Sourdough Bread

Baking bread is my favorite thing to do in the kitchen.  I’ve been baking sourdough for years, and I’ve perfected the crackly crust, moist crumb and taste.  But, I’ve struggled with getting those beautiful holes in the interior.  My bread rises nicely, but the interior looks like a loaf of regular white bread and not like hearth sourdough — which is what I’m after.

So, I did some research.  I’m pretty sure that my problem has been that my dough isn’t wet enough — the hydration ratio is too low, in technical terms.  A wet, sticky dough is harder to work with but the results are those elusive holes.

Sourdough starter

So, I fed my  sourdough starter and planned for a grand experiment.  I baked four loaves using different flours and different levels of hydration (wetness).

First, I mixed up a dough that was 77% hydrated (ration of 77% water to the flour).  To keep the math simple, I used 1000 g of flour (a mix of stone-milled local flour, rye flour, and bread flour) and 770 grams of water.  I weigh everything — measuring cups aren’t very accurate for this as different flours weigh different amounts and I need to be precise.  I mixed them together and then let it sit for 45 minutes.  That rest allows the gluten to start forming, which gives the dough its stretchy quality.

After 45 minutes, I added 150 g of sourdough starter and 20 grams of salt.  I also added about a tablespoon of malt syrup to add flavor and color.  For the first two hours, I stretched and folded the dough every 30 minutes.  This dough is way too wet and sticky to knead.  I baked one loaf that afternoon and the other the next morning, after it had spent the night in the refrigerator.  Success!

The second two loaves were simply bread flour == no fancy addition of other flours for taste or texture.  It also came out beautifully.  We ate all the bread over the Christmas holiday; not a crumb is left.  And, each time I cut into a loaf, I danced a jig and gave a major fist pump.