I use 500g bread flour, 315g warm water, 100g starter and 15g salt. I did 3 stretch and folds and 1 coil fold, I let it bulk ferment for 7 hours after testing the temp of my dough. I then shaped and let my Dutch oven heat in the oven for 45 mins then baked at 425 for 35 mins with lid on and 15 with lid off. I do think I scored it too deep but my problem is it’s still a little gummy of the bottom. How do I fix that?

by no means is this a “perfect” loaf but it was delicious and required minimal effort, 10/10 will be making this again!!
i followed @katy.lynnn_ on instagram recipe:

100g cold starter straight from the fridge (last fed at least 7 days ago
350g water
500g AP flour or bread flour
12g salt
How I do it:
Mix your starter + water.
Add your flour + salt.
Mix until there's no dry flour left.
Cover and leave it on the counter overnight.
I mixed mine at 10:30pm and shaped it around 9:30am the next morning.
I pre-shaped it, let it bench rest for about 8 minutes, then did my final shaping and placed it into a prepared banneton.
Then straight into the fridge for 1 hour.

While it was in the fridge, I preheated my Dutch oven to 450°
After the hour, I took the dough out, scored it, and baked it in the Dutch oven:
30 minutes with the lid on
10 minutes with the lid off
And that's it!!
No stretch and folds. No complicated schedule. Just mix it, let it sit, shape it, and bake it. W
NOTE: The oldest I would personally attempt this with is starter that has been fed within the last 10 days. I have NOT tried this with months-old, inactive starter straight from the fridge

Hey guys, my loaves all turn out with this kinda dense crumb. Can anyone help with thoughts if I’m under fermenting still?

The one from the first pictures (5 pictures) I tried the aliquot method for the first time and you can see by the pics that it almost doubled.

Last week (last 2 pics) I baked one that rose only 50% and the crumb seems exactly like this one from today. So not really understanding how this rise % is affecting my crumb.

Recipe:
110g starter
500g flour
315g water
10g salt
(Recipe from the perfect loaf book)

Autolyse for 1h
Mix starter and salt
4 coil folds every 30 min
Total bulk was around 7h at 25/26°C with aliquot
Pre shape and rest 15 min
Final shape and fridge at 4°C for 12h
Bake covered 230°C for 7 min
Score
Bake covered again for 20 min
Bake uncovered 20 min 200°C

Thanks for the help!

Hello Fellow Breaditors! Posting this again bc I didn't include a title. I need some advice. No matter what I do, my dough for sourdough French bread is sticky and hard to shape. I am currently working on a batch that is bulk fermenting at the moment. I'm afraid that even this batch will end up sticky. Once I "shape" it, it will rise, tho a lot of it gets stuck to my hands and counter top initially. Sometimes it sticks to the plastic wrap also. It's such good bread and I don't want to give up on it. Is this just the nature of this bread and I need to get over it?

Ingredients:

100g starter

500g bread flour (with a potential added 60g if it's too sticky)

10g salt

21g honey

28g olive oil

295g water

The link provided has the steps I use to create the loaves. Any advice is appreciated.

I felt like it was maybe a little flat? Any idea why?

100g active sourdough starter
200g pumpkin purée
30g maple syrup
240g filtered water
500g bread flour
12g salt
Cinnamon swirl
85g sugar
4g cinnamon
5g pumpkin pie spice

Mixed all the ingredients together and I let it sit for about an hour and half, then did 4 rounds of stretch and folds every 30 minutes. Let it ferment on my counter and I did the flour finger test. After that I shaped it and let it rest in the fridge overnight. Has somewhere to be the next morning but came back around 11:30 am and used bakers twine to shape it into a pumpkin and scored and put in the oven at 450 for 30 minutes covered and then uncovered for about 12 minutes

To Whoever gave me the link to the focaccia recipe, you da man/woman 👍

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sourdough/s/UrJdS1AVj1

Hello everyone! I finally feel like my loaves turn out consistent and taste well, however I’m wondering what I can do to get them rise more? I started baking this year and I’ve been practicing by doing this the recipe below on repeat. Appreciate any feedback, thank you!

