Sourdough bread

• Makes: 1 loaf

• Recipe adapted from: https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/59-how-to-make-sourdough-bread
• See sourdough page for calculator.

Day 1: Refresh starter

Discard all but 15g starter. Add 75g water and mix. Add 75g white bread floud and mix. Wait for 10-12 hours. Repeat once more.

Day 2: Prepare dough and bake

70% hydration with 16.6% starter percentage. I’ve found that a dough with slightly lower hydration is easier to work with. The reduced starter percentage is more suitable for the relatively hot weather in Singapore.

Summary:

• 450g flour (315g white, 135g wheat)
• 300g water (66%)
• 75g starter (16.6%)
• 9g salt (2%)
• 60min autolyse
• 4h bulk ferment
• 1h ambient proof

Detailed steps:

1. Autolyse:
   1. Add 315g white bread flour.
   2. Add 135g wheat flour.
   3. Mix.
   4. Add 300g water.
   5. Mix. Use a bench scraper because it gets sticky.
   6. Wait 45min. Cover with damp towel.
2. Incorporate starter:
   1. Add 75g starter
   2. Mix by pinching
   3. Add 9g salt
   4. Add 9g water
   5. Mix by pinching
   6. Wait 10min. Cover with damp towel.
3. Build gluten:
   1. Mix by folding for about 10min.
   2. Check using windowpane test. Keep going for at most another 10min if it fails the test.
4. Bulk ferment for about 4 hours. Fold every 45min.
5. Shape loaf and place in banneton
6. Proof for about 1 hour.
7. Bake

Log

• 2024-08-31: Dough slumps when removed from banneton. Might be overproofed. Things to try in next batch: reduce bulk fermentation time, lower hydration to 75 to 70%, or reduce innoculation percentage from 18 to 15%.
• 2024-09-01: 70% hydraton, 16.6% starter percentage works well.
• 2024-09-07:
  • Same ratios as previous batch.
  • Didn’t bother trying to pass the windowpane test. Folded the dough only for about 3 minutes.
  • Bulk fermented for 2 hours at room temp, with folds every 30min, then retarded the fermentation in the fridge overnight. Continued the next day with an hour of bulk fermentation, then an hour of proofing before baking. Turned out about the same as the previous batch.