When I received an email from Elenore of Eearthsprout and Sarah of My New Roots asking to participate in the Fabulous Fermentation Week that they are hosting right now, I was on a true kick and there was a little fermentation factory in our kitchen. Looking around, I saw jars of kombucha and fruit kvass, kefir, oat yogurt, sauerkraut, and a couple of different bread starters, and admittedly felt a little crazy. To be fair, many of those experiments were for the book, which will have a few delicious recipes involving fermentation. Wild yeasts were floating happily in the air, so it was perfect timing to say the least.
I’d love to celebrate Elenore and Sarah’s wonderful effort to spread the word about the great benefits of fermentation with a loaf of sprouted sourdough bread. Head over here to read all about the health in fermentation and see the list of bloggers’ links, which will be updated throughout the week.
After our summer trip to San Francisco and multiple visits to Tartine bakery, I became curious about sourdough bread, particularly about Chad Robertson’s sourdough method. Those of you who have ever tried Tartine bread know exactly what I’m talking about – there is nothing quite like it.
My ultimate goal was to find a way to make a gluten-free sourdough that tastes good. I’ve heard it’s possible, but have yet to bake one of my own. After experimenting with gluten free options for some time, I realized that I first need to learn to make glutenous sourdough the correct way and only then can I start experimenting. I began to study the Tartine Bread book, which cleared up a whole lot of issues.
It was challenging for me to follow the Tartine technique, as I only worked with sprouted whole grain flours, spelt in particular. I ordered beautiful sprouted spelt and wheat flours from To Your Health Sprouted Flour Co. They make it to order, so it is incredibly fresh flour. Sprouted grains are believed to be digested by our bodies in the same way that vegetables are, because the process of sprouting breaks down the starches into simple sugars.
In order to completely understand how to make bread the Tartine way, you would need many pages of detailed instructions, and better yet, the book. But even the most clear directions might not be enough in the beginning – one needs to develop a baker’s intuition, which comes with the experience.
Right now I am working on a gluten-free sourdough bread and hope to share the results soon.
Below are some things that I learned from trial and error with different flours, applying Chad Robertson’s technique:
1. You need to be patient. It may take time to get your starter going, but if you feed it every day, it will always respond to your efforts, even if it seems that it never will in the beginning.
2. You have to discard about 80% of the starter every day and replace it with an equal amount of flour/water mixture. You need a reliable kitchen scale to weigh the flour and water. Bakers always use metric conversions as they’re more exact and convenient.
3. Go on with your bread only if the starter is undoubtedly strong and reliable – meaning that it’s falling and rising predictably for several days in a row. If in doubt, wait and feed your starter one more time. When you see a strong starter, you’ll know it.
4. Only a very small amount, about 1 tablespoon of starter, should be used for bread.
5. The starter does not go directly into the bread, you have to make a levain first.
6. The levain must pass a floating test.
7. The time of fermentation needed for ripening of the levain, bulk fermentation, bench rest, and final rise differs hugely from kitchen to kitchen. It depends on room and water temperature, the type of flour used, the amount of wild yeast in the air, how long and often you bake, your disposition that day, and who knows what else. You can begin with the general guidelines, but be flexible and patient.
8. Spelt sourdough will not rise as much as wheat will. Spelt flour makes the dough kind of runny and doesn’t hold shape well. Taste-wise, though, it is delicious.
9. Sprouted flours work very well in sourdough. You can replace regular flour entirely or partially with sprouted flour. 100% sprouted sourdough will make a darker, denser bread.
10. The degree of sourness of your bread depends on the time of fermentation. The longer you let it ferment, the more sour your bread will be.
11. You can delay bulk fermentation and final rise by placing your dough in the refrigerator. By doing that, you can manipulate the process to fit your schedule.
12. You absolutely need an iron cast dutch oven or a combo cooker to bake your sourdough bread if using a home oven. It allows for just the right amount of steam needed in the first 20-30 minutes in the oven.
