The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

San Francisco sourdough with a Bucharest feel

Valentinaa's picture
Valentinaa

San Francisco sourdough with a Bucharest feel

Ever since I started baking sourdough bread, I knew that San Francisco sourdough would be my favorite recipe, especially after reading the glowing reviews Dsnyder and Codruta (codrudepaine) have given it. Having tried it a few times now, I reckon it's presentable enough for the tough judges on the Internet, so there goes my first post on TFL. :)

Everyone who has tried it loves this bread. The complexity of the flavours is just amazing, especially given that it's basically just a white loaf: the crust is nutty, whilst the crumb tastes sourly sweet. It's definitely an all around favorite.

The crust starts cracking as the loaf leaves the oven and it's a delight to just sit there and listen to it. That's if you can resist the urge to eat it, of course. 

Getting down to business, I used Dsnyder's recipe to start off with and then adjusted it just a bit by replacing some of the flour with spelt:

 

Stiff levain

Bakers' %

Wt (g)

for 1 kg

Bread flour

95

78

Medium rye flour

5

4

Water

50

41

Stiff starter

80

66

Total

230

189

1. The starter is dissolved into the water and then the flours are added and mixed thoroughly. I used my hands to make sure all the flour is incorporated properly.

2. Leave to rest for 12 hours.

 

Final dough

Bakers' %

Wt (g)

for 1 kg

Strong white wheat flour

80

370

Spelt Flour

20

93

Water

73

337

Salt

2.4

11

Stiff levain

41

189

Total

216.4

953

3. Mix the flours with the water and leave to autolyse for 30 minutes. Add in the stiff levain and salt and mix thoroughly until all the flour is incorporated and the gluten is moderately developed (window pane test). 

4. Bulk fermentation: 2:30 hrs (my kitchen was quite hot) with SF after each 45 minutes

5. Pre-shape the loaves and leave to rest for 15 minutes

6. Shape them and place them in well floyred bannetons and keep them refrigerated for 10-12 hours

7. Remove from fridge and bake at 240 C for 40 minutes (15 minutes with steam, last 25 dry)

8. Open the oven door and leave the loaves to rest in the cooling oven for 5 minutes more

9. Remove the loaves from oven and adore them. :)

 

Comments

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Welcome! What a beauty. Could I feature this on the homepage for a bit?

Valentinaa's picture
Valentinaa

Thank you, Floyd. I'd be honored. 

Filomatic's picture
Filomatic

Nice work.  The crumb is beautiful.  Very high % levain.

Valentinaa's picture
Valentinaa

Thank you, Filomatic. Appreciate it. :)

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

The most useful way to look at the amount of levain in a formula is as the percentage of the total flour that is pre-fermented. this formula has 20% pre-fermented flour, which is pretty customary.

Flour in 189 g of 66% hydration levain is about 113g of flour plus 463g of flour added to make final dough for total flour 576g. 113/576 = .2 (with rounding).

David

Filomatic's picture
Filomatic

I need to remember this.  Thanks for posting.

PereJoe's picture
PereJoe

Thanks for that explanation. So then, at that (66%) hydration rate in levain, the 20% rate of prefermentation flour gives a levain to final flour ratio (189/463) of 40%. 
I was under the impression levains should be in 20-25% range, but now that I dig into it I’m seeing 38-40% cited. Ok. Good to know for scaling recipes and estimating sizes of loaves. Thanks. 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Love the spelt in the dough too so this one is a bit different than most SFSD breads.  Has to taste as good as it looks.  Well done!

Welcome and happy baking 

TonyCass's picture
TonyCass

What is "SFSD"

pmccool's picture
pmccool

San Francisco Sourdough

Paul

AnotherLoaf's picture
AnotherLoaf

Nice photos, nice baking. marybeth

Valentinaa's picture
Valentinaa

Thank you all for the warm welcome. And happy baking! 

 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Great looking loaf!  Perfect crust and crumb.  Well done.

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

It looks delicious. I'm so glad you and your family enjoy it.

David

Valentinaa's picture
Valentinaa

Thank you, David. Yes, we all do enjoy it. :)

Bakerphil's picture
Bakerphil

Hi 

This looks lovely 

Can I just ask , what hydration do you always keep starter at ? And do you not let the dough rest to room temp before putting in the oven ? Thanks very much 

Valentinaa's picture
Valentinaa

Thank you. I keep my starter at 100% hydration. For this bread though, I form a stiff starter by feeding it once at 65-68% hydration prior to using it. There is no rest time at RT prior to it going into the oven - it just works better with my schedule that way. Happy baking!

 

TonyCass's picture
TonyCass

What is RT"

pfrancis's picture
pfrancis

What is SF after 45 minutes?

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Stretch and fold.

akabillie's picture
akabillie

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your recipe. I baked your formula today and it worked wonderfully.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWcGVPYATTO/?taken-by=feedbillie

Valentinaa's picture
Valentinaa

So happy it worked for you. The loaf looks amazing, well done. Enjoy.

Valentina

CHbkr's picture
CHbkr

You said your kitchen was hot. Do you know the actual temperature? Was your water at the same temp? My kitchen is hot during the summer as well (80-86F), and lately I've begun using cooled water to get the right dough temp.

Valentinaa's picture
Valentinaa

Hi,

I would say about 80 F. I use cool water right from the tap and don't heat it in the summer to get the dough to a right temperature.

valentina

TonyCass's picture
TonyCass

What is "RT"

Valentinaa's picture
Valentinaa

Sorry, I abbreviate too much. :)

Valentina

pmccool's picture
pmccool

I would have guessed "room temperature".

Paul

Valentinaa's picture
Valentinaa

It's been a while since my original comment. You are correct, that is room temp. :)

 

Valentina

Hollie Smokes's picture
Hollie Smokes

Hi Valentina, 

Proud to see Bucharest on the first page! I'm from Timisoara :)

It looks fantastic, well done!!

Andreea

Valentinaa's picture
Valentinaa

Hi Andreea,

 

Happy to see I am not the only Romanian around. :)

 

Thank you.

V.

ibakebread's picture
ibakebread

I used your recipe and it turned out nice. I added sunflower seed and poppy seed on top. sunflower seeds tend to burn, so I will avoid them next time. 

VonildaBakesBread's picture
VonildaBakesBread

What is “stiff starter”? My starter (never used...can’t wait to try my first loaf with a goal of making San Francisco some time after I do some learning) is 100% hydration.