New baker from NY!
Hey everyone! I've been lurking on here, primarily viewing the blogs and bread browser, for a while now after I discovered the site on reddit (or maybe a book? I don't remember). I started baking about a year ago, and have been doing so on-and-off since. Mostly Forkish recipes, although I've also read Hammelman, Reinhart, Berenbaum, and all the other usual suspects. I especially like Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast.
Most of the loaves I have made have followed the FWSY style and consisted of just those 4 ingredients. I like adding non-AP wheat flours like rye, barley, oats, spelt, etc because I'm a bit of a hippy and like whole grains when possible. I've recently become super enthusiastic about baking again and am currently making my first sourdough starter, which is on its 7th day and seems like it's going OK. I'm following this: http://tartine-bread.blogspot.com/2013/02/9-days.html
That was probably a longer intro than necessary and I don't inspect many to read this but hi all the same!
So does anyone have any good "baby's first sourdough" recipes for when I decide to make my first sourdough? I'm going to let my starter develop for another week or so first so I guess my first sourdough bake will be next weekend. And at what point can I stop feeding my starter 2x/day?
VERMONT SOURDOUGH
by
Jeffrey Hamelman
Bakers’ Percentages
Flour : 100% [90% bread flour, 10% rye]
Water : 54.5% [Final hydration including levain : 65%]
Salt : 1.9%
Levain : 39.76% [20% starter + 125% water + 100% bread flour]
Final Recipe
Flour : 490g [440g bread flour, 50g rye]
Water : 267g
Salt : 10-11g
Levain : 196g @ 125% hydration
Levain 1st Build : 16g starter + 22g water + 16g bread flour [24 hours before]
Levain 2nd Build : 16g from 1st build + 100g water + 80g bread flour = 196g [Night before 12-14 hours]
[e.g. if you wish to bake Saturday morning then do the first build 9am Friday morning - second build 9pm Friday night - then start the recipe 9am Saturday morning]
METHOD
Mix flours with water and levain until well combined. Let the dough rest (autolyse) for 30 minutes.
Add the salt and knead by hand till fully incorporated & medium gluten formation. [this is quite a low hydration bread so no problem kneading here for a good 10-15min]
Let the dough ferment at room temperature for 2.5 hours with stretch folds at 50 minutes and 100 minutes.
Shape on floured surface and let rest for 15 minutes.
Shape again into banneton with seam side up and final proof for 2-2.5 hours. [or leave out for 20min then refrigerate till ready]
Score and Bake in pre-heated oven.
Wow, thanks, I wasn't expecting a reply so quickly. Is there a standard hydration for starters that I should assume for recipes like this, or does it depend on the book (and if so what does Hammelman use)? Mine is 100%.
There is no standard hydration for starters although 100% hydration is the most common. I prefer to keep mine at 100% hydration as building a preferment to another specified hydration is easier.
Hamelman's starter for the Vermont sourdough is 125% hydration. With the builds I have shown, if you start with a 100% hydration starter, it'll be converted to what is asked for in the recipe. I have done the maths for you.
I have also scaled the recipe down to fit a 1kg banneton. The final dough will be about 963g. A good sized single loaf.
If you use a Dutch Oven then even better.
Thanks; mighty nice of you. My banneton is 8" which I assume is for 1kg of dough because I usually use about that much. I do have a 3-qt dutch oven (the combo cooker recommended in one of the books I read. Tartine Bread I think).
Hopefully this will go well and I'll get to make a blog post about it :)
Only to sourdough. It won't be a problem. This is a very enjoyable recipe. You'll like it. I don't know about banneton size, I just bought one which was described as 1kg. Should be fine.
If you wish to not do two builds then here is a 1 step single build preferment (which I did last night to save time plus there's no discard).
14g starter + 102g water + 80g bread flour.
12-14 hours before then straight onto the recipe using all of the preferment.
Because it is high hydration, 125%, you see see as much rise as a 100% hydration you're most used to. It'll rise somewhat and be very bubbly.
Best of luck.
...you won't see as much rise as a 100% hydration starter you're used to. It'll rise somewhat and be very bubbly
I'm a newbie here myself...just a few months and the group has been wonderful helping me. I just made Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough this week and it came out pretty well. You can check my experience on my blog here although I like to say YMMV (your mileage may vary) according to your own personal environmental conditions.
One tip I found useful, I think from Mini Oven, is to take a tiny piece of final dough and put into a straight sided glass and put it along side your bannetons. Its a really good indicator of when the dough has risen properly. As I've made my share of over and under proof loaves, I plan to use it from now on.
Bake on!
Wendy