After years of learning and trying to master sourdough bread and techniques, my everyday-go-bread is now a combination of poolish (0.2% fresh-yeast) and ripe starter. As you mentioned, it gives more consistency and overall control, but the mix of flavors and texture are also very interesting. As a home-backer, I believe it all comes to what are your goals and expectations. Do you like to learn and dive into other techniques and ways of doing things, of doing "experiment-time"? then this as well as other combination of techniques are just wonderful, and great to carry "in-the-pocket".
I enjoy watching your sourdough videos, even though I can't make sourdough where I live. I live in a very humid Swedish forest, and there's always a boring yeast fungus that takes over. Before we could buy yeast in stores, everyone baked with sourdough, but when industrial yeast came along in the late 1800s, everyone started using it, but the Italians were upset because their bread lacked flavor. They quickly found out that by making a starter dough that rose cold for a few days, they could get some of the old flavor back into the bread, but not the sourness. They called this starter dough BIGA, and in the absence of sourdough, I use BIGA instead. Many people probably know that in order to get minerals, vitamins and flavor out of a bread, the phytic acid in the grain must be broken down, and this happens during a long rise when you use both sourdough and BIGA. Most of the vitamins, minerals and flavor are in the shell parts, so I make my BIGA with graham flour, 10% of the flour is graham flour.
The phytic acid is supposed to be a very strong antioxidant, and is present in most seeds and nuts. Wheat berries have less phytic acid than in most seeds and nuts. There has always been much debate about the subject, I understand.
I've been missing your videos -- something off with my feed algorithm, I think. Maybe I've been watching too many Bridgerton videos! Anyway, I searched for you today and I can see there are a few I haven't seen yet, so I'll be bingeing for a bit today. And maybe that will get you back into my feed again. You are my sourdough guru. I tell all my friends about you when they praise my bread. Happy holidays!
I have one rye centric sourdough - 54% Sisteron Rye (Provencal Rye from Stanley Ginsberg's "The Rye Baker) I don't ever add yeast to. I've tinkered with it in other ways for better results, but my experiences with mixed fermentation in similar breads showed me that I prefer the pure sourdough flavor even when it doesn't come out perfect, which is often, particularly when I double the recipe for some reason. My one adjustment that works for me is to take the last 70 g of the rye from the main dough and add it to the first stage, and not adjust the percentage of refreshed starter, then increase the temp to 450 F the first ten minutes under steam, then down to 400 until internal temp is around 204 F. I probe it at 20 minutes post steam removal with a remote thermometer.
Hello sir. I don't watch each and every one of your videos, but you are the reason I started making artisan sourdough bread instead of just sourdough sandwich loaves. I really enjoy learning from you. May 2025 be a much better year for you and your wife. I look forward to seeing more videos from you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
I completely agree, Sune! Yeast, just a pinch, is a great tool when you want predictability or a loaf with sourdough tang that day. I've developed a yeasted discard recipe for my bread machine. Even easier! 😊 It's been a rough year for many of us! You have been prayed for in Indiana, USA. Looking forward to your content next year!
Dear Sune. You were instrumental in helping me past the first frustrating months of learning to "master" sourdough. Now I am retired, but nake a nice suplementary income teaching an "Intro to Sourdough Baking" class at an aduld learning centre, and I always mention your channel to my students. I also offer an advanced class where I introduce the "hybrid" method you feature here. It is such a useful method, particularly for breads that can tend to be more dense and chewy than is often desirable if made with pure sourdough, such as french baguettes. Also I recommend adding tiny amounts of commercial yeast in winter, when fermentation can take too long for convenience. Thanks and all the best for your move!!
I often add 1-2g of instant yeast when i haven’t baked with my starter for more than a month and/or when i make my Chinese steamed sponge cake with rice flour. I’d let it proof overnight if my starter was stronger but whenever i add instant yeast i’d let it proof just 2-3hrs during the day or overnight in the fridge.
