 percent potatoes to flour in the final build.

13. Step 25

    Fresh herbs can be used to taste. Hand roll them into the dough as you would blue cheese. Dried herbs and spices, such as herbes de Provence, cumin, and oregano, can also be used, but with a gentle touch, as these flavors can easily dominate.

14. Step 26

    It is just as valid to make rustic, wet-dough breads with wild-yeast starters as it is to use commercial yeast and yeast pre-ferments, or to use the mixed, or spiked, method. Substitute an equal amount of barm (this is a perfect time to build the dough directly from barm) for the poolish. You can add commercial yeast (or not) during the final dough stage, bearing in mind that spiking it with yeast will allow you to make the bread on the same schedule as already written in the instructions. If you make pure wild-yeast bread, you will have to give the dough a 3- to 4-hour bulk fermentation and a 90-minute final proofing. You can make any of the rustic variations, from ciabatta to pugliese to focaccia, with this dough.

15. BAKER’S PERCENTAGE FORMULA

    Step 27

    Basic Sourdough Bread %

    Step 28

    (FIRM STARTER)

    Step 29

    Barm: 88.9%

    Step 30

    High-gluten flour: 100%

    Step 31

    Water (approx.): 33.3%

16. Step 32

    Total 222.2%

17. Step 33

    (FINAL DOUGH)

    Step 34

    Firm starter: 49.4%

    Step 35

    High-gluten flour: 100%

    Step 36

    Salt: 2.5%

    Step 37

    Water: 64.2%

18. Step 38

    Total: 216.1%