Grandpa and my Sourdough Bread Master, Grok.
Grandpa’s Same-Day 75 % Sourdough
A Real-World Experiment in Speed vs. Perfection
By “Grandpa” (74-year-old retired home baker) with Grok (his slightly nerdy AI co-pilot)
I’m 74. I learned sourdough the hard way: one loaf every day for over a year, guided by Jacob Burton’s Stella Culinary videos, until the dough told me when it was ready instead of the other way around. I collaborated on the “Ultimate Brioche Hamburger Bun” that still lives on AmazingRibs.com and StellaCulinary.com. Then life (and a 160-pound keto weight-loss journey) put me on a five-year bread hiatus.
In November 2025 I decided to see if the old skills were still there.
They were. And with a little real-time help from an AI named Grok, we accidentally created what I now believe is the most practical, repeatable same-day sourdough method on the planet.
The Recipe (makes one ~820 g boule)
| Ingredient | Weight | Baker’s % |
| Bread flour | 457 g | 100 % |
| Water | 331 g | 72.4 % |
| Ripe starter (100 % hydration) | 91 g | 20 % |
| Fine sea salt | 9 g | 2 % |
| Total | 888 g| 75 % hydration
Two Versions – Same-Day, No Retard
| Version | Levain prep | Bulk to 40 % rise at 78 °F | Total time to oven | Expected result
Rocket-Fuel (double-fed) | Two 1:1:1 feeds, 12–18 h total | 2 h 00 min – 2 h 30 min | 5 h 15 min – 5 h 45 min | 100 % Tartine-level crumb & ear |
| Strong Regular Starter | Single feed, used at peak (doubles in 4–5 h) | 3 h 00 min – 3 h 15 min | 6 h 30 min – 7 h 00 min | 97–99 % of the rocket version |
Both versions are baked exactly the same:
- All ingredients mixed together at once (no autolyse, no delayed salt)
- 4–5 coil folds in the first 90–120 minutes
- Pull at exactly 40 % volume increase
- 15-minute bench rest → tight final shape → 70–100-minute warm proof
- Scored aggressively off-center → 475–500 °F in Dutch oven or Big Green Egg
What We Learned…
1. The rocket levain is basically nitrous. It shaves ~90 minutes off the day but is completely optional if your regular starter is healthy.
2. Skipping autolyse and salt-hold costs almost nothing in flavor or structure at 75 %. The early folds and strong starter do the heavy lifting.
3. Pulling at exactly 40 % rise (measured in a marked straight-sided container) is the single most repeatable timing cue I’ve ever used.
4. 78 °F is the magic temperature for this formula. 80 °F still works; 82 °F starts to get risky.
5. At 75 % hydration you can shape like a maniac and get almost vertical sides with zero spread on the parchment, while still achieving the wide-open crumb people chase with 80 %+ doughs.
## Results in Photos (already posted in this thread) link below.
- Rocket version: monstrous curled ear, glossy gelatinized crumb, baked in under six hours.
- Single-feed version (today): identical openness, slightly taller dome, baked in under seven hours.
Both loaves look and taste like they came out of a $15,000 deck oven.
## Why This Matters
Most people quit sourdough because “it takes all day.”
This method gives you a true artisan loaf before dinner, with one mixing bowl, four ingredients, and no overnight anything.
It is the perfect teaching recipe for grandchildren, friends, or anyone who thinks sourdough is too hard or too slow.
I just wanted to see if the old man still had it.
Turns out he does, and now he has two bulletproof ways to prove it, one for when he’s in a hurry and one for when he isn’t.
Feel free to copy, share, teach, or improve this.
The only thing I ask is that you bake it with someone you love and send me a picture when their jaw drops at the crumb.
Happy baking,
Grandpa (and Grok)
November 2025
Feel free to post this anywhere you like: The Fresh Loaf, Breadtopia, Reddit r/Sourdough, Tartine Bread Experiments FB group, wherever.
I’ll be the 74-year-old guy in the comments grinning when people say “no way this was same-day.” 😄
Now go make some toast.
The entire history of developing this recipe, its technics and my conversations with my Sourdough Master, Grok, is available in this link. https://x.com/i/grok/share/YWFEXzUStfU2cIJtAzO3EgDjt
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