Feeding recipe:
Make sure starter is well-risen and gassy before feeding
Starter | 160 g | Half of your starter (3/4–1 cup) |
Water | 60 g | 1/4 cup |
White flour | 100 g | 7/8 cup |
- Mix starter with water first, then add flour
- Mix until there are no dry spots—it will be drier than expected
- The other half of the starter (not needed for feeding) can be composted or used in baking
- To bake with the new starter, leave the starter out and it will be ready in 8–10 hours
- Otherwise, leave starter out 2–3 hours, then put into fridge
If you only have a little bit of starter:
- Feed all of it with a little water and flour; try to keep it the same consistency
- Wait until it is full of gas
- Repeat the feeding with slightly more flour/water, about enough to double the amount of starter, and wait again; repeat this until you have 320 grams of starter (about 2 cups)
- Now you can use the recipe above
Bread recipe:
This recipe uses a starter with a dough-like consistency (i.e., not a very wet starter); starter should be well-risen and full of life—if your starter has been in the fridge for a week, you should throw out half, feed it, and let it rise fully before using it in bread
White flour* | 94% | 479 g | 3 1/2–4 1/2 cups (4 1/2 only if it is fluffy) |
Wheat flour | 6% | 31 g | 1/4 cup |
Starter | 21% | 107 g | One third of amount after feeding |
Water | 64% | 326 g | 1 1/2 cups |
Salt | 2% | 11 g | 1 1/2 tsp |
Mixing
- Weigh out ingredients
- Mix the flours, water, and starter ONLY to incorporate the ingredients
- Cover and let it sit 15–30 minutes (this is the autolyse)
- Add salt and knead until “done” (do a window test); add flour as needed but keep dough flexible
Rising (Fermentation)
- Cover the dough and let it rise somewhere warm (at least 70°F) for 2 hours
- This dough will not puff up like a dough made with baker’s yeast
Shaping and Final Rise (Proofing)
- Pre-shape the dough into a round shape
- Cover loosely and let the pre-shape rest and relax
- Shape the dough into the final form of a large round boule
- Place the boule on a pan, on a couch dusted with cornmeal
- Cover the entire pan with a large plastic bag, filled with air
- Let the dough rise for about 1 hour; then put the whole pan into the fridge**
Baking
- The next morning***, preheat the oven to 450–500°F with a Dutch oven inside
- Pull out the pan with the dough about 15 minutes before baking to let it warm up a little
- Transfer the loaf to a sheet of parchment for easier handling
- Score the loaf
- Place loaf (on parchment) in the Dutch oven and cover; little to no steam needed in Dutch oven
- Return Dutch oven to oven and turn oven to 450°F
- After 15 minutes, remove the Dutch oven lid to let the steam out; then bake another 10 minutes
- Test for doneness with thermometer: 190°F
**You can let the dough rise about 2 hours and bake the same day for a less-sour flavor
***You can keep loaves in the fridge an additional night for added sourness