I did a simpler version of your recipe a few weeks ago with very ripe discard. It tasted incredible! I will try your recipe and I am sure it will look as good as it tastes. Thanks for the videos and information, it is much appreciated. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! By the way, I read that in Italy the law allows bakers to add a bit of commercial yeast to their sourdough in the winter to counteract the slower colder weather baking times.
Yiest does not die. It goes into hibernation. I have made bread with sour dough starter that was left in the back of my fridge for a year without feeding once, straight from the fridge, nearly frozen to the bread machine. After I send my machine through the dough cycle, I put the dough into a gallon zip lock bag and wait for the dough to double in size, then I bake it. Bakers Yiest was man made to act in minutes where wild Yiest takes 12 to 24 hours to act. That's why wild Yiest is better. It infuses a lot more flavor into the bread. Store bought sour dough bread is just white bread with white vinegar added, and natural sourdough does not give us that imitation flavor.
Happy holidays, Sune! Hope 2025 will be much better year. Wish you and your folks all the best! Thanks for sharing your baking experiences with us. Greetings from Brazil 🙂
All the best to you and your beautiful new wife Sune! Hang in there! I've been experimenting occasionally with making 3 large Batards at a time, of 50% whole wheat, using only 58g of levain and only 0.20 of active dry yeast. It comes out excellent with plenty of sour!
God jul fra Norge! Your work is very much appreciated. It's great how you're not afraid to questions your methods. Truly informative. Good luck with 2025!
Great ideas! I'm no purist - I make a 'sandwich' sourdough most often - so baking in a loaf pan helps with over/underproofing. I may give this technique a go just to see how my results compare to yours! Happy Christmas and a Very Good New Year to you and your wife! Moving is never a fun or easy proposition - but focus on the positive! Purge before you pack!
I add a bit yeast if I feel the ambient temperature is too low for the dough to be ready when I want to bake, or when I want a shorter fermentation time (e.g. to be able to bake in the evening instead of having to wait more some hours). Cheat or help? That’s the question.
Thank you so much for the wonderful 2024 videos. I am getting inspiration and pure joy from your content. Have a good 2025, and many nice moments in the new place.
Thanks for doing this video. I've been "cheating " for several years and now feel less guilty. I do a similar hybrid bread but in my technique I mix the flour and starter and water without the commercial yeast to start and let it do a 45 min autolyse. I then add the low dose yeast and salt. Proofing is about half the time of pure sourdough. Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to you too Sune! 2024 has been hard for a lot of folks. Let’s pray 2025 is a year of positivity and growth, wishing you and your wife, peace, health and prosperity in the new year!🎉
The thing that annoys me about sourdough is the fact that it is often hard to predict when the loaf is perfectly ready to bake. I often end up staying up really late to bake the loaf, or needing to get up real early to not overproof it. Adding a half teaspoon of instant yeast at the beginning makes predicting when the loaf is ready to bake much easier. I find that if I let the sourdough starter rise slowly in the fridge overnight, I still get a really good sourdough taste from my hybrid loaves.
If you are gonna do commercial yeast, please do a test of how long you can ferment it before it starts deteriating, and taste for the "sourdoughy" flavours that will develop over time. (Maybe adding vital wheat gluten might increase the time it could last in the fridge.) And check if it matters for flavor how many of those hours it ferment in room temperature :)
I use VWG religiously, and I start to believe VWG don't do much other than improving nutritional content and making bread tougher I feel it behaves differently than the gluten that is in the flour
@TustinJimberlake I've also seen little rising benefits to adding a spoonfull or two of vital wheat gluten. I did, on the other hand, do an experiment last week, using 25% vwg and 75% flour in what is called a "ovnspannekake" (whole sheet oven pancake). It blew up almost to the roof of the oven. (It did deflate again after taking it out.) So it seems to be doing something.
Thanks Sune, and happy holidays to you too. It seems that French bakers always use yeast when making baguettes. Is it necessary to get the huge open crumb they're known for?
I agree! I've found a 1/2 gm of dry commercial yeast improves the reliabilty of the rise and adds some nice flavor to the bread. I still ferment with cold retard about 8-hrs. What minimum fermention time would you recommend to get the majority of the health benifits without fermenting for an excessively long time?