Sourdough Starter
1. In a medium sized glass jar, mix 70g of rye or whole spelt, or wheat flour (I use sprouted flours – spelt, wheat) with 70g of purified water. Cover the jar with cheese cloth, a nut bag or anything breathable. Wait for 24 hours and see if any bubbles appear. If not, leave it for another day or two, checking periodically. A crust may form on the surface. Remove it with a wooden spoon, check for bubbles and a specific sour smell.
2. Discard 100g of the starter and replace it with 50g of flour and 50g of water. Repeat that every 24 hours. Observe your starter carefully, it should begin to rise and fall in several hours after the feeding. Your starter is ready when it gets into a pattern and rises and falls predictably, at the same time.
Levain
1. Take 1 tablespoon of the starter, place in a large glass mixing bowl, add 100g of flour (you can use a 50/50 mixture of whole sprouted flour and white flour, all sprouted flour, or any ratio you prefer) and 100g of purified water (78F (25C)). Leave to ferment overnight, covered. Your oven is a good place for that.
2. Perform the floating test. Drop a small amount of levain into a bowl of water using a wet spoon. The levain should float on the surface. If it does, begin mixing your bread, if not – leave to ferment more and check again in 30 minutes. I’ve noticed that all whole grain levains don’t float as well as 50/50 levains. At times, even if the all whole grain levain floats for a few seconds and then sinks, it is enough to make bread. That is if your levain looks obviously well aerated – all bubbly and porous when moved with a spoon. It should also smell in an overripe fruity sort of way.
Mixing the Bread Dough
1. Weigh 100g of levain in a large bowl (never use metal when working with sourdough). Dissolve it in 350g 80F (26C) of purified water and add 500g of flour (sprouted, whole grain or a mix, whichever you decide to use). Mix it with your hands until no dry lumps are left. Leave it covered for 40 minutes to an hour to autolyse. Don’t skip this step.
2. Add 10g of sea salt and mix it in, squeezing the dough between your fingers.
Bulk Fermentation
1. Begin a series of turns. Every 30 minutes, grab the underside of the dough with wet hands, stretch it up and fold it back over the rest of the dough. Repeat this action 3-4 times until you complete the circle, to let the dough be evenly developed. Do this over the course of 2 hours.
2. Then leave the dough undisturbed for another 2 hours. You may need a longer bulk fermentation time if your ambient room temperature is very cold or the dough doesn’t become lighter after 4 hours.
Bench Rest
1. Turn the dough onto a liberally floured (use brown rice flour) working surface. Dust the surface with more brown rice flour and shape it gently and briefly into a round loaf. Leave for 30 minutes, covered with a bowl or a kitchen towel. The dough will spread to the degree that depends on the flour that you use.
2. Fold the third of the dough closest to you up and over the middle third of the loaf. Then fold the thirds that are right and left to you, one at a time, over the center. Finish with the farthest side from you, stretching it over the previous folds. Grab the dough nearest to you, stretching it up and over, rolling the whole piece away. This way all the seams should be on the bottom. Round your loaf against the work surface.
Final Rise
1. Prepare a basket or bowl covered with a clean cotton or linen towel and generously dusted with brown rice flour. Turn your dough into the basket, seam side up and cover with the towel.
2. Let it rise for 3-4 hours at warm room temperature (around 75 F (24 C)) or place in the refrigerator for up to 20 hours. The time of final rest will affect the taste of the bread. The longer it ferments, the more complex and acidic the taste will be.
Baking
1. Preheat your oven to 500F (260C) 30 minutes prior to baking time. Place your cast iron combo cooker or dutch oven in the oven.
2. After 30 minutes, unwrap the dough, place a piece of parchment paper over and invert the dough onto it. Score the top of the dough with a very sharp knife.
3. Quickly but carefully remove the bottom of your combo cooker or dutch oven from the oven, leaving the lid behind. Use oven mittens and be very careful. Drop the loaf into the cooker together with the parchment paper. Transfer back into the oven and close the lid tightly. Decrease the temperature to 450F (232C) immediately. Bake for 20 minutes.
4. Open the oven and remove the lid. Bake for another 20-25 minutes until a nice deep colour. Wait for 1 1/2 hours before slicing if possible.
clean says
OMG! Can’t wait for the Gluten Free one you come up with!!!!
Sarah B says
This looks AMAZING!! Can’t wait to try your version – I’ve had a number of botchef sourdoughs by now..
