Daily Sourdough Bread

This sourdough bread is easy to make and very flexible in timing. I got the recipe from here and I modified it slightly by adding in wheat germ and chia seeds. At the same time, I reduced the dough by half.

The whole process is divided into 3 parts. The first part is creating the preferment and letting it develop over 12 hours. The second part is creating the final dough and shaping which takes around 3 hours. The last part is the baking which can be done on a separate day, but not longer than 4 days from the creation of the final dough. The dough is kept in the fridge after the second part of the process until you are ready to bake.

preferment
* 72g bread flour
* 5g rye flour
* 75g water
* 30g of starter

Preferment is created by using part of the flour and water together with the starter. This preferment is allowed to ferment and will be used to proof the main dough after that. By using a preferment, the bread has better flavours and the time to proof the final dough is faster.

final build
* 303g bread flour
* 20g rye flour
* 100g wholewheat flour
* 25g wheat germ (5% addition)
* 25g chia seeds (5% addition)
* 10g salt
* 275g to 295g water
* the preferment

Total flour (excluding starter) - 500g (20% wholewheat, 5% rye)
Total water (excluding starter) - 350g (70% hydration) to 375g (75% hydration)
Total ingredients - 940g (with wheat germ and chia seeds)

Method

Combine all the ingredients for the preferment and mix into a thick paste. Let it stand and rest for about 12 hours. It will get bubbly. I did it in the  morning before going to work. By the time I am back from work, it is ready to be used.

Combine the rest of the ingredients except the preferment and the salt. No need to knead yet, just let it stand for about half an hour. This is called “autolyse“, a method to pre-create some gluten and to reduce the kneading time.

All the ingredients except salt and preferment

Add the preferment and salt to the rest. Now it’s time to mix. I used the Bosch mixer to knead and develop the gluten. If it feels too dry, you can add the additional 20g of water slowly. The wheat germ and chia seeds can absorb water, making the dough drier than the original recipe.

Shaggy mess before kneading

The dough comes cleanly off the sides during kneading, almost ready

From the time of adding the preferment, shape the dough after 2 hours. The kneading should have been completed long before that. Just leave the dough in the machine bowl and cover it to prevent the dough from drying up on the surface. You wouldn't want the dough to be left outside for too long in case it gets over-proofed. When you put the dough in the fridge, it will take some time before the cold temperature puts the wild yeast to sleep so the dough will still be proofing for a while in the fridge.

I shaped it into a boule and placed it in a bannetton. Cover it with cling film to prevent it from drying in the fridge. Transfer it to the fridge for as long as you need, but not more than 4 days.

Dough is shaped and floured

Before going into the fridge

The night before baking, I took the dough out of the fridge and let it proof in the living room while I sleep. The next morning, about 7 hours later, it is ready to bake.

Fully proofed dough

Preheat the oven at 240°C together with the cloche. I use a cloche to trap the steam. This helps the dough to rise better and also forms a nice brown crust. After 20 mins, I remove the cover and let the bread continue baking to dry up the crust and develop the brown crust. Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until the bottom sounds hollow on tapping. Or until the internal temperature is around 96C.

Nice crust and "ear"

Let the bread cool down before cutting into it. Enjoy! :)

I forgot to add 25g of flax seeds in this version. If you want to do so, soak 25g of flax seeds with 50g of water for 24 hours before adding it in the main dough.

Sourdough Walnut Bread

Esther has been buying walnut bread for the past few weeks. And I have been trying to perfect a loaf of sourdough bread. So, instead of just baking a simple sourdough bread, I added walnuts to my loaf. The good thing about bread making is that the end product is edible even if the baking fails. :p

As usual, for the sourdough bread, we need to create a levain first which will be used to "lift" the final bread dough.

Levain
52g bread flour
20.5g water
22g active sourdough starter (100% hydration)

Active starter means after feeding, the starter will double or triple its size within 12 hours. It depends on the temperature you are keeping the starter in.

Start by dissolving the starter in water. Then add in the bread flour and mix until the flour is fully incorporated. I flattened it in a glass jar to monitor how much it rises overnight. Cover the opening of the jar with cling film.

Levain created

Notice the bubbles in the levain left overnight in room temperature

Final Dough
208g flour
23g whole wheat flour
165g water
5.5 salt
94.5g of levain created above
46g toasted walnut


Method
In a stand mixer, mix the flour and water at low speed until it forms a shaggy mass. Cover and autolyse for 60 minutes. During the wait, you can toast the walnut.

Shaggy mass of flour and water

Toast the walnut at 200C in a toaster for 10 minutes, stirring them regularly. Let them cool down before using.

Toasted walnuts, broken into smaller pieces

Add the salt and levain and mix at low speed for 2 minutes, then increase the speed to medium (Speed 2 in a KitchenAid) and mix for 10 minutes. Add flour and water as needed to adjust the hydration.

Add in the walnut and mix by hand. I tried using the stand mixer but it doesn't seem to be doing a good job at mixing the walnuts into the dough.

Transfer the dough into a oiled bowl and do a stretch and fold, then shaped into a ball to bulk ferment.