Thankyou Sune for your careful and knowledgeable presentations. I am sorry to hear you've had a rough 2024. I wish you and your family all the best for 2025.
reduced risk of overproofing as n.3 of pros vs potential overproofing as n.4 of cons - shouldnt the “pro” be the underproof ? as commercial yeast “guarantees” that the dough will proof / gain volume and air even if the starter isnt strong enough ?
Why didn't you do stretch and folds like your standard recipe? Isn't developing a good gluten network just as important when adding commercial yeast? The crumb structure looked denser than normal so might be improved that way?
Thank you for all the time and information that you give to us. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2025. We wish that 2025 will be easier on you than 2024 has been.
130 grams of well developed starter carries 5-7 grams of yeast into the recipe ! )fact(. Over proofing is when the acidity has over whelmed the dough and wrecked the gluten. You could star t with yeast dead starter and add 3-4 grams of yeast and this would be absolutely no different than any starter only sourdough bread. I suggested this to PROOF bakery and some zealous snob claimed I was adding 5,000 times the yeast he starts with. (Ignorance) A daily baker doesn't have the chore of starter maintenance, SO the occasional baker is perfectly justified and just as good a baker .
After years of learning and trying to master sourdough bread and techniques, my everyday-go-bread is now a combination of poolish (0.2% fresh-yeast) and ripe starter. As you mentioned, it gives more consistency and overall control, but the mix of flavors and texture are also very interesting. As a home-backer, I believe it all comes to what are your goals and expectations. Do you like to learn and dive into other techniques and ways of doing things, of doing "experiment-time"? then this as well as other combination of techniques are just wonderful, and great to carry "in-the-pocket".
Merry Christmas. Thanks for a level headed look at baking, appreciate your "non-fussy" take on baking and food.
I enjoy watching your sourdough videos, even though I can't make sourdough where I live. I live in a very humid Swedish forest, and there's always a boring yeast fungus that takes over.
Before we could buy yeast in stores, everyone baked with sourdough, but when industrial yeast came along in the late 1800s, everyone started using it, but the Italians were upset because their bread lacked flavor. They quickly found out that by making a starter dough that rose cold for a few days, they could get some of the old flavor back into the bread, but not the sourness. They called this starter dough BIGA, and in the absence of sourdough, I use BIGA instead. Many people probably know that in order to get minerals, vitamins and flavor out of a bread, the phytic acid in the grain must be broken down, and this happens during a long rise when you use both sourdough and BIGA.
Most of the vitamins, minerals and flavor are in the shell parts, so I make my BIGA with graham flour, 10% of the flour is graham flour.
The phytic acid is supposed to be a very strong antioxidant, and is present in most seeds and nuts. Wheat berries have less phytic acid than in most seeds and nuts. There has always been much debate about the subject, I understand.
I've been missing your videos -- something off with my feed algorithm, I think. Maybe I've been watching too many Bridgerton videos! Anyway, I searched for you today and I can see there are a few I haven't seen yet, so I'll be bingeing for a bit today. And maybe that will get you back into my feed again. You are my sourdough guru. I tell all my friends about you when they praise my bread. Happy holidays!
I have one rye centric sourdough - 54% Sisteron Rye (Provencal Rye from Stanley Ginsberg's "The Rye Baker) I don't ever add yeast to. I've tinkered with it in other ways for better results, but my experiences with mixed fermentation in similar breads showed me that I prefer the pure sourdough flavor even when it doesn't come out perfect, which is often, particularly when I double the recipe for some reason. My one adjustment that works for me is to take the last 70 g of the rye from the main dough and add it to the first stage, and not adjust the percentage of refreshed starter, then increase the temp to 450 F the first ten minutes under steam, then down to 400 until internal temp is around 204 F. I probe it at 20 minutes post steam removal with a remote thermometer.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Sune. Thanks for the great videos and ideas. Best of luck with the move and your health.
Great video and so great to see you once again. I continue to learn much from you. Merry Christmas
Hello sir.
I don't watch each and every one of your videos, but you are the reason I started making artisan sourdough bread instead of just sourdough sandwich loaves.