Thanks for a great recipe and participating :)
xo, Sarah B
Tanya says
What a gorgeous boule! I may be tempted to give it a try. Thank you for such detailed insights.
Ruth says
Looks great, but can’t wait to hear more about oat yoghurt…please tell us about that soon!
Elenore says
A-mazing! You seriously have me drooling here.. It was long since I made sourdough bread but I sure am inspired now! Thank you so much Anya for participating!
Sherilyn @ Wholepromise says
Yep – Elenore and Sarah are right – this looks amazing. I have attempted to make sourdough numerous times before with not so great outcomes. Frustrating but after reading your Fab Fermentation post I am feeling inspired not to mention hungry.
Nadia says
I’ve always wanted to try to make a sourdough at home, but wasn’t brave enough. Your instructions are so encouraging that I may finally give it a chance. Thanks.
amy chaplin says
This makes me want to bake bread right now! I love sprouted flours, especialy in bread!
Mohamed says
What a beautiful loaf of bread! AND what fastantic ingredients that go into it! I’ve never added onion OR white wine into breadmaking before, so I feel like I need to give this a shot ASAP. Because both are FABULOUS.Thanks for sharing! I cannot wait to check out more of your recipes!
Dawn says
Thanks for posting this, I will definitely give it a whirl! I’ve tried once before and was so disappointed. Appreciate the detailed instructions as now I know why I failed on the first go.
Laura says
I Love the attention to detail you gave us here, seriously appreciated. Sourdough production is such a process and yours looks so beautiful too. I think it’s my favorite fermented goodie of all :)
Nicola Galloway says
This bread sounds divine. I haven’t come across sprouted flour yet in NZ so will have to sprout, dehydrate and grind myself. This will be a labour of love :) thanks for sharing such as inspiration
Myrthe says
Thank you for the very detailled description on how to make sourdough at home! It is very hard to come by on the net!
The tip on the dutch oven is very very useful for homebakers.
I was wondering: how long would it take to make a loaf starting from making te levain untill you pull your sourdough loaf out of the oven?
X,
Myrthe
Golubka says
Thanks for your comments, everyone.
Myrthe, it all depends on your conditions. In general, the levain is ready over night. Then, about 8-10 hours.
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Unknown says
Great post! I have a question, though.
Why do you discard 80% of the starter every day?
Anonymous says
i love the comment “wait 1 1/2 hours *IF POSSIBLE*”. yeah right!
Kimberley says
I love that you’re attempting a gluten free version of this! I have considered doing the same – but perhaps the missing link for me is patience.
Rachael says
This is such a great blog!!! Really makes me hungry just reading and looking at the pictures : ) I recently baked my first loaf of bread and it was incredible!!! I used a starter my friend told me about. It’s from Sourdough’s International and now I have to spread the word! I loved it. Definitely going to order more when it comes the time.
Kathy-Lee says
Oh my
I am so glad to have found your blog and especially this instruction of how to make sourdough!
I wanted to try sourdough at home but never found the courage but your lovely detailed instructions encouraged me so far that my loaf is already in the second part of the bulk rest!
I still though have one question about the levain.
I followed the instructions as said and when I wanted to perform the float test, it simply fell through the water surface as if made of stone allthough the levain was pretty well aered and porous…and it did smelled nicely sourly fruity (even my mother complimented me on the smell by saying it smelled like the spurdough her grandmother used to bake)
I need help… I used whole grain wheat
But that wholegrain wheat that is refered to as “graham” I guess. In poland we have numbers of types on our flours. Mine was Mąka Razowa Pszenna Typ 1850. Maybe it is too heavy?
Kathy-Lee says
Writing down my process
The wholewheat dough rised lovely
(I placed it near a mid warm radiator, not close but in range to surround it with warmness)
While folding it lost a bit structure which I don’t mind because in the end it held together
I hope using oat flour wasn’t bad (I had no rice flour and thought any gluten free might work…)
Now it is in it’s final stage of developing the
I must say whenever I walk by I get a nice whiff of sourdough in my nose and again my mother complimented on the smell being “like in a natural bakery” (her words)
I hope things work out well during baking because I very often had splendid results with bread when it risef but the moment it was in the oven, it sank and looked all muddled
I hope for the best
Graham says
My family and I just devoured two delicious loaves of sprouted wheat and rye bread.
