Have had mixed feelings about my starter and said screw it and made a loaf. I think it came out near perfect? My designs didn’t stay but the texture, taste, and bounce were what I’ve been told they should be. Possibly a small gummy crust line that I didn’t notice at first, so maybe under proofed?

- The recipe was 97g starter, 400g flour, 275g water, and 8g salt (my measurements were not perfect and a little over on everything)
- I mixed, let sit for 30 min, then I did 4 stretch and folds 30 min apart from each other
- Total time from mix to fridge was 7-8 hours
- Sat in fridge for about 22 hours
- Took loaf out and baked immediately from fridge
- Used a ceramic loaf pan and a metal one for covering
- Cooked at 465 for 30 min, and about 10~15 minutes uncovered at 430 (honestly don’t remember how long uncovered but temp tested before pulling out and it was 210 degrees roughly)
- Let cool on counter for about 20 hours

Edit: I keep my house at about 69 degrees

I just tried this recipe as it came highly recommended by a lot of people. I did my weekly feed for my fridge discard the night before and left it on the counter overnight before popping back in the fridge. A few hours later I decided to make these cheesy crackers. They are DELICIOUS! Mine ended up light and poofy. I’m guessing because my discard was active. I also didn’t put the little hole in the middle, so I don’t know if that made a difference. Regardless, they are yummy!!
The first pic is mine, the second is what it’s supposed to look like.

Recipe in case you don’t have it:

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
4 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
4 tbsp sourdough discard
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tsp water cold
Sea salt for topping

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl, add cheese, room-temperature butter, salt and garlic poweder. Mix with a hand mixer on medium speed for two minutes or until fully combined and fluffy.

Add sourdough starter to the cheese mixture and mix and high until combined.

Add flour to the cheese mixture and mix until fully combined, about one minute.

Add the cold water and mix for a few seconds, until you can press the dough between two fingers and it holds its form.

Press the dough into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap, cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

After cooling, roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper until it is ⅛” thick.

Use the pasta cutter wheel to cut out square shapes in the dough. Finish by poking a hole in the middle of each cracker with a chopstick.

Sprinkle tops with sea salt

Transfer the crackers to a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake at 350° F. for 15-18 minutes until golden brown around the edges.

Enjoy!

An ode to the 7lb+ cabbage head I harvested from my garden yesterday

My recipe for decorative scoring: 325g warm filtered water (my kitchen is usually 73 degrees so I heat the water to 90 degrees) 10g salt 110g starter 475g flour - mix, wait 30 mins, 1 round of stretch and folds, wait 30 mins, 3 rounds of coil folds over the next 1.5hrs, bulk ferment (I have a warm kitchen so usually 4 hours), lightly shape, bench rest 20 mins, shape and into the rice flour dusted basket, stitch after 10mins, covered and into the fridge overnight (12-15hrs), 1hr preheat at 500 degrees (Dutch Oven inside on Pizza Stone), 30mins into preheat pop the loaf in the freezer, when oven is ready, loaf onto dough sling, brush off loaf, spray and evenly wet loaf, rice flour sprinkle and rub, decorative score, into the oven for 6-7mins, expansion score, back in with lid on for 15mins, lid off temp down to 475 for 15-20mins

130g wholemeal rye flour

30g rye bran flakes

320g all purpose flour

150g started (1:4:5)

340g water

10g salt

I mixed everything in the evening, gave it a few stretch and folds, was too sleepy to wait for bulk fermentation to be done so covered the bowl with plastic wrap and placed in the fridge

In the morning took it out, let it ferment at room temp until the dough wasn't cold

Then i forgot about it and it fermented too much haha

But i shaped anyway and baked immediately for 45 minutes at 225° or so

Tastes good, soft inside and crunchy outside

I told a customer at my serving job that I love to bake and turns out he's a sourdough and pizza baker! He gifted me some of his established starter last week and I finally made my first loaf, so proud :'-)

I used this recipe but I baked it at 450f with the lid on for 20 mins, and then 425f with the lid off for 20 minutes, after which I made sure the internal temp was between 200-210f.

I have learned that I definitely need a lame and rice flour for my next attempt, but I'm so happy with the looks and flavor!

I've been trying to get this to work for nearly a year now. I have wasted hundreds of dollars at this point trying to get edible bread that isn't either foccacia or wet sponge and have, to date, only made five loaves that are actually "good."

