April 30, 2020 - 6:26pm
Is there such thing as a quick sourdough bread?
All the recipes I've seen (and made) so far have taken a super long time, and while I like the taste and results, sometimes I want something a bit faster. Is there such a recipe or is that not in the nature of sourdough? Thanks!
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I bake every day and am done from start to finish in about 90 minutes. Is that what you had in mind?
I don't know if that's what OP had in mind but it certainly sounds like something I'd like to try! Do you have a recipe or a link you would be willing to share?
The recipe is pretty standard. I think you could do it with any recipe. The secrets are
1) temperature control of the bulk ferment
2) a "no knead" approach.
3) minimize the amount of measuring/weighing etc.
At 60F, the ferment is done in roughly 24 hours.
So each day I take out the dough mixed on the previous day. Shape it, proof it for an hour, bake it for 1/2 hour.
While it proofs I mix up dough for the next day and put that back into the cooler. That takes maybe 10 minutes. I don't weigh anything anymore. I can tell by feel and look whether the hydration is right. I use the same amount of water and salt and starter each time, measure the flour by scoops.
Then I take a couple minutes to feed the starter and put it away.
During the day, if I'm around I stretch and fold. Gluten forms ok without it, as long as the bulk ferment is extended.
Does a single loaf get done quickly? No, that takes a day. But the time spent per day, including mix, feed, shape, proof and bake is around 90 minutes. Out of that time, I'm only really busy with it for 15 or 20 minutes.
This is a great outline, and I'm sure once I've got the general idea of sourdough bread baking down, I'll be able to adapt it to fit my needs & probably a good percent of recipes I might want to try. Now if only I could get my starter up & running...
Thank you for sharing!
In my limited experience, you're not the only one asking this question ;-), many commercial bakers also try to crack this nut. .
There are hybrid dough recipes: a.starter/ Poolish the night before or straight into a pâte fermentée recipe on mixing day, plus the addition of commercial yeast. Mechanical (machine) mixing, autolyse, shorter Bulk Fermentation (90ish minutes) and final proofing (45-50 minutes).
In my experience (1) taste is good but inferior to a traditional sourdough recipe and (2) crumb structure is finicky and difficult to reproduce ( I'm not an expert baker but I've been professionally trained and this is one of the nuts they try to help you crack at baking school). In expert hands, results can be quite interesting though.
However, legally, in countries like France or Spain, where baking is highly regulated to protect artisanal bakers, you can't call such breads "sourdough" or the French equivalent, Pain au Levain.
Depending on your skill level, and if you're looking for an open-crumb commercially leavened recipe, I'd probably start with a bread that requires little shaping such as a Ciabatta, and I'd take it from there. Hamelman has one such recipe in his book (Ciabatta with Poolish) that works well for me and only uses commercial yeast.
On the contrary, I've never had good results with Reinhart's Ciabatta with Poolish recipe (The Breadmaker's Apprentice), especially his suggestions for folding and final proofing.
Hope this helps.
Using Concentrated Lactic Acid Sourdough (CLAS) will produce bread that has, at a minimum, the same quality as and most often, professional or better quality than bread made with traditional sourdough/long fermentation. It only takes a fraction of the time, usually less than three hours, to achieve such an excellent result! And it's super low-maintenance, too.
I have baked with CLAS for over a year (posted on my blog). I am so impressed by its performance that I threw away all my traditional sourdough staters last year. Watch Rus's CLAS procedures on YouTube and Blogger to learn more about CLAS if this amazing shortcut of making tasty bread interests you.
If I make a sandwich loaf with starter I get a white sourdough sandwich loaf.
No special process, just longer rise times. Its already sour so it doesnt need to go in the fridge.
I sometimes make sourdough pizza. Regular white pizza base with sourdough taste. It comes out slightly crustier but again, no special processes.