Howl Brewing
Ocean Air
Sourdough in a Dash
| This is about baking a basic sourdough bread in 'one' day, using your 'active' starter and without having to worry about feeding/refreshing your starter every day during the week. What kind of a baking schedule can we devise to help reduce the worry while still ensuring we can have fresh bread when we want it? A 'one day-ish' schedule (one day prep, and one day bake), |
| The sourdough starter for these instructions is named Xena. This is for one loaf, double all ingredients to make two. |
Day 0 - Prep Day
| This is the 'ish' part of one day-ish. It's the day before the bake and Xena has been hanging out in your fridge for maybe a week or so, and she's a little tired. So to get her strength back before the bake, You'll need to feed her a couple of times. |
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Day 1 - Bake Day
| This is the 'day' part of one day-ish. It's bake day and Xena has been growing and gaining strength overnight. So double check your recipe, get all your ingredients out and your work space prepared, it's time to bake! |
1 - Mix and Autolyse - 1 Hour
| When Xena is mature (close to max height in the bottle) you're ready to combine and mix the ingredients, just follow the steps in order. Fill a bowl with some water and place it on your work surface. | ||
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| Weight | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| 480g | All-purpose white flour (Rogers Unbleached) | |
| 292g | Water (90 degree F) | |
| 11g | Salt (sea salt) | |
| 16g | Gluten (Bob's Red Mill) | |
| 2.5g | Diastatic Malt | |
| 80g | Sourdough Starter (100% hydration) | |
| ||
2 - Bulk Fermentation - 2 Hours
| Bulk fermentation, or first rise, is when the dough is leavened (through the production of carbon dioxide gas) and flavored (through the production of organic acids) as a result of natural fermentation. It's going to take 2 hours and you'll give the dough sets of stretch and folds 5 times, every 15 minutes at the start, then cover and keep warm for the remaining time. | ||
| Each set consists of 4 folds, one at the North, South, East and West sides. Wet your hands with a little water to prevent sticking and then lift up one side (North) of the dough with two hands. Stretch the dough up high enough just so that you can fold it completely over to the other side of the dough in the bowl. Rotate the bowl 180° and do the other side (South). Finish the other two sides (East and West) to complete the set. Let the dough rest, covered, between times. | ||
| If your recipe has additions, like seeds (I use 25g of pumpkin seeds), add them before the start of the 3rd stretch and folds. | ||
| Here's the routine: | ||
| Time | Stretch and Folds | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 4 sets | |
| 15 min | 2 sets | |
| 30 min | 2 sets (additions before starting) | |
| 45 min | 2 sets | |
3 - Preshape and Rest - 30 Minutes
| Scrape out your dough from the bowl onto your dry counter. Using a wet hand and your bench knife in the other, gently preshape into a loose round. Let the dough rest, uncovered, for 30 minutes until its relaxed outward. |
4 - Shape and Rise - 2.5 Hours
| As seen in the video below, flour the top of the round and your hands (or just use wet hands) and flip it over. Take the bottom edge and fold it up to about the middle. Take the left and right sides in your hands and fold the right over to about 2/3 of the left side. Repeat for the left side. Then, take the top and fold down to about the middle and gently seal. This should form a little envelope shape. | ||
| If you are using a loaf pan just modify the shape to be oblong. | ||
| Line a Dutch oven or loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper, then place the dough into it. This is a good time to add decorative/tasty sesame seeds while the dough is sticky. Cover with plastic or damp cloth and keep warm. | ||
5 - Oven Preheat - 30 Minutes
| Most instructions call for preheating your oven at 450°F, but my oven can't go that high and it's a convection oven, so I bake at 400°F on the dial. It should take 30 minutes for the oven to come up to temp and you can monitor the dough rise, and extend the time if needed. |
6 - Bake
| For a decorative look you can drop some flour on and smear it across with the back of your hand. Then score the top with a razor blade or very sharp knife and if using a Dutch oven,bake for 25 minutes covered. After this time, remove the lid and finish baking for 20-25 minutes or until done. | ||
| If using a loaf pan, try this (I haven't). Bake for 35 minutes at 425°F. After this time, turn the temperature down to 375°F and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until done. | ||
| The internal temp should be around 205-210°F (96-99°C). Remove the loaf to a cooling rack for 2 hours before slicing. | ||