I really enjoy learning from you.
May 2025 be a much better year for you and your wife. I look forward to seeing more videos from you.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
Merry Christmas & a Far Better New Year!
I completely agree, Sune! Yeast, just a pinch, is a great tool when you want predictability or a loaf with sourdough tang that day. I've developed a yeasted discard recipe for my bread machine. Even easier! 😊
It's been a rough year for many of us! You have been prayed for in Indiana, USA. Looking forward to your content next year!
Dear Sune. You were instrumental in helping me past the first frustrating months of learning to "master" sourdough. Now I am retired, but nake a nice suplementary income teaching an "Intro to Sourdough Baking" class at an aduld learning centre, and I always mention your channel to my students.
I also offer an advanced class where I introduce the "hybrid" method you feature here. It is such a useful method, particularly for breads that can tend to be more dense and chewy than is often desirable if made with pure sourdough, such as french baguettes. Also I recommend adding tiny amounts of commercial yeast in winter, when fermentation can take too long for convenience.
Thanks and all the best for your move!!
I often add 1-2g of instant yeast when i haven’t baked with my starter for more than a month and/or when i make my Chinese steamed sponge cake with rice flour. I’d let it proof overnight if my starter was stronger but whenever i add instant yeast i’d let it proof just 2-3hrs during the day or overnight in the fridge.
I did a simpler version of your recipe a few weeks ago with very ripe discard. It tasted incredible! I will try your recipe and I am sure it will look as good as it tastes. Thanks for the videos and information, it is much appreciated. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! By the way, I read that in Italy the law allows bakers to add a bit of commercial yeast to their sourdough in the winter to counteract the slower colder weather baking times.
Yiest does not die. It goes into hibernation.
I have made bread with sour dough starter that was left in the back of my fridge for a year without feeding once, straight from the fridge, nearly frozen to the bread machine.
After I send my machine through the dough cycle, I put the dough into a gallon zip lock bag and wait for the dough to double in size, then I bake it.
Bakers Yiest was man made to act in minutes where wild Yiest takes 12 to 24 hours to act.
That's why wild Yiest is better. It infuses a lot more flavor into the bread.
Store bought sour dough bread is just white bread with white vinegar added, and natural sourdough does not give us that imitation flavor.
Thanks!
Thanks 🎉 a lot ! Much health to you and your wife. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 🎈🎊
Strong work young master. I always learn from you. I love what you do. See you next year.
Wishing you good health, brother. And good luck with the job situation. Merry Christmas!!
Happy holidays, Sune! Hope 2025 will be much better year. Wish you and your folks all the best! Thanks for sharing your baking experiences with us. Greetings from Brazil 🙂
All the best to you and your beautiful new wife Sune! Hang in there!
I've been experimenting occasionally with making 3 large Batards at a time, of 50% whole wheat, using only 58g of levain and only 0.20 of active dry yeast. It comes out excellent with plenty of sour!
Merry Christmas. May the New Year bring you suprising blessings.
God jul fra Norge! Your work is very much appreciated. It's great how you're not afraid to questions your methods. Truly informative.
Good luck with 2025!
Great ideas! I'm no purist - I make a 'sandwich' sourdough most often - so baking in a loaf pan helps with over/underproofing. I may give this technique a go just to see how my results compare to yours! Happy Christmas and a Very Good New Year to you and your wife! Moving is never a fun or easy proposition - but focus on the positive! Purge before you pack!
I add a bit yeast if I feel the ambient temperature is too low for the dough to be ready when I want to bake, or when I want a shorter fermentation time (e.g. to be able to bake in the evening instead of having to wait more some hours). Cheat or help? That’s the question.
I do the same, but very rarely
Awesome video! Get well soon
I sometimes use commercial yeast in *addition* to sour dough starter if I have to bake quickly, say in 8 hours. And yes, a pinch, like 6 grams.
Thank you so much for the wonderful 2024 videos. I am getting inspiration and pure joy from your content. Have a good 2025, and many nice moments in the new place.
