2020-05-25 – updated 2020-05-26

Quarantine Sourdough

Happy Towel Day! We’re going to make good use of our towel in this recipe.

I went into the COVID-19 pandemic without much in the way of yeast or flour. Do you know someone who started a sourdough starter during lockdown? Maybe it was you! It seems like everyone was baking during quarantine, or else they were all just hoarding flour. Regardless, I managed to find all-purpose flour at the local Korean grocery and began developing an easy sourdough bread recipe. It took 2 months to really figure it out, so let me save you some time and run through the basic steps that will get you a perfect loaf every time.

1. Strong Starter

I recommend feeding your starter once per day, at least in the beginning, to get to know its lifecycle. I keep two rubber bands on my starter jar, baseline and peak, so that I can observe when it hits its peak (or surpasses the record) and when it falls back to baseline. At the beginning, you may be feeding at a 2:1:1 (starter:water:flour) ratio, but if you want to build up its strength, you’ll want to feed at the right point in the lifecycle. I have been adjusting the feed ratio to use a smaller and smaller proportion of starter in order to time the rise and fall to approximately 24 hours or less. I currently am feeding with 10g starter for 100g total, which is around 1:4.5:4.5.

2. Levain

Your starter doesn’t necessarily need to be at its peak to start this step, as this is basically a way to create a large amount of starter that will be at its peak when you mix up the final dough. Put your levain* into a mason jar or similar see-through vessel so that you know precisely when it’s ready to use.

3. Autolyse

The autolyse* step is simply a way to overlap processes to reduce the length of the entire process by about an hour. It’s worth it when you’re trying to fit your dough prep into one day.

When you wet the flour, you hydrate enzymes that begin a chemical process that results in the formation of gluten, among other things. It takes around 45 minutes or so for a dough to fully hydrate, so do yourself a favor and mix it up at least an hour before you plan to add your levain.

4. Stretch & Folds

Stretch & folds are part of pretty much any recipe you’ll find that touts itself as a “no-knead bread” recipe. The fact is, bread dough needs kneading, whether it’s fast or very, very slow. Kneading helps distribute the masses of gluten produced by autolysis in a way that is beneficial for the shape of our final loaf, and so too does stretching & folding.

Continually stretching the dough and then folding it into itself, and then allowing some time for it to “relax” before folding again, turns a messy web of gluten into something more akin to a ball of rubber bands. I recommend doing stretch & folds every 30 minutes over the course of 2 hours, and using the windowpane test before moving on to bulk fermentation.

The windowpane test is simply stretching some of the dough between your fingers to see if you can get it think enough to let light through without tearing.

5. Bulk Ferment

This is, I’m embarrassed to say, the part that tripped me up the most. For any other bread recipe using commercial yeast, you expect the dough to rise by at least 2x before it’s ready to bake—not so with a sourdough. Your bulk rise, depending on the ambient temperature, should only go for around 4 or so hours, and may only rise at most by half its original volume. If your schedule is incompatible with that timeframe, you may be able to bulk ferment in the fridge for 8-12 hours instead.

6. Shaping

Shaping the dough before it’s final proof reinforces the shape you want your final loaf to be. This involves 2 sub steps, the pre-shape and the final shape. The pre-shape is like a final stretch & fold, but this time you do it on an unfloured surface, flip it onto the seam, and use your bench scraper to turn and pull it to build some tension across the top. Let it rest for 15-20 minutes to relax, and then do the final shaping.

There are many, many ways to do the final shaping, and they generally depend on what the shape of the loaf and your proofing basket is. I have had good results with the trifold-rollup method.

7. Final Proof

The final proof should be done in the fridge, for a number of reasons. One, it helps build flavor slowly; two, a cold dough is easier to work with as you prepare to put it in the oven, and definitely easier to score; and three, a cold dough will rise better in the oven, since it will release steam slower and more evenly.

The proofing basket you use will dictate the final shape of your loaf. I like my round rattan banneton, and I generally use it without the included cloth covering. If using a normal bowl or proofing basket with a cloth, rub a generous amount of flour into the cloth. If not using the cloth, wet the banneton until it drips, knock out excess water, and dust with rice flour. Put in enough rice flour until it no longer sticks and dump out the excess.

8. Scoring

Scoring the dough right before baking provides a means for the bread to expand and steam to escape, making for better oven spring.

9. Baking With Steam

Steam is important for the first 20 minutes of baking, as it prevents the surface of the dough from hardening so that it can rise as much as possible. I prefer the dutch-oven method as it is the simplest: just bake for the first 20 minutes in the preheated dutch oven with the lid on, which prevents the dough’s own steam from fully escaping.

If you don’t have a dutch oven, you can also put a tray on the oven rack below the bread and throw some ice on it when you put your bread in. You may need to remove this tray after 20 minutes if there’s still water in it, which can be precarious.

After the first 20 minutes, bake for at least another 20 or until your desired crust darkness is achieved.

One final tip, if you want your bread nice and crusty: when the bread is almost done, turn off the oven and crack open the door for the final 10 minutes. This will allow steam to escape, achieving a super crispy exterior.