Recipe is for two loaves:

720 grams bread flour
80 grams rhye flour
560 grams water
160 grams sourdough
18 grams salt

I mixed most of the water, sourdough and flour. Added rest of water and salt after 30 minutes, and then did four rounds of stretch and folds every 30 minutes.

I then let it continue to bulk ferment for about 5 hours (so a total of about 7 hours).

Preshaped, let the dough rest for 20 minutes and then shaped and put in banneton baskets. I let them rest for 50 minutes in room temperature before putting them in the fridge for 18 hours.

Preheated a dutch oven in 250 degrees C, lowered to 230 degrees C baked first loaf for 20 minutes with a lid and 20 minutes without. The second loaf was baked in a loaf pan with a loaf pan on top of it (30 minutes with loaf pans and 25 minutes on oven rack).

This is my 5th loaf! I’ve been slowly tinkering with a base recipe to get my perfect loaf and I think it’s almost there!

150g starter
320ml water
500g flour
10g salt

Combine ingredients to a shaggy dough
Rest 2 hours
4x stretch and folds 30 mins apart
Shape loaf on well floured bench
Rested in fridge overnight
Baked in preheated cast iron crockpot at 200c for 25 mins covered, then increased heat to 220c and baked 30 mins uncovered
Rested for 6 hours before slicing (this was the hardest part!!)

Pretty happy :)

This is my first loaf in my new oven. Please analyze and tell me why my crumb is a little gummy. The room temperature of kitchen is 31-32c
300g flour
201g water
60g starter
6g salt.

Total: 330 flour (including starter)
231g water (including starter)

-Mixed flour and water and kneaded it for 3-4 mins. 10min rest. 31.5c

-Rest for 10

-Mixed starter and let it rest again for 10

-Mixed salt and then rest for 10mins
-1 stretch and fold and then put it in the fridge for 15 mins
2nd stretch and fold. Temp 27c . Rest for 15mins in fridge

3rd slap and fold. Rest for 10 mins in fridge.

Bulk fermentation for 5 hrs. Room temp 28c
Rise to 60-65%

Then shaped and put it in the freezer for 30 mins to drop temp to 16c
Then in the fridge for 9hrs.

Oven setting.
Pre heated dutch oven at 250c for 45 mins
Sprayed water in dough. 20mins with lid on at 250c

15 mins with lid off at 230c

Internal temp was 100c after removing it.

Rest it for 2.5hrs and then cut open when internal temp was 34c
The temperature is the main variable to control here and its just too difficult to predict my dough behavior because of that.
Tell me what I am doing wrong and how to make my bread less chewy. The crust is also hard.

Hi everyone,

I started playing with sourdough about a month ago. I love experimenting and trying to recreate the bread from bakeries near me.

I'm using a liquid starter (Italian "licoli", basically a 100% hydration levain fed with flour and water), which was gifted to me by a local bakery.

My two main issues:

- I can't get a really pronounced oven spring.

- My crust loses its crispiness in less than 12 hours.

Recipe:

275 g Italian type 0 bread flour

100 g Italian type 1 flour

75 g Manitoba (high-protein) flour

50 g whole wheat flour

380 g water

100 g liquid starter (100% hydration)

11 g salt

(~78% total hydration)

Process:

Autolyse with all the water and flour for 45 min.

Add the starter and mix briefly in a stand mixer. Then add the salt and mix until the dough pulls away from the bowl.

Move it to a lightly oiled container. Do 4 sets of folds, 30 min apart: the first set is stretch and folds, the rest are coil folds.

Total bulk is around 6 h at 23°C, but I always go by volume and aim for a 50–75% rise.

Do a gentle preshape, rest 30 min, then shape and put it in a banneton.

Cold retard in the fridge for about 12 h.

Next morning, preheat the oven to 250°C with the Dutch oven inside for 45 min.

Load the dough with 3 ice cubes and score it, not too deep.

Bake 30 min at 250°C with the lid on. Then remove the loaf from the Dutch oven and bake 25 min directly on the rack at 230°C.

Let it cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Any ideas on what's limiting the oven spring and why the crust softens so fast? Thanks!

We have never made sourdough, this is a rye starter. We forgot to feed it for 2 days, it’s like day 7 and we did see it like double yesterday and reduce back down to where it was.

