Skull Valley Sourdough--A Lesson from a Baker

As the fall approaches, and flowers fade, the kids have turned to sourdough loaves for the flower stand. This Skull Valley Sourdough is our idea to keep the creativity and learning happening through the colder months. We invited a sourdough bread expert to give us a deeper lesson in bread baking—it necessitated the purchase of a digital gram scale and a few other fun tools. Our kitchen was not quite so sophisticated!

New tools

• gram scale

• Danish bread whisk

• bench scraper

• bowl scraper

• bread lame for scoring the dough

Sourdough is an ancient form of bread making that does not require yeast as a leavening agent. Instead, the sourdough starter is a mix of flour, water, wild yeasts, and lactic acid bacteria. If kept regularly fed (refreshed with new flour and water), the starter will maintain a stable culture and can “live” for decades. New starter can also be made by exposing flour and water to wild yeasts and elements that have lactic acid bacteria. I grew up with a small crock of sourdough that we fed weekly; it lived for twenty-seven years until the kids left home and the need for baking disappeared. I think of our sourdough starter as a household pet.

Samara is a local baker, and she came laden with bowls of dough at different stages of fermentation and shaping. Since the fermentation process is slow, she found a creative approach to get all of the stages demonstrated in a few hours.

Here are a few pictures and a detailed recipe description. Until the next flour stand, we have loaves and loaves filling the kitchen! We will have the technique perfected when we see you at the end of October!

Sourdough Bread Recipe

Keeping the starter

Ideally, the sourdough starter should live on the counter and be fed every day.

The feeding ratio is 1:3:3-- one part starter: three parts water: three parts flour.

For instance, 20 grams of starter; 60 grams of water: 60 grams of flour.

You can use a clean jar each time you feed it and measure the ingredients into the jar. Or you can pour out some sourdough and mix flour and water into the same jar.

Preparing the starter before baking

To begin, mix a 1:1:1 ratio with a hundred grams of starter, flour, and water. If you use this ratio, let it sit 2-4 hours at 70 degrees. If you are going to let it sit overnight, use a 1:3:3 ratio.

Mix the starter, flour, and water in a mason jar and put a rubber band around it at the level of the mix. When the mixture has doubled in capacity, it is ready to use.

Mixing the dough

In a separate bowl, mix 1000 grams of flour with 750 grams of water. This makes two loaves. Use a Danish bread whisk to lightly mix the dough together. This “autolyze” process moistens the flour—it should be barely mixed into a “shaggy dough.”

Let this mixture sit for 1 hour covered in a damp cloth.

Mixing the starter and dough together

Measure 220 grams of starter into the bowl with the dough. Add 20 grams of salt.

Incorporate these together with a wet hand, grabbing with a claw-like motion until just mixed. This does not need to be completely mixed; the sourdough will begin to work its magic.

Wait ½ hour, and then do a set of 4 stretch-and-folds. A stretch-and-fold involves pulling the dough up and folding it onto itself, then rotating the bowl a ¼-turn and pulling it up and folding again. Repeat the folds four times. A coil fold means picking the dough up in the middle and allowing both sides to fold under—this shapes the dough.

Let sit for 1 hour and repeat the set of 4 folds and 1 coil fold.

Cover with a damp towel and set the bowl aside to rise for 8-10 hours (at 70 degrees).

Forming the loaves

The dough is ready when it is bubbling and doubled in size (if poked, it should rise back slowly).

Empty the dough onto a floured surface and use a bench scraper to divide the dough into two parts. Spin the loaf on the floured surface to create surface tension. Then flatten by gently pulling on the edges until it forms a long rectangle.

Add your cinnamon, sugar, and raisins to the surface, or proceed with no additions if you want a simple sourdough loaf.

Fold the flat dough into thirds, overlapping the edges of the dough.

Roll from the end into a round or oval loaf.

Dust flour into a bowl with a clean kitchen towel.

Use a bench scraper to lift the roll and turn it over upside down (ugly side up) into the basket.

Sprinkle the top with flour and cover with a damp cloth.

Let the dough rest for 1-2 hours. It should come back slowly if poked.

Afterwards, it can be baked or put into the refrigerator for up to 48 hours.

Baking preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees with the Dutch oven and lid inside.

If refrigerated, pull out the dough when you turn on the oven to give it time to warm up.

Turn the shaped dough onto a piece of parchment paper.

Score the top deeply. Shallow cuts can be made for decoration.

Lift the loaf using the corners of the parchment paper and drop it into the Dutch oven.

Baking

Cover and bake at 500 degrees for 25 minutes.

Take off the lid, reduce the oven temperature to 450 degrees, and bake an additional 20 minutes.

Remove the loaf from the oven and allow to cool for one hour before slicing.