Please offer suggestions before I dump my starter and give away my bannetons. Recipe came from friend who has never had a failed loaf.

Recipe:

1000g KA

20g salt

700g water

50g EVOO

200g starter (1:2:2 WW/Rye, as was gifted to me, fed night before and used at peak)

Mix, knead 5-10 minutes.

Rest 15-30, s+f 6 times (15 min. x2, 30 min. x2, 1 hour x2).

Coil fold into bulk at ~4 hour mark. 4-5 hours bulk in 72°-75° kitchen.

Split, gentle reshape, rest 1 hour.

Shape, banneton, store, bake 500° for 20 min., 450° for 30.

This, more often than not, is what I see after bench rest. I just want bread.

Additional pics of some end results.

Help?

Pics 1 & 2 are my first loaf. Pics 3,4,5 are my second loaf. Was provided some starter from a family member! This is my first loaf EVER. Followed an online recipe

1 cup (227g) ripe (fed) sourdough starter

1 3/4 cups (397g) water, lukewarm

5 cups (600g)

1 tablespoon (18g) table salt

Mixed starter with water, once combined mixed in the flour, once combined mixed in the salt. Combined/kneaded for ~2 minutes. Covered for one hour, picked it up out of the bowl and let it fold on it self a few times, (repeated last step twice). Fridge 6 hours. Removed from fridge, shaped dough while cold, covered and rest for 1 hour. Oven on 450°F with dutch oven inside, once at temp removed dutch oven. Dusted dough with flour, Placed strip of parchment in the dutch, slapped the dough down into the dutch, scored the dough ball, covered and in oven for 40 mins, top off and finished uncovered for 12 minutes. Cooled on rack for 1-2 hours.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS PLEASE!!

Pics one and two are my first loaf. Pics 3/4/5 are my second loaf.

Began my sourdough journey in April, this is my 10th loaf or so and I think I’ve finally gotten a good procedure down, but would appreciate any feedback to improve!

Ingredients:
400g unbleached AP
100g whole wheat
370g water
150g starter
12g salt

Process:
Slightly warm filtered water in microwave. Mix starter, flours, and 360g water. Rest 1 hour.

Incorporate salt and additional 10g water. Perform first stretch and folds, with 3 additional stretch and folds/coil folds spaced 30 minutes apart.

Bulk ferment for ~3.5 more hours (6 hours from initial mix) at 25C. Cold proof in fridge 11 hours.

Preheat Dutch oven at 500F. Bake at 450F for 25 minutes covered, 25 uncovered.

Cooled 1.5 hours on a wire rack before cutting.

TIA!

5 Loaf Bulk Fermentation

500g active starter
1750g water
2500g bread flour
50g salt

2 sets of stretch and folds spaced 30 mins apart, 2 sets of coil folds spaced 30 mins apart

temped at 76 after last set of coil folds

has been bulk fermenting on the counter for around 5 hours

To me, this dough is looking nearly ready for shaping. But I’m inclined to let it ride just a little longer, maybe 30 mins to 1 hr? I don’t want it to over proof but I do think it’s slightly underproofed at this point. What is the consensus?

I’ve been trying some new flour combinations with my classic loaves, but just couldn’t get the hydration right. I’m happy with this one. Turns out, higher protein content doesn’t necessarily mean we must seek a higher hydration.

In baker’s percentages:

Total flour = 100%
- 10% einkorn flour
- 10% pizza flour (16% protein)
- 80% strong white bread flour (14% protein)

Hydration excluding starter:
- 63% autolyse, based on the flour’s weight (so [weight x 0.63])
- 5% maple syrup (to tend siblings and their kids’ palates)
- 2% neutral oil (I use algae oil, for conservation purposes)

Starter
- 40% of the flour weight (it’s a lot but I’m a busy bee)
- Added after 3h autolyse

Process after adding starter
- Slap and folds
- 3 rounds of coil folds
- Rest until dough no longer sticks and pulls away from the bowl
- Pre-shape and final shape

I don’t always refrigerate, I sometimes just go for a bench rest until I have a satisfying slow come-back poke test. This one went into the fridge for 4 hours.

Baked in a bread cloche at 230°C after preheating at 250°C. Removed after 36 minutes. I don’t uncover my loaves, nor do I add water.

I do feel like since adding the pizza flour I get less of an ear, but honestly it doesn’t really matter.

