Do nothing sourdough bread
I've been into sourdough baking just recently and made my first perfect loaf just two days ago. I've finally gotten the sourdough recipe right! Although I'm quite worried that I wouldn't be able to bake sourdough bread once summer's done. And so, I've planned to take the challenge and try this do-nothing bread recipe! I've adapted it and made my own recipe that I would be trying on Monday.
Here's the recipe:
Flour - 100%
Water - 85%
Salt - 2%
Starter - 1%
Flour - 375g (3 cups)
Water - 318.75g (318.75mL; 1 cup + 4.4 tbsp)
Salt - 7.5g (1.32 tsp)
Starter - 3.75g (3/4 tbsp)
21:00 - Feed starter
--- Next Day
07:00 - Refrigerate starter.
18:00 - Mix all ingredients.
--- Next Day
06:00 - Transfer to pan lined with oiled foil
06:20 - Refrigerate
19:00 - Take out of fridge, bake
I would barely be handling this dough at all. After mixing, I would go to bed. I would refrigerate it upon waking up. I've tailored this recipe to fit perfectly in my busy student schedule. I'm at home from 16:00 until 07:15 the following day.
Coating the dough with oil seems to be very necessary when baking in a turbo broiler since it hinders browning a lot. The aluminium foil prevents the dough from sticking from my stainless-steel cake pan which makes transferring a breeze.
Keep in mind that my room temperature could go as low as 77F at night and up to 95F at noon.
Is it also possible to leave the dough in the fridge for up to 24 hours? It would be awesome to have fresh bread in the morning.
If you managed to stop by this topic, would you mind checking my recipe for mistakes? Your help would be greatly appreciated!
Flour 100% (60% whole wheat, 40% bread)
Water 90%
Salt 2%
Starter 1%
This is the given recipe used by Yohann Ferrant. However the flour and hydration is flexible but should be of no need consistency. So for intance a 75% hydration bread flour will also work. There is a range and if 90% hydration is too high for you then drop it but should be the consistency of a no knead dough.
24 hours bulk ferment at room temperature with a fold at 12+ hours. Flexible here. Then it is a shape and final proof for one hour then bake.
Shaping is done very minimally. Watch his video as it's difficult to describe.
I intentionally brought hydration down to 85% as I've always had trouble handling anything over 75% and 90% seems like too much of a stretch for me. I saw someone else refrigerate their dough after 12 hours of bulk ferment, which I am more than willing to try.
My problem is that I might arrive home with an overproofed dough given the annoying room temperature of this tropical country, hence the 12 hour proof taking place in the fridge.
I've done a 5-hour bulk ferment, 20 minutes proof and 12 hour retard standard 70% hydration sourdough bread recipe. It works well for me as of the moment, but my schedule on regular non-summer days isn't as forgiving as it is now.
Very sound reasoning. Give it a go!
Another option might be to up the starter a tad to compensate for refrigeration time and still take into account the hot weather. Why not 2-3% starter? Try 1% and see how it works. If you think it might benefit from more starter then increase slowly till you find the correct percentage.
I would share what happened on Tuesday by the time I slice the loaf. Thanks for the advice!
I forgot to mention that I would be using 50% whole wheat and 50% bread flour as I do with my other recipes.
I would also be handling the dough more like cake batter than an actual dough with minimal handling.
I'm so excited for the outcome!
I just realized that the starter should actually be just 3/4 tsp, not tbsp. No wonder why it's already doubled in size after 3 hours... What do I do now? It's almost midnight and I'm feeling so nervous!
It should be 1/3 teaspoon! I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do anymore... Maybe It would still work? Holy cow, I don't even know.
Refrigerate.
Either shape now, refrigerate and bake in the morning.
Or refrigerate and when ready then shape final proof and bake.
I put an ice pack above it. Hopefjlly, it would exted proofing time for at least 6 hours... Or actually, maybe I should refrigerate it already
then refrigerate now. Carry on when you're ready to shape and final proof.
Or if you have time then carry on with shaping and final proofing etc.
Although I'm not quite sure how long I should proof it tomorrow since its fermented in the fridge... Thanks for the answers! Really appreciate it!
take it out, shape and final proof till it's just under doubled if an all white loaf. If you have done 50:50 then 80% risen. So fill the tin 3/4 and when it just begins to crest the top then bake in a pre-heated oven.
I have NEVER really tried proofing in room temp before baking, so this is going to be a bit tough for me. But I'll see.
Gosh, this is such a mess...
Will probably turn out very flavoursome. I don't see any mess.
Well, I wish! My first 4 loaves were all flavourful but very dense and gummy. Hope this one turns out good.
My failed recipe came out to be very dense and gummy. I guess I'll have to wait another week before I can attempt once again.
and it's only your 5th sourdough attempt, may I recommend a different recipe to start with?
Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough is a great first sourdough http://www.homecookingadventure.com/recipes/easy-sourdough-bread-vermont-bread
Anther lovely recipe is this one... https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/sourdough-pain-naturel/
Both produce tasty loaves.
Out of my 6 attempts, I've actually made 1 good loaf already. The first 5 attempts used the same recipe, but I actually followed a wrong recipe. In the recipe, I proof it for an hour in room temp, 12 hours in the fridge and an additional 2 hours in room temp before baking, which turned out to be overproofing. I modified it on the 5th attempt and had a misshapen but desirable loaf. My 6th attempt is this do-nothing bread where I accidentally put around 5-6% starter instead of 1%. It doubled in size within 3 hours and I refrigerated it. Brought it out of the fridge to shape and proof for an additional 2 hours and it turned out to be severely overproofed as the dough collapsed rather than rising during baking.