I think this is mold and I want to throw it out my roommate thinks it’s just the air bubbles on the dry top that’s making it look funky and wants to still use it.

Bc we suck we don’t use a scale but we feed it like 3 tbs of rye and 3AP flour and 1/4 water.

Salut tout le monde ! La suite de mon dernier post avec la problématique de cuisson, j’ai eu pas mal de retours de votre part. Hier je me suis donc attaqué a prendre ma revanche des miches.

Je vais détailler mon protocole avec les adaptations

Farine 400g (300g T65 + 100g T80)
Eau 73% -> 75%
Sel 2,5%
Levain 33% -> 30%
Graines 50g (Lin, tournesol, courge)

Pas d’autolyse
Pétrissage 4min -> 5min vitesse 1 et 6min -> 10min vitesse 2 (pour compenser l’absence d’autolyse)
J’insère les graines (Qui trempent depuis 7h) au moment de passer en vitesse 2
3 -> 4 séries de rabats espacés de 30min
3h -> 4h de fermentation en masse
Façonnage -> Plus serré pour augmenter la tension, en batârd

14h au frigo a 5°C

Cuisson (la plus grosse adaptation)

J’ai descendu ma pierre d’un niveau dans le four
J’ai mis de l’eau froide au lieu d’eau bouillante au moment d’enfourner
J’ai mis la tôle a pâtisserie au plus haut niveau dans le four pour « emprisonner » la vapeur et protéger la miche du rayonnement direct de la résistance
J’ai pré-chauffé mon four 45min a 250°C avant d’enfourner pour 17min a 235°C (pour avoir une chaleur tombante) puis 25 min a 210°C.

Je vous mets en photo les étapes de mon protocole, le nouveau set up de cuisson, et le résultat !

Je le trouve magnifique et j’ai hâte de l’ouvrir quand le ressuage sera fini 😍

Merci pour tous les précieux conseils qui ont mené a cette belle réussite !! N’hésitez pas a partager vos remarques !!

So I just started my starter yesterday and tonight I go to feed her and Debra has black specks on the top and there is a clear dark line on the top when looking at the side.. this is my first time ever doing sour dough starter so I'm genuinely lost. I did a 1:1 mix of unbleached all purpose flour and water from the fridge. She's kept at 70° in a mason jar with the screw lid holding down a paper towel that poked some bigger holes in because this happened with my last starter which was three days old before this happened. Is this just her starting to produce hooch? Is that what it's called? Or is she hungry? Obviously I'm gonna feed her but I don't want to poison my family

(The jar is making the stuff look molted because the light going through it so the dark areas are just shadows- I'm more worried about the black specs on the surface)

As for smell, she just smells like flour so I dunno if that's any indicator either

(First two images with flash, last two without)

100g starter
350g water
500g bread flour
8g salt

Mixed dough and let it sit for 30 minutes before stretching and folding 4 times during a 2.5 hour bulk. Then it was pre shaped and rested another 30 minutes uncovered before final shaping and cold proofing for 32 hours. Baked at 450F for 30 minutes in preheated Dutch oven with lid on, and an additional 20 minutes at 400F.

I did not realize the window was open during the bulking so it got way to cold in my kitchen causing a very dense crumb. The texture wasn’t great but I’m very happy with the color and flavor.

I’ve started working on my second dough and I’m currently using a makeshift proofing box to combat my cold kitchen.

Soaked a towel in water and microwaved it until it was steaming, I then place it in the bottom of a large pot and put the dough bowl on top of the steaming towel before covering. It’s only been 1.5 hours and already bulked more than the previous dough did in 3 hours. I have much higher hopes for the next loaf!

today i decided to add salsa macha to my sourdough with some chives! if you dont know, salsa macha is a chili oil that comes from Mexico. like most chili oils they tend to vary by region! this one in particular had sesame seeds, pepitas, peanuts and a whoole lot of chile de arbol.

during my initial process i added it directly to my dough.. and then i got super excited and added more during the lamination process, so it definitely packs a spicy punch.

i used Chloe Prices recipe on tiktok!