I have been trying for a long time to get a good process for making sourdough, but finding your website and being blessed with a [free] Excalibur dehydrator (after pining for one for years), I have finally found a sourdough process that works and a feasible way to optimize grain nutrition. Thanks! I got 4 loaves proofing in the fridge now. I could almost see myself making and selling these at the market.
One question, can you take dough out the fridge in the morning and go straight into the oven or is there a good warm up period to do before baking?
Anja says
Your blog looks just great! Thanks for sharing. As I know and loved ‘tartine bread’ for a while but have celiac disease, I wonder about your experiences with the glutenfree version! Can you share it?
Emma says
This looks delicious! I’ve been making my own sprouted spelt bread that i just sprout until they have little tails and then blend up in a food processor and add all kinds of seeds and salt. it doesn’t rise to much but its delicious! do you think it would be possible to add the starter to that to make it sourdough?
DiPW says
I can’t wait to try this. Thanks so much for the detailed instructions.
Anita says
I’m sorry this is a little off topic, I am also in the process of making sourdough bread but was intrigued by the mention of oat yogurt. There is very little information regarding this process on the web, but what I did find recommended mixing oats with water, blending after some time, stirring now and then and then refrigerating after several days. Can you please advise if this is correct? Is this meant to be eaten raw, or does one cook this. I am very into making fermentables, but I have not heard of oat yogurt before. Your advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Anya says
Hi Anita. You are correct about the process. You soak the oats, blend, then let sit, stirring every day, until it reaches the desired taste for you, depending on how sour you like it. Then store in the refrigerator. It’s to be eaten raw. There is a detailed recipe in my book, The Vibrant Table too :)
Josh says
Hey there, looking forward to trying this recipe! I’ve noticed that some of the other spelt sourdough recipes I have come across include cane sugar or honey in their recipes. If one were to add honey in to your recipe, at what step would it be added? Do you see any benefit to omitting it from yours?
Anya says
Hi Josh. I don’t like sweetness in my bread, so I omit any sugar or honey. If I were to add it, I’d probably do so when mixing levain with water and flour to make the dough.
Josh says
Thanks for your reply! I have another question for you: why is it necessary to use a cast iron dutch oven? I was hoping to use the bread for sandwiches and the shape may not be suitable. Could I perhaps use a cast iron bread pan instead?
Yana Re says
Thank you for making this so clear and detailed. I have read Tartine but this is eve more helpful. No I feel like I am ready to do this sacral art of making bread.
Anya says
Thank you Yana! Glad this was helpful.
Donna says
So thanks to your detailed instructions & handy aforementioned tips, I have accomplished a couple of lovely sour dough Spelt flour loaves, after much patience & time. They are beautiful to look at & taste fantastic too!
I have a few questions about the process now that I have done 2 loaves:
The starter is now vibrant & fragrant, & our busy family schedule doesn’t allow for frequent use-should I fridge it & feed 1x/week? Do I still need to keep discarding 100g every 24hrs? When the levain is ready to use, but I can’t get to it right away-would it keep a bit-can I feed it? In regards to feeding, if I want to make more bread, can I feed more food to increase my starter & levain? Hopefully some of these aren’t stupid questions-I am still quite new at this bread making thing at all, & very pleased to have had the good fortune to create such a yummy healthy food for my family!!
Thank-you!!
Anya says
Hi Donna,
So happy you found this useful and were able to bake up some good loaves!
These are all great questions.
Yes, if keeping the starter long term, refrigerate it, discard and feed as usual once a week. Then remove it from the refrigerator and feed daily a couple days prior to baking. I’m not sure about keeping the levain, it’s best to try to make it when you know you’re ready to bake. And as far as making more bread, increasing the amount shouldn’t be a problem, as you should always have more than enough starter since you have to discard a big portion every day during active use. You only need a small amount per each loaf, so you will naturally have enough for many more, just use it instead of discarding it.
Hope this makes sense!