Actually, yeah. I've never really had any real success with sourdough, but I do have 1 recipe that actually works. I'm just trying this do-nothing recipe for my soon-to-be extremely busy schedule.
It's been relatively foolproof for me - he also has a version that subs rye for whole wheat that is delicious as well.
I've already made 3 successful, beautiful loaves using my recipe so I decided to try Vermont.
I instantly regretted it as soon as I started to mix the dough. It was soggy, so I assumed that it was going to be impossible to handle, and I wasn't wrong.
Kneading was tricky. Every time I try to pull the dough, at least a tablespoon of it would be stuck in my hand! It would always stick to my wooden cutting board even if I add a bit of water! It sticks to everything it touches! I thought that it would be fine after proofing as the flour is given time to absorb the water.
But shaping was even worse! I wouldn't doubt it if I used half a cup of flour to even try to get it to release from the cutting board! It almost poured off as I was trying to fold it. Impossible. I keep adding more flour, but the dough would just absorb all of the flour. After the 15 minutes rest, it stuck to the board again! I've added lots of flour under it and it still stuck to the board! It was a nightmare! Eventually, after tablespoonful and tablespoonfuls of flour, I was able to get it to a boule shape again before transferring. It's horrendous to see how much flour and sesame seeds I've spilled on the counter trying to shape it.
I've transferred it to a really oiled bowl. I added 2 tablespoons of oil instead of just 1 tablespoon I usually add. I also added a couple tablespoons of sesame seeds and oatmeal to play it safe. I've just transferred it to the fridge after 20 minutes on the counter, and it seems like it's starting to stick to the bowl again.
In conclusion, I'm never going to try Vermont recipe again, but I will make some adjustments and hopefully eventually make it work. As for now, it's a nightmare. Not really an 'easy' recipe if you ask me.
This recipe is low hydration and I'm wondering if it was a measuring problem. This should not be a sticky dough at all. Should actually be very manageable. Can you explain how you measure your ingredients and you using?
I can't believe I made such stupid mistake...
I forgot about the Rye! The 80g of Rye!
The dough was 71% without the Rye, and it was a nightmare. Although I'm not quite sure why... My regular IDY recipe is 70% hydration, but is still a lot more manageable for some reason (I dont even flour my work surface, nor hands when kneading it). This one's just a big mess.
I'm going to adjust everything again and try again next time. :/
And rye soaks up a lot of water. So a normal loaf of 70% hydration might still feel more manageable then a 71% sourdough with a high percentage of Levain.
I believe redoing this recipe with the rye will make all the difference.
Best of luck.
Rye is nowhere to be found. I've seen some kind of health shop vegan thingy before that sold some Bob something Red Mill (?) (I really can't remember anything), whole wheat and whatever, but no rye.
I'm just going to substitute it with bread flour, as I usually do.
Hamelman substitutes whole-wheat for rye in this recipe too. You want some wholegrain in there for best results.
So use strong bread flour + whole-wheat
That was what came up in my mind. Whole wheat is very accessible. I regularly buy WW flour in a baking store a couple of miles away from us.
I substitute half of the flour, of basically any recipe I'm alteady familiar with, with whole wheat every time.
Well, the dough deflated and came into the oven 1" thick... 30 minutes into baking and it seems to be at 1.5" thickness.
I CAN'T WAIT FOR MY PIZZA! I hate this
Or your second attempt?
Obviously, haha. It tasted okay. Although it was flat as ciabatta but as dense as regular bread. I might actually pass up on vermont and try no-knead overnight recipes instead
but I was going to say the same thing. Final dough hydration is listed as 65%, which would be typical of a sandwich style bread. I can see it being gloppy when you try to mix in the liquid levain but that should even out within a few minutes, even if mixing by hand.
Possibilities that come to mind include: a) measuring error, b) using a flour that doesn't absorb as much liquid, c) too much enzymatic action in the dough or starter. Something's definitely off because this is a go-to bread known for its comparative "friendliness", even for folks new to sourdough baking.
Once you figure out where things went of the tracks, do give it another try. It is a good bread to have in your repertoire.
Paul
I think I should give up on this recipe altogether as it took me 5 tries to get even my regular sourdough bread recipe to work.
Don't give up. Try the Hamelman which can be tweaked to fit your needs. I see you live in a warm place so you might experience over proofing so watch out and proceed onto the next step if things speed up. Never give up. Took me ages to get it right.
I'm giving up only on the do-nothing recipe. As for regular sourdough bread, I've found he right techniques that works well for me. It's just the timing that does't work out quite well with a busier schedule outside of summer.
I think I might try Hamelman's recipe and proof for 20 minutes + 20 hours in the fridge instead of proofing on room temp for 2.5 hours, since that would take up my entire schedule.
I have adapted the Hamelman recipe and blended it into David Snyder's San Joaquin one. I prepare 1Kg of dough for two 500g batards that are proofed in a linen couche. Here is the schema for timing assuming that you have prepared your starter the evening before:
So you have 3 hours of prep the first day and two hours the second day (depending on the temp of your kitchen. This method is highly reliable in my kitchen to the point I can probably do it blindfolded. I have a polyethylene food storage container with a nice seal that the dough goes into after the second step.