Sourdough: Let's Bake!

4th & final ed: 50/50 Spelt and White Wheat Sourdough Recipe.

This is my new series “Why with Weigela?”, where I answer your your baking 101 questions. Mostly foundational material, covering the basics with short, easy to understand explanations.

I am kicking off with my most cherished topic - sourdough! It goes without saying but the way to produce any good sourdough is with a happy, healthy and ripe starter. I will take you on a 4 stage journey of how to make and keep a starter;

Edition 1: The beginning
Edition 2: Maintenance & basic ratios
Edition 3: Trouble shooting & FAQs
Edition 4: Let’s bake (will include a sourdough based recipe)

Without any further ado lets get into it!

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Brief disclaimer: this is what I do and recommend as a professional baker who teaches and trains beginner bakers for a living in London. Perhaps you have followed other blogs or influencers in the past and don’t fully agree with my methods and that’s fine. However, there may be a tip in this newsletter that you find useful, you never know? Ok, back to the regular programming.

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SO, WHAT DO I (k)NEAD TO KNOW FOR A GOOD BAKE?

Let’s list them out;

• A well fermented dough

  • Duh?

• A hot oven

  • 230-240’c fan.

  • Pre-heated properly

• A dutch oven / cast iron pot or baking stone / steel

  • While I know its possible to bake a sourdough bread on a cold tray, it won’t yield the best result

  • A Dutch oven or Cast iron pot (with a lid), will create a self steaming element and also keep a robust shape on your loaf - win win

  • A baking stone or ceramic steel will give a nice push and great colour from the base, can be used in conjunction with a bread cloche

• A razor blade

  • My eyes start to bleed when I see blog posts online suggesting you score your sourdough bread with a '“sharp knife”, no no and no. Absolutely not. A razor blade is the finest and sharpest cut you will get. If you’re in search of a good ear, a blunt knife from your kitchen drawer is not going to get you there

• A little steam introduction

  • Many ways to achieve this at home;

    • Using a Dutch oven or Cast iron pot: self steaming, no need to add any additional steam, note: you’ll need to remove the lid half way through the bake

    • Using a baking stone or steel:

      • 1-2 ice cubes on the base of your oven

      • A few spirtz’s of water from a spray bottle against the sides of the oven

      • I never personally suggest a tray of water at the bottom of your oven, as you’d need to remove it half way through the bake to initiate the dry heat

• A lot of patience

  • Don’t open and close the oven door unnecessarily

  • Don’t cut the loaf open while its hot, wait for it to fully cool (could take 2-3 hours)

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SPELT / WHITE SOURDOUGH

INGREDIENTS

DAY 1
Starter (1:1:1)
eg. 50g starter, 50g water, 50g flour (I use light rye)
- Feed your starter as normal, wait approx. 8 hours

Levain (1:2:2)
25g starter (from above)
50g water
50g strong white flour
- Prepare in the evening and leave overnight

More on ratios here:

DAY 2
Main dough
levain (above)
380g water
260g light spelt flour
260g strong white flour (the protein must be 12% or above)
11g salt

METHOD

1. Starter:
   Feed your starter, at a 1:1:1 ratio, using tepid water and leave on the counter for up to 8 hours. Feeding = mix to combine.

2. Levain:
   Next make your pre-ferment (levain), at a 1:2:2 ratio using tepid water and leave on your counter for 12-18 hours. Make = mix to combine.

3. Mixing, you have two options:

   1) In a stand mixer using a dough hook: If using a stand mixer, weigh the water (& levain), flours and salt in this order. Mix on a medium-high speed for 6-8 minutes. The dough should pull away from the sides of the mixer and start to form a ball. You can perform a ‘windowoane’ test to see if the dough is strong enough. To do so, take a small piece of dough and stretch it to see if it stays intact, but must also be thin enough to see the light through the membrane. If all good, remove from the mixer and place in a lightly oiled bowl (covered).

   OR
   2) Knead by hand: If kneading by hand, knead vigorously for 8-10 minutes, using the tear and stretch technique (stretching the dough out on the counter), before bringing into a ball and rolling back and forth on the counter until its smooth, taught and round. You can also do the windowpane test here. Important to note: if you fail the test, you can knead for a further 2 minutes before trying again. If all good then place in a lightly oiled bowl (covered).

