Talk to me about sourdough - The Fermentation Club!

[Epponnee Rae]

Was it half the amount of starter or half the overall recipe?

[overthehill]

I found a YouTube video somewhere that gave relative weights/volumes for the key ingredients of any sourdough. I think it was an American chef/baker, but it's quite a useful rule of thumb, if you want to vary quantities. For any quantity of flour (100) the ratios of water, starter, and salt are: 100:80:15:2. So, according to these measures, for 600g flour, you would use 480ml water (I usually use 450ml), 90g starter, and 12g salt.

As Ep says, how long did you leave it to prove? I prove at room temperature, rather than putting in the fridge overnight - but that's probably because I use less starter than some. Taking yesterday's loaf as an example, I mixed the dough and folded it late on Monday night, left it out in its bowl (covered with another, smaller bowl) in the kitchen overnight, shaped in the morning and left to rise for about 2 hours, then baked.

[purple_dress]

Mine does most of its rising in the oven so you can't really tell until you bake it.

[Pippedydeadeye]

Was it half the amount of starter or half the overall recipe?

Half the overall recipe. Overnight so far.

[Pippedydeadeye]

So shall I just bake the dough & see?

[purple_dress]

I would!

[purple_dress]

How are you going to bake it?

[Pippedydeadeye]

Dunno! Should I do the Dutch oven thing?

[purple_dress]

That's what I do and I think it's the easiest. Line it with parchment. The underneath can go quite dark though. 20 mins at 220 with the lid on and 15 mins at 180 with the lid off.

The other way is on a baking tray but with a dish of water underneath for the first 20 mins. You need steam to get a good rise. In the dutch oven, it creates its own steam.

[Pippedydeadeye]

Ok, I might try the second way first. My oven actually has a hydro bake setting but I don’t know what it does.

[purple_dress]

Good luck!

This is a good video for all the steps and the basics: https://youtu.be/BJEHsvW2J6M

[Pippedydeadeye]

Slightly misshapen but it did rise & does taste right! I have ideas for what to do for the next loaf now. Thanks for holding my hand!

[purple_dress]

Yay! Well done.

[Arrietty]

Ooh, that looks all right to me!

[Pippedydeadeye]

I’ve chosen the angle well. It stuck to the pan and split underneath too, so I think my slash needed to be deeper.

[Cosmopolitan]

I think this looks rather impressive for a first loaf!
I usually do a few slashes, one deep one and a few smaller ones. And I use semolina flour on the bottom of the stone to stop sticking.

[purple_dress]

I do a deep slash down the middle and slightly shallower ones along the side. Shaping is also key and I used the technique in the video above.

I always bake on parchment.

[overthehill]

Looks fab!

I use an old oval Creuset casserole as a Dutch oven, so my loaves are a bit elongated. I cut a deep zig-zag in the top. I use a lot of flour in my banneton basket, so I don't seem to need parchment.

[Pippedydeadeye]

Damnit! I tried again, same recipe. Rose perfectly for the first prove, popped it in the basket for the second prove overnight and this morning went to bake and it was like glue. Over proved and I couldn’t reshape it because it stuck to my fingers. It took 10 minutes to get it off.

[Pippedydeadeye]

I think I know where it went wrong so I am trying again, but with Dan Lepard’s technique.