Hello All! My first time posting on this sub and I had to post this one! So proud of it
Ingredients :
500g AP flour (12% protein)
50g starter (my starter is 65% hydration)
425g water
11g salt
Around 60-70g evoo (for later)
Process : (I roughly followed this recipe and tweaked it, here’s the link : https://saltnsprinkles.com/sourdough-focaccia-recipe/?mcp )

First I mixed about 375g of water with 500g flour and rested it for 15-20 minutes. After resting, mixed 50g starter (I used a lower amount because it's very hot and humid where I live) with 50g water and added to the mix. Roughly mixed together and covered again to rest for 30 mins.
After resting, I added the salt mixed in a bit of water while doing the first set of stretch and folds.
After the first set, I did 4 sets of coil folds and they were 10-15 minutes apart.
My goal was to not let it over ferment, so I rested it after the folds for around 30-45 minutes only. It looked bubbly on top, uniform surface and jiggly. Transferred to an oiled container to cold ferment for 24 hours! in the last photo, I posted the comparison picture of day 1 vs day 2 cold ferment.
Transfer to a well oiled pan from the fridge and cover it until it spreads till the edges itself. Mine took about 2 hours. The difference between day 1 & day 2 was very clear - the dough was puffier, had a lot more air in it and small bubbles at the bottom. Taste wise the tang was very well balanced and mellow. I only added sea salt on top, nothing else.

I have baked a few loaves and made a few discard recipes now and I’m trying to put together my own recipes, with some help from Google, YouTube, etc. I have some experience with yeast breads, so I tried to change one of my favorites into a sourdough recipe that was soft with a tight crumb, a little sweet, but the nice tang of sourdough.
It tastes dead on and was nice and soft. Maybe a little too dense, not bad. I’m thinking of increasing the hydration to maybe 65-70 next time? Would that still give me a tight crumb like a sandwich loaf?

Recipe below. It has a lot of terminology and notes because I’m still learning it all 🙈

Experimental Soft Sweet & Tangy Sourdough Sandwich Loaf - Lactose Free (55% hydration)

Ingredients:

AP Flour 514g
Warm Lactose Free Whole Milk 300g (87% water, 261g water)
Local Honey 40g (18% water, 7g)
Green Valley Lightly Salted Lactose Free Butter 40g (18% water, 7g)
Fine Sea Salt 10g
Sourdough Starter (bubbly at peak) 100g (67% hydration, 60g flour, 40g water)

Instructions:

Autolyse / Fermentolyse:

Mix flour, milk, honey, and starter until incorporated. Let rest 30 minutes to let flour hydrate without salt or fat.

Add salt. Knead or use stand mixer with dough hook on medium-low speed 3-5 minutes until smooth and holds its shape

Add butter one tbsp at a time (Rubaud Method). This will get kind of slippery and squishy. Keep kneading/mixing about 5-7 minutes. The dough will come together and get silky smooth.

Once butter is completely incorporated, continue kneading/mixing another 5-7 minutes until the dough clears from the sides of the bowl and sticks to the dough hook. The dough will feel silky smooth and stretchy enough to pass a window pane test.

Bulk Fermentation (1st rise):

Put dough in a greased bowl, cover, and put in a warm spot (78-80F).

If kneading, let rest for 30 minutes, then do a set of coils or stretch and folds every 30 minutes for 2 hours.
(No need if using a stand mixer)

Let rise 50% (about 3-4 hours)

Shape and 2nd Rise:

Take dough and press into a rectangle. Fold one side over and then the other like a letter for an envelope, then roll up and tuck ends under, pinching the seam. Put in a greased loaf pan seam side down.
Cover pan and place in a warm spot until dough rises to the top of the pan (about 2 hours)

Cold Proof:

Put covered loaf pan in fridge. The milk, honey, and butter slow down fermentation a bit. Keep 10-16 hours, the longer, the tangier.

Remove from fridge and score

Bake:

Preheat to 375F
Bake 35-45 minutes. Once it hits 30 minutes check often. The sugar + butter can burn easy. If getting too brown tent with aluminum foil

Remove when browned and sounds hollow when you knock on it. Turn out on a cooling rack immediately. Let sit until completely cool.

Eat and enjoy!