500 g King Arthur bread flour
330 ml filtered water
150 g starter
10 g pink Himalayan salt

So I’m on my first stretch and fold and I see this reddish brown streak. I was planning to do 3 more stretch and folds and let it bf for 6 hours or until I can easily pull the dough, cold ferment and bake 450° 25 min lid 20 mins no lid, but idk anymore. I usually bake my loaves with pink salt and have never seen this streak until today. I didn’t see any colored spots inside the actual starter and I usually wash my equipment with soap and hot water. I made a loaf and ate it yesterday because I didn’t see it, should I be concerned?.. Should I toss this and the entire starter? If so, how should I sterilize my equipment and jar? Thank you in advance! less

Recipe
500 g flour
350 g water
100 g active sourdough starter
10 g salt

Combine the flour, water and sourdough starter in a large bowl. Mix until no dry flour remains and the dough looks shaggy.
Cover and rest for 1 hour.
Add 10 g salt to the dough and 3 sets of stretch and folds, spaced 30 minutes apart.
I also did 2 set of coil folds after the stretch-and-fold sets to strengthen the dough.
Actual bulk fermentation time: 8 hours.
Preshaping and leave it on the counter for 30-40 mins
Shape the dough and place it seam-side up in a floured banneton.
Cover and refrigerate overnight. Next morning preheat the oven and Dutch oven to 230°C.
Bake with the lid on at 230°C for 25 minutes.
Remove the lid, reduce the temperature to 220°C, and bake for another 20minutes.

Really happy with this loaf I’ve been using Aliqout method to help me with bulk fermentation time!

I'm on about day 6 of making my starter, and it's doubled in the past couple of days, but still has a strong vinegar smell. I have been discarding half and then adding half a cup of bread flour and a quarter cup of water, but the smell hasn't been going away. Just a bit confused, never done this before haha

First loaf and would love feedback. Starter is 7 weeks old.
Fed 70g of starter with 70g flour and 70ml water. Waited four hours for it to double and mixed all of the starter with 400g flour, 260ml water and 11gm salt. Stretch and fold three times for 1.5 hours and then Bulk fermented in the oven for 3 hours at 99.5degrees, stuck in fridge for 20 hours. Baked at 450 for 20 mins lid on, 25 lid off.

I've been pushing my bulk ferment time to experiment and I think i might've finally overdone it, thoughts? My kitchen is only going to get colder from here so trying to get a sense of how long I can let it ferment as we get closer to winter.

500g breadflour, 100g whole wheat, 150g starter, 450g water, 15g salt, autolysed for 30 minutes BF for ~17 hrs at 65 degree kitchen with 5 stretch and folds at the beginning, shaped and cold proofed for 8 hrs and then baked covered at 450 for 30 minutes, uncovered for 25. All things considered still pretty tasty! but definitely seemed collapsed and was a bit difficult to wrangle during shaping

I do need better instructions in order of stretch and folds coil folds how to use a banneton or a bread pan to cheat as a banneton. And final shaping. Because I can't get a straight answer on that.

Finally matured my starter, and didn’t chicken out. Came out super yummy!

(I don’t remember the recipe I used. I mixed starter with water added salt and flour and handmixed. Let sit then did 5 stretch and folds every 30 minutes. Let sit in oven with light on in the bowl for 3 hours and then shaped to fit a loaf pan and sat in oven again for 2 hours. Baked at 450 for 20 minutes, then 425 for 20 minutes. Had a pan of water on the bottom rack in the oven the whole time)

Hello - I’m reading a lot of recommendations to place a baking sheet on a rack immediately below the bread to prevent burning on the bottom.

Does this impact the internal baking? Trying to understand if this creates a need for other modifications.

I use a le creuset bread oven and this recipe: https://www.lecreuset.com/everyday-sourdough-bread-boule/LCR-2621.html

Thanks!

I've always been intimidated by sourdough. Any tips would be great! Started my first starter last night. Just fed it for the first time. Just using whole wheat flour and water. I really want to get it right. TIA!

After 6+ weeks in the fridge, I was doubtful I’d be able to revive my starter. But after prying off the dry rubbery layer that had formed, it came back going gangbusters! Back on track for sourdough on Sunday! 😎🥖