4. Folding:
   After 30 minutes has passed, perform the first fold. When folding bread dough, think of the bowl having 4 sides - like a compass (North, East, South, West).
   You will have to pull up each side of the compass, stretching the elasticated dough up and over to the opposite side. The folding will create more strength and tension in the dough. Once you have folded all 4 sides, flip the dough over so that the folded edges are now underneath. Cover and wait another 30 minutes before doing the folding again. You will be folding the dough 4 times total, therefore you need to set aside at least 2 hours to do this.

5. Pre-shaping:
   Now that the fold are complete - you can move onto pre-shaping. Lightly flour the counter and remove the dough from the bowl. Gently de-gas, pull the outside edges towards the centre, pinch the seam closed. Turn the dough over and cover with the bowl. Allow to rest for 15 minutes.

6. Shaping:
   Prepare your banneton by dusting with spelt flour and semolina, to ensure the sides don’t stick.
   EASY SHAPING: To shape, turn the dough back over and stretch into a square shape. Fold the left and right side towards the centre (to meet in the centre), then starting from the top, roll down nice an taught until you reach the end - seal the seam.

7. Overnight cold proof:
   Place in the banneton seam side UP and place in the fridge until the following day, there is no need to cover your dough while in the fridge.

8. Pre-heating:
   The following morning, get the oven nice and hot (230’c fan or 240’c fan if your oven can go that high)! If you are using a cast iron or baking stone, get that in the oven to pre-heat too.

9. Baking & scoring, bake from the fridge:

   1) Turn your dough out into the Dutch oven / Cast iron pot, score, lid on and load.

   2) Turn your dough out onto a peel dusted with semolina, score and slide onto the baking stone / steel.

   *Scoring: using the razor blade, give a nice deep score (about 1/4 of an inch) and at a 45’ angle. The score will be one long line from top to bottom.

10. Bake time:

    1) Dutch oven / Cast iron pot = 20 minutes lid on, 15-20 minutes lid off.

    2) Baking stone / steel = 35-40 minutes, adding an element of steam as the loaf goes in (ice cubes or spritz of water).

    EXAMPLE SCHEDULE (weekend)

1. DAY 1: Friday
   13:00 - feed starter (8 hours)
   21:00 - prepare levain (12-18 hours)

2. DAY 2: Saturday

   14:30 - mix dough
   15:00 - 1st fold (wait 30 minutes)
   15:30 - 2nd fold (wait 30 minutes)
   16:00 - 3rd fold (wait 30 minutes)
   16:30 - 4th fold (wait 30 minutes)
   17:00 - pre-shape and bench rest
   17:15 - shape into banneton
   17:20 - fridge overnight (12-14 hours)

3. DAY 3: Sunday

   06:00 - turn on oven

   07:00 - score & bake bread (40 minutes)
   10:30 - cut & enjoy!

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Q + A:

• Will the time guidelines you’ve given me change between seasons?

  • Yes, absolutely! Remember you can increase or decrease the bulk fermentation time depending on your starter and dough’s activity. This may be a play it by ear situation and you should act on it in the moment if you feel things aren’t 100% going to plan. Same goes with your starter..

• I didn’t get a ‘perfect’ ear on my bread, what am I doing wrong?

  • Sometimes this can take months or even years to execute.. it takes a lot of practice, confidence and speed. Don’t be discouraged if it isn’t perfect first time round - Rome wasn’t built in a day! At least you are giving your bread a uniform area for the steam to escape and that’s the most important thing while you are still learning the ropes! Good fermentation + good scoring + steam = OVEN SPRING & A LOVELY EAR!

• I took my bread out the fridge, ready for baking but it looks like it didn’t puff up at all overnight, what has happened?

  • This is a sign of improper fermentation and its likely something that you would have been concerned about the day before. You should be exhibiting some form of active fermentation throughout the process, with your starter, levain and bulk ferment. The dough will show signs of life, puffing up and aeration. If this is not present before the dough goes in the fridge overnight, it will only get worse and result in a gummy, almost inedible under proofed dough.

  • REMEMBER: under = increase bulk and over = decrease bulk!

BONNE CHANCE.

That’s that on that! See you next time ;)

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