First cinnamon loaf

450 g unbleached all purpose flour (Canadian)
50 g whole wheat flour (Canadian )
100g starter
10g salt
350g water

Mixed flour and water let autolyse for an hour
Pinched and folded in starter and salt then mixed by the rubaud technique for about 8 mins , let rest for 30 mins
Then did slap and folds on the counter , dough was not sticky and really had good gluten strength already , rested for 30 mins
Did one stretch and fold, rest 30 mins
Did 2 coil folds , rested 30 mins apart
Transferred to my glass 16 oz measuring cup
And let bulk until it rised 40 %, house is cool so I had it in the oven with the light on, dough was at 80 degrees when I did my final temp check
Once bulk was almost done , I plumped up the raisins in hot water, melted the butter and added in the cinnamon and brown sugar, let them cool, and patted the raisins so they weren’t soggy, then i
Pre shaped by using my bench scraper to shape into a tight ball, let rest for 20 mins ,
Then I shaped dough by laminating in a rectanglle, placed filling on the middle 1/3 then pressed raisins in, folded the left side over top of the middle added more filling and raisins, folded the right side over , added more filling and raisins, then rolled that into a giant log, pitched the outer seems,
Placed in rice floured banneton shaped rest for 15 mins, then popped on a shower cap and placed in the fridge,
Total bulk was 7 hours from the time I mixed starter to putting into fridge,
Cold proofed for 10 hours,
Scored using the plus cut
Popped in a preheated combo cooker for 25 mins lid on, at 450 degrees, then 20 mins lid off, let cool for 2 hours !
I think next time I will fold the raisins into the dough and just do the filling paste the way I did above, raisins fall out when eating lolol

I used to feel like I didnt know what I was doing but I'm actually starting to make some consistently tasty loaves..

Does this crumb look well proofed? I tried something new and did 5 hours bulk ferment and let it rise again in the bannoton for 2 hours before placing it in the fridge overnight.

I dont know if letting it rise in the bannoton again did anything but it seems larger and tastes amazing 😋

500g bread flour

100g starter

330g water

20g avocado oil

12g salt

1. 1 hr fermentolyse – 1 hour rest

2. Slap and fold in salt and oil for 10 mins – 30 min rest

3. 1x stretch and fold – 30 min rest

4. 2x coil fold - 30 min rest in between

5. 7 hour bulk ferment in total (started at 80°F, cooled to 74/75°)

6. Shaped and placed in bannoton. I let it proof for 2 hours until it filled the bannoton and then put it in the fridge, was trying something new!

7. Preheat dutch oven with oven 450°F for 1 hour. (sheet pan under dutch oven which prevents burnt bottom!)

8. Bake for 30 min lid on with an ice cube, 15 mins lid off.

2 hr cool prior to cut.

TL;DR GD MFer is effing under proofed!!!

Ok - I’ve gotten a handle on same day bakes. Pretty consistent, good flavor, yards yada yada. Well this batch ended up being cooler (68-69°f) than I expected after mixing as I wasn’t paying attention to the temperature as closely as I should have. Well obviously that means a much longer bulk. So I consulted “the chart” to give myself an idea of time frame (yeah , I know it’s variable). Roughly 14 hours to about 90% with a cold retard. Well, when I went to shape in the morning it was pretty slack, so very close to 100%. I decided to try my smaller bannetons so I divided and shaped (wrong choice, as divided it was too small) and into the fridge for about 9 hours. And wouldn’t ya effing know it, the MFer is under-proofed. I wasn’t sure, as the sizing threw off the shape - but cutting it open it totally appears under proofed. Thoughts

367g water
11g salt
100g levain
518g bread flour

Mix with 3 lamentations. Dough was about 68-69°f, bulked for about 14 hours (looked 90% 🤷‍♂️) , cold retard for about 9 hours and baked

my starter is about 4 weeks old, and it seems to only double exactly, is it supposed to be rising more than this? i tried to make a loaf about a week ago and determined that my starter was not strong enough yet because my loaf looked underproofed even after the dough fermented for 12+ hours. does this starter look strong enough for a loaf? i feed a 1:2:2 ratio of unbleached AP flour and use filtered water. the temperature in my house is usually around 73-75 degrees. the first two photos are after feeding it and the last two are about 24 hours after being fed. it seems to take a very long time for it to rise, but i normally don’t catch it at peak because i feed it in the evenings. i feel like it should be rising more than this, please help!!!

