Bread Baking Recipes and Tips
RECIPES
Creating your own sourdough starter
Basic Sourdough (see below)
HELPFUL VIDEOS
How to videos from Ken Forkish
FAVORITE BREAD BOOKS
Flour Salt Water Yeast by Ken Forkish
Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson
The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart (this might be out of print, but his book Peter Reinhart’s
Artisan Breads Everyday is likely a great choice too!)
LOCAL FLOUR SOURCES
Helvetia Farm Market (they carry local wheat that they grind into flour to order!)
MORE RECIPES TO USE UP YOUR EXCESS SOURDOUGH STARTER!
Sourdough Cast Iron Pancakes, from New York Times
BASIC SOURDOUGH RECIPE
Ingredients
150 g mature sourdough starter
300 g water (room temp)
450 g flour (bread flour is preferred, but All Purpose will work too)
9 g salt
The ratio here is 1x starter, 2x water, 3x flour. Salt is 2% of flour weight. You can adjust depending on how large a loaf you’d like to bake, and how much starter you have on hand.
Directions
1. Weigh out 150g of starter into large bowl or plastic cambro with lid (feed remaining and save for another batch).
2. Mix in 300g water until it looks like a murky liquid with no lumps.
3. Add 450g flour, using your hands or a rubber spatula. It will look shaggy, and not very “dough like”. That’s ok.
4. Let sit for 20 min. This step is called autolyse, and gives the flour a chance to become fully hydrated. It also gives the starter a head start on doing its work before the salt is added.
5. After 20 min, mix in 9g salt (mix with 1-2 T of water to ease mixing). Fold/pinch dough a bunch (this video shows folding technique). Let sit in container with lid for 30 min.
6. Repeat folding process 2-3 more times, letting dough rest for 30 minutes in between.
7. Shape into round, proof in floured basket or floured tea towel lined bowl. Cover bowl and allow to ferment overnight in fridge.
8. In morning, turn oven to 500 degrees and place Dutch oven inside to heat.
9. Once oven is at temp, carefully place dough in Dutch oven (use parchment to ease in), cover with lid, bake for 20 min.
10. Remove lid, bake another 20 min. Give a bit longer if darker is desired.
11. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes. Cutting into warm bread will destroy texture and make the crumb gummy. Don’t be tempted!