After the first stretch and fold

Do a stretch and fold every half hourly for 2 hours to develop the gluten during the bulk fermentation.

After the 2nd stretch and fold

Notice the dough getting tighter and less "relaxed". Compare the photo above and below.

After the 3rd stretch and fold

After the final stretch and fold, pre-shape the dough into a ball and rest for 15 minutes while you prepare the banneton. I floured the banneton with rice flour to prevent the dough from sticking during the proofing stage.

Dough resting

Shape the dough tighter into a boule and put it in a floured banneton. Let it proof. It is difficult to say how long you should proof for because it depends on the activity of your levain and also the surrounding temperature.

You can try using the "finger poke" test to see if the dough has proofed sufficiently. By poking at various places on the dough with your floured index finger to a depth of 1 cm, see how the dough behaves when you remove your finger. If the indentation disappears immediately, it is not proofed. If the indentation stays the same, it is over-proofed. What you are looking for is for the indentation to pop back half-way. This is the point where you can bake the bread. Don't worry about leaving dents on the dough. Once it is in the oven and expanding, the dents will disappear.

Dough proofing in a green plastic banneton

Bake the dough in a preheated oven at 240C for 30 to 40 mins. Use a thermometer to check the internal temperature. You are aiming for around 96C in the middle of the bread.

The final product

Crumb shot

Still trying to master my sourdough starter. Baking bread using sourdough is different from using commercial yeast. How fast the dough rises depends on the "mood" of the sourdough and nature of things.

Next bread might be baked using a kombucha starter instead of a rye sourdough. We shall see...

Malted Sourdough Bread

I bought some malt extract from a health food store and it has been sitting in the fridge and I don't really use a lot of it, so I decided to look for a bread recipe that uses it.

Everyday Malted Brown Bread Recipe (from here)

700g brown or wholemeal bread flour
200g white bread flour
80g malt extract
80ml sunflower or vegetable oil
4 tsp dried active yeast
30g demerara or light brown sugar
3tsp maldon sea salt, crushed (if you use regular table salt you will need to add more - try 4tsp)
540ml water

I did a few changes to the original recipe. The above recipe uses yeast but I am more keen to use my rye sourdough starter. I also halved the recipe to make a smaller loaf. As I don't have brown or wholemeal bread flour, I used normal bread flour and whole wheat flour instead.

Malted Sourdough Bread Recipe

340g bread flour
100g whole wheat flour (to be used in the levain)
260ml water (divided 100ml + 160ml)
20g sourdough starter (100% hydration = 10g rye + 10ml water)
40g malt extract
40ml vegetable oil
15g light brown sugar
9g salt (Baker's percent: 2%)

Total flour = 450g (including the flour in the starter)
Total water = 270ml (including the water in the starter)
Hydration = 60% (270/450*100)

Levain
Add 100g whole wheat flour and 100ml water to 20g rye sourdough starter. Mix well and ferment for 12 to 16 hours.

My sourdough starter is normally in the fridge hibernating if I am not baking. A few days before using it, I will take it out of the fridge and feed it daily to wake it up and strengthen it. Sourdough starters are different from commercial yeast. Because it is natural, it tends to take a longer time for the bread to ferment and proof unlike using those hyperactive commercial yeast. There are some advantages of eating sourdough bread which you can spend some time reading if you are interested.

Levain created with sourdough starter

I left mine for 21 hours due to work commitments. As seen below, the levain is now very bubbly and has raised in height. If you give the sourdough a sniff, you can detect traces of fruity smell with some sourish tang as well.

Doubled in height and bubbly

Lots of bubbles

Main Dough
Using a mixing bowl, mix the levain with the rest of the water (160ml) to dissolve it. Add in all the other ingredients except the salt and mix well. Leave it covered to autolyse for 30 to 60 mins.

After that, add in the salt and mix well and knead the dough.

Shaggy mass after adding all the ingredients

You can knead the dough using a stand mixer or by hand until gluten is developed. Let it rest in a covered bowl for 2 hours to bulk ferment at room temperature.

Dough that has been knead and left to rest

After 2 hours, shape the dough into a boule and placed it in a oiled and floured bowl. I floured the bowl with semolina which is why it looked so grainy. You can use corn meal or rice flour as well to prevent sticking. Cover it with cling film and put it in the fridge overnight. That will allow slower fermentation and proofing which will result in nicer flavours in the bread.

Dough is shaped and placed seam-side up in a oiled and floured bowl

The next day, take it out and leave it at room temperature until the dough has proofed enough for baking. If your bread proofed overnight in the fridge and is ready to bake, you can bake it straight from the oven, there is no need to wait for the dough to come to room temperature. You can score the dough to help get a better/more even rise in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 210C, transfer the dough to a baking sheet/stone and bake for 30 mins. You can use steam for the initial 15 minutes.

The end result - Malted Sourdough Bread

I could have baked the bread at 230C instead of 210C, that might result in a better rise. Also, maybe increase the hydration of the dough to 65% instead of just 60%.

If I were to use this recipe again, I would replace the water with Guinness and make a Malted Sourdough Guinness Bread. :)