Thanks for doing this video. I've been "cheating " for several years and now feel less guilty. I do a similar hybrid bread but in my technique I mix the flour and starter and water without the commercial yeast to start and let it do a 45 min autolyse. I then add the low dose yeast and salt. Proofing is about half the time of pure sourdough. Merry Christmas
Since I have your blessing I will try a little yeast in my bread.
Merry Christmas to you too Sune! 2024 has been hard for a lot of folks. Let’s pray 2025 is a year of positivity and growth, wishing you and your wife, peace, health and prosperity in the new year!🎉
Great video !!!
I just call that farm bread. Its delicious. ❤❤❤
The thing that annoys me about sourdough is the fact that it is often hard to predict when the loaf is perfectly ready to bake. I often end up staying up really late to bake the loaf, or needing to get up real early to not overproof it. Adding a half teaspoon of instant yeast at the beginning makes predicting when the loaf is ready to bake much easier. I find that if I let the sourdough starter rise slowly in the fridge overnight, I still get a really good sourdough taste from my hybrid loaves.
Merry Christmas, Sune. Or whatever you celebrate 🥂
If you are gonna do commercial yeast, please do a test of how long you can ferment it before it starts deteriating, and taste for the "sourdoughy" flavours that will develop over time. (Maybe adding vital wheat gluten might increase the time it could last in the fridge.) And check if it matters for flavor how many of those hours it ferment in room temperature :)
I use VWG religiously, and I start to believe VWG don't do much other than improving nutritional content and making bread tougher
I feel it behaves differently than the gluten that is in the flour
@TustinJimberlake I've also seen little rising benefits to adding a spoonfull or two of vital wheat gluten. I did, on the other hand, do an experiment last week, using 25% vwg and 75% flour in what is called a "ovnspannekake" (whole sheet oven pancake). It blew up almost to the roof of the oven. (It did deflate again after taking it out.) So it seems to be doing something.
You are so right. For many people not using yeast has become a religion. Yeast is ok :)
I call it a hybrid loaf and use a little yeast when I'm in a hurry and am willing to compromise.
Thanks Sune, and happy holidays to you too. It seems that French bakers always use yeast when making baguettes. Is it necessary to get the huge open crumb they're known for?
Thanks Sune. Look after yourself and good luck with the house move
Curious about your choice not to fold the dough (S&F, coil folds) during the fermentation stage. Also the short time on the banneton.
Love your work, Please make gluten free sourdough bread, thank you from Northern California ❤
I agree! I've found a 1/2 gm of dry commercial yeast improves the reliabilty of the rise and adds some nice flavor to the bread. I still ferment with cold retard about 8-hrs.
What minimum fermention time would you recommend to get the majority of the health benifits without fermenting for an excessively long time?
Thankyou Sune for your careful and knowledgeable presentations. I am sorry to hear you've had a rough 2024. I wish you and your family all the best for 2025.
purists are smug hippies. Don't be a smug hippy
Even french bakers use baker's yeast along with ripe levain
reduced risk of overproofing as n.3 of pros vs potential overproofing as n.4 of cons - shouldnt the “pro” be the underproof ? as commercial yeast “guarantees” that the dough will proof / gain volume and air even if the starter isnt strong enough ?
Why didn't you do stretch and folds like your standard recipe? Isn't developing a good gluten network just as important when adding commercial yeast? The crumb structure looked denser than normal so might be improved that way?
2025 only has 2 prime factors, so it's bound to be a better year. Thanks for all you do.
Thank you for all the time and information that you give to us. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2025. We wish that 2025 will be easier on you than 2024 has been.
130 grams of well developed starter carries 5-7 grams of yeast into the recipe ! )fact(.
Over proofing is when the acidity has over whelmed the dough and wrecked the gluten. You could star t with yeast dead starter and add 3-4 grams of yeast and this would be absolutely no different than any starter only sourdough bread.
I suggested this to PROOF bakery and some zealous snob claimed I was adding 5,000 times the yeast he starts with. (Ignorance)
A daily baker doesn't have the chore of starter maintenance, SO the occasional baker is perfectly justified and just as good a baker .