would love feedback on how to get a more open crumb. i think I'm probably stretch and fold, and stitching too aggressively.

recipe:
475g flour (95g bobs whole wheat, 380g Costco AP)
335g water
95g starter (bit stiffer, feed at 1:10:9, starter:flour:water)
10g salt

1. I autolyse just the flour and water for ~0.5-1hr and then add in the starter and salt.
2. 3-4 stretch and folds and coil fold, 30-60min apart
3. bulk ferment ~4hrs
4. pre-shape, rest for 30 min, then shape
5. cold ferment 1-2 days in the fridge
6. bake at 450F (dutch oven preheated for at least 30min), for 20min in dutch oven (with lid) and 20min with lid off cool for at least .5-1hr

I’ve also been experimenting with miso sesame (first 3 pics)! 50g white miso mixed in with water at autolyse, adjust to 5g salt instead of 10g, add 65g sesame at first stretch and fold

The measurements are 750g water, 200g levain, 1000g flour and 20g salt. My usual method is autolyse, bulk ferment, then cut into two loaves, bench rest, then shape and put in bannetons overnight to bake in the morning. I bake the loaves in a dutch oven with the lid on at 480° for 25 minutes then remove the lid and reduce the temp to 450°and continue baking for another 25 minutes. I've been doing this method for a long time and am happy with my results but want to try baking in a Pullman loaf pan with the lid. What would you recommend to get a good loaf in a Pullman while minimizing changes to the recipe/method?

ETA: my pan is 13" x 4" x 4"

• 100g starter
• 300ml water
• 500g bread flour
• 10g salt

Mix starter, water & flour and rest for 2hrs

Add salt & knead. Rest for 30 min

Stretch & fold 5 times (every 30 min)

Proof for 3 hrs

Bake covered for 30 min at 400F then 10 min uncovered

Remove from oven and cool

So I have been struggling with shaping my boules and scoring them to get a nice oven spring!
I watched the muscle momma sourdough for scoring and shaping and it finally gave me a nice loaf!

450 g unbleached all purpose flour (Canadian)
50 g whole wheat flour (Canadian )
100g starter
10g salt
350g water

Mixed flour and water let autolyse for an hour
Pinched and folded in starter and salt then mixed by the rubaud technique for about 8 mins , let rest for 30 mins
Then did slap and folds on the counter , dough was not sticky and really had good gluten strength already , rested for 30 mins
Did one stretch and fold, rest 30 mins
Did 2 coil folds , rested 30 mins apart
Transferred to my glass 16 oz measuring cup
And let bulk until it rised 40 %, house is cool so I had it in the oven with the light on, dough was at 80 degrees when I did my final temp check
Once bulk was done I let the dough fall out of the bowl, it was jiggly, airy, had ALOt of bubbles, not sticky and felt like a marshmallow
Pre shaped by using my bench scraper to shape into a tight ball, let rest for 20 mins ,
Then I shaped dough by laminating in a rectangle, folded 1/3 over, on top of the middle, then the other 1/3 onto the middle, rolled with edges going inward, then pushed and pulled until it was a nice boule,
Placed in rice floured banneton shaped rest for 15 mins, then popped on a shower cap and placed in the fridge,
Total bulk was 7 hours from the time I mixed starter to putting into fridge,
Cold proofed for 10 hours,
Scored using the plus cut
Popped in a preheated combo cooker for 25 mins lid on, at 450 degrees, then 20 mins lid off, let cool for 2 hours !

First loaf!! Have to say it came out way better than I expected and most importantly it tasted amazing!! I know I have some work to do so open to any and all suggestions.

Recipe: I followed this YouTube video - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VEtU4Co08yY&pp=ygUPc291cmRvdWdoIGJyZWFk

Only difference was I kept the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit and cooked for 30 minutes with the top on and 15 with it off. Let my loaf cool off for an hour before cutting.

I’m definitely making it again and maybe adding sundried tomatoes and roasted garlic to this. Its so delicious!!

110g starter
340g chicken broth
500g bread flour
10g salt

Inclusions:
4-5 T tomato paste
Dried dill
Dried parsley

Mix to shaggy dough, 4 sets stretch and fold. On 2nd stretch and folds, add inclusions.

Bulk ferment 2-4hrs, shape and place in banneton.

Cold fermented 2 days before i baked at 450F. 30min lid, 15min off.

Cool overnight.