The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

1-2-3 Sourdough

Terrance aka Magnus's picture
Terrance aka Magnus

1-2-3 Sourdough

I made my first sourdough loaf last weekend and it was a success! I was originally going to make Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough but I wasn't going to be around the house enough for that schedule so I improvised instead. Good way to get me to stop being afraid of sourdough I guess.

1-2-3 method, basically:

1 part starter

2 parts water

3 parts flour

(and some salt, only ~3g, I know it's low but I'm sensitive to salt in bread)

In my case, I used 350g bread flour and based my other measurements on that. My starter is 100% hydration rye, which is about 2 weeks old. I mixed the ingredients together, kneaded for 5-10 minutes, then let it ferment for about 9 hours, with 2 stretch & folds within the first 2 hours. Then I shaped it, placed it in my banneton, and proofed it for ~16 hours in my fridge. The next day I took it out and let it warm up for an hour or so before placing it into my preheated dutch oven. I baked at 475 with the lid on for 25 min, then another 10 with the lid off.

Scoring is bad, I know. The loaf was still a little cold from the fridge, which caught me off guard, as I've never scored a loaf like that before. Also my scoring isn't too great normally.

Crumb could be more open.

Tastes mad good though. I'm definitely doing this again, especially since it's so low-maintenance.

 

Album showing different steps of the process and the final product, along with the starter that made it happen:

http://imgur.com/a/x0lyh

 

 

Comments

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Welcome to SD baking and TFL - Well done and

Happy Baking

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

The first one is always a big step!  Congratulations!  :)

Terrance aka Magnus's picture
Terrance aka Magnus

Thanks, I definitely feel like I've opened up doors with this one. Using only commercial yeasts felt so limiting; there are so many breads I've always wanted to bake but couldn't because I didn't think I could actually get a starter going. I feel like a bread wizard or something.

Now to look through my bread books to make a list of breads to bake.

WendySusan's picture
WendySusan

Nice bake...your scoring is fine.  I find it easier on a cold loaf.

Terrance aka Magnus's picture
Terrance aka Magnus

Thanks. I could also probably benefit from a lame. Right now I just use my bread knife. I'm not selling them or anything though, so they're good enough for me, at least for now.

WendySusan's picture
WendySusan

Chopstick and double side razor blade ;-D

Terrance aka Magnus's picture
Terrance aka Magnus

$2 pack of razor blades purchased this morning. Now I just need to find chopsticks or something similar.

AbeNW11's picture
AbeNW11 (not verified)

Lovely looking sourdough there. Came out very well.

Don't think after 16 hours final proofing in the fridge you needed to warm it up for an hour before baking. You've did a 9 hour bulk ferment and then a 16 hour final proof in the fridge. You'll "risk" over proofing by giving it an hour to warm up.

I normally shape the dough into the banneton, leave out for 20min and retard. Then i'll bake straight from the fridge. Will make scoring easier too. Which is very good by the way.

Great stuff. Look forward to more bakes.

Terrance aka Magnus's picture
Terrance aka Magnus

I'll keep it in mind; like I said it was pretty off-the-cuff and I wasn't familiar with overnight retarding. I didn't know you could bake straight from the fridge, I'll have to try it some time.

AbeNW11's picture
AbeNW11 (not verified)

And even on the cuff this is a great bread.

Sometimes one "might" need to finish off proofing at room temperature if need be. But after a long fermentation like that I wouldn't think necessary.

My regular 1:2:3 method is 4-6 hours bulk fermentation. Final proof will be 20min at room temperature and then into the fridge overnight and then bake straight from the fridge. I rather do it that way round then finishing off at room temperature. Whether putting straight into the fridge and baking straight from the fridge or starting/finishing at room temperature (according to ones needs), I highly doubt a 10 hour bulk fermentation then a 16+ hour final retard fermentation would need 1hr at room temperature. It is a risk of over proofing. Just thought I'd warn you even though it was a great bake.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

with what the bread looks like rather than the timing.  Knowing when the bread is properly proofed and ready for the oven is the hardest thing to learn about bread baking   Here in AZ where the temperatures are 86 F in the kitchen, I do two hours of gluten development using 3 sets of slap and folds and 3 sets of stretch and folds then it is shaped and put right into the fridge for a 12 hours retard. A cold shaped proof is good because here the bread can still over proof in the fridge without any bulk ferment so you can bake it straight out of the fridge.

If it really over proofs you can just reshape and proof again this time on the counter the next morning, but the crumb holes will be smaller.

Others like to do a bulk ferment in the fridge overnight after doing a couple of bulk ferment hours on the counter and then shape and proof on the counter the next morning .  if they don't live as close to hell as I do :-)  But the holes will be smaller this way.My best breads happen in the winter when i can get a bulk retard it and then do a shaped retard for final proof and have it come out of the cold just right so it can warm up on the counter for hour and half before hitting the heat.

Still the key to great oven spring and bloom is to get it in a hot oven at the right time.  85-90%% proofed for whole,grain breads   and 90 - 95% proofed for white ones.  The flavor comes from the kind of starter and levain you make and how long the wee beasties can act on the dough with the general rule being the longer the better.

All things being equal like the same starter and levain used, the bread that is retarded should have better and a more complex flavor.  

It took me forever to learn what 90% proofed looked like for my baskets.  What I thought was 90% was really 150% because the shape of the basket is much thinner at the bottom. mSo a tiny rise at the top of the basket was a huge amount of volume increase - an optical illusion.

I finally calculated it using geometry for the volume of half a sphere to get a better idea.

Happy SD baking 

Terrance aka Magnus's picture
Terrance aka Magnus

Honestly I think it might still have needed some time outside of the fridge after the overnight proofing; it wasn't too much larger in volume than when I put in the previous day. Even during bulk fermentation, after ~5 hours it didn't rise much. It seemed like much of the rising occurred between hours 5-9 when I was out. Whether my starter's slow or it's just the weather (NYC weather certainly isn't Arizona weather) I don't know, but even with commercial yeast I definitely couldn't get away with a 2 hour initial rise.

I have read that retarding the dough will result in a more sour loaf, which I'm certainly after for now, at least until the novelty dies down.