You can read about this in detail in my free book called “The Sourdough Framework”. You can get it here: breadco.de/book. You can support the project with a donation, but there is absolutely no knead. I believe information like this should be free and accessible to everyone. The book is made for everyone who wants to understand the important details when making sourdough bread. Thank you!
@@spiceytaco95 thanks for the excellent question. I got the flour from "Mulino Padano". I wrote an article on this earlier: blog.the-bread-code.io/tutorial/2020/08/20/sourdough-flour-in-germany.html. Happy baking!
I'm glad you pointed out that if your dough doesn't quite work out, you may need to just start over from scratch. I feel like there are too many TH-camrs who try to trivialize the degree of technique and experience it takes to make good sourdough, and downplay the effects of mistakes. In my experience that just leaves people feeling discouraged. I've been a pretty active hobbyist baker for about 10 years, and I've baked thousands of loaves, and I still get a bad batch every now and then. What I've started doing is, when I get a batch that isn't developing good structure or rise, I just knead in some extra flour and a touch of sugar and use it to make flatbreads. None of my friends have ever complained about sourdough pita or tortillas, especially when I serve them with some shawarma or carnitas. Most of them never even realize that my flatbreads are "Plan B".
Moin Flats. Thanks for the excellent comment. Yes, 100%. I feel that many of the recipes are overly simplified. You will have a hard time reproducing the results. Me too, I would say I manage to nail 80% of the breads that I bake. It's also due to the fact that I love experimenting and trying a few different things.
Rob, repurposing and then starting over is a good suggestion. For my learning of pizza dough, I make very small sample sizes, so that rating it doesn't become burdensome.
The best, most compehensive, step- by step tutorial for beginners. You do not take corners and show ever step. Tanks so much for taking the time for making such videos. Please continue this good work.
As a beginner sourdough baker I've watched many videos, and this was far the most informational and detailed explanation. Thank you for sharing your wisdom! Now I need to go out and find the next step where to go from here :)
Moin Kati. Thanks for the nice words. Figured this could be a good video with some more info about the whole process: th-cam.com/video/0kFYyj3WKpE/w-d-xo.html. Feel free to reach out with more questions.
I agree with Karl above, you explained the bakers math, autolyse and lamination better than any of the videos or members of the Facebook groups I belong to. Thank you for being a teacher as well as a baker.
Does it matter what type of flour I use in my starter? I have been using rye and wheat flour. Could that make my starter too sour? Should I be using only white flour? By the way, great video! The technique for shaping the dough using the bench scraper was especially helpful. Thank you!
@@annebrosnan6384 The real sourdough experts suggest to use whole wheat and rye in the starter. I think the sourness depends on the length of the fermentation. The longer you ferment the dough (not the starter), the more sour your bread will be. I'm not an expert, so take it with a grain of salt 😉
I had trouble getting good oven spring, and then I followed these steps. The result is astonishing, the best looking bread I have ever done. Thank you so much !
I appreciate your many useful tips and charming manner. This week I made my first totally successful sourdough loaf in a Dutch oven after watching one of your videos. Bench kneading helped, but I think the winning tip was to place the chilled dough in the freezer for 30 minutes to facilitate scoring. Game changer!
Goodness!! 40 seconds in and I've already learned a very important point: too sour of a sour dough affects the structure of the loaf. I've got incredibly tangy loaves & they've looked great up until they come out from the oven!
Feed your starter more often, discard more starter, use more new flour and water compared to the amount of starter, warmer temperatures (cold encourages more lactic acid bacteria), shorter fermentation time
I've watched many TH-cam channels about sourdough and yours is the best and so well-explained! After watching a several of your videos, I finally found out what's gone wrong with bread (too sour starter, too high hydration for the flour I use and over fermented during bulk fermentation). I referred to your other video about hydration, did a few experiments and came up with my own formula. I then applied the tips you've shown in this video and I'm so pleased with the result - I have a stronger bread with nice 'ear' and beautiful crumb! :) Thank you!
Not really. At the moment the big thing for me is handling 70% hydration dough. I start off using a stiff spatula in a mixing bowl, turning the bowl and folding the rough dough until all the flour is incorporated then I scrape the dough onto the counter and continue kneading with a metal bench scraper. Maybe it's not the best method but my hands stay clean. I also learned that putting the dough in the fridge to proof overnight really improves the flavor. I've been using frozen pizza dough and I want to start making my own pizza dough.
I am!!! I watched this because I made bread where the dough looked and behaved like this until after I tried to final proof it in the bannington it wouldn’t really hold shape and when I scored it, it just melted open. So I was absolutely disappointed I didn’t get to see him score and bake! My loaf rose really well but the crust was really thin and the score didn’t really show so it didn’t have an ear :-( waiting till tomorrow to cut it open
Thank you for your videos! I have been following the Ken Forkish method with pretty good results, but found the folding method difficult until this video. I find your method has one big difference that made the whole process easier - you divide your dough in half before the folding process. It made folding much more manageable and for that I thank you so much. I ended up with two beautiful loaves with ears 🥰
Honestly even that very first trick alone was worth the watch! I was always going straight in and trying to add strength to my dough immediately after mixing, waiting even half an hour makes a night and day difference!
Gluten tag!! Love these videos you’re such a happy guy and really enthusiastic so it’s lovely to watch but also very helpful and covers all the principles excellently!! Thank you so much 😁
While I am very discouraged, I am still trying to get this most challenging technique. I have made bread for most of my 67 years. This sour dough deal is different than a yeast bread. My SD bread is still very dense. Lately I have been watching Patrick Ryan. ❤️ Please wish me some Irish luck.☘️🇮🇪🙂
Hi Mary Jo: Don’t get discouraged about baking sourdough. Give yourself at least a year of trying it to improve. I started the journey in 2020 and I’ve watched so many videos taking from each the things that made sense to me. I had to stop being so hard on myself. Also, a recipe with less hydration may be better. The recipe here is more for experienced bakers. You might want to search: Artisan sourdough small hand mix from start to finish for a recipe that is less hydration. Hope this helps.
I loved this video.I watched it on my way to work to learn more.I’ve been practicing on baking bread from different TH-cam creators and your method is wonderful.I will try it your way. Thank you so much.And your English is great!.I’m Cuban,raised here since I was seven and now I will be 62 on May 1,2023, and sometimes,I have a little trouble.I subscribed to your channel.God bless you.
I just had a 2nd sourdough failure..... feeling kinda discouraged and stumbled on your video. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement, I am sure a lot of newbies like me will feel brave to venture into the bread world again. Thank you for this very informative video.
I've failed at least 6 or 8 times now for just a broad. I've used starter to Levin bisquets and buns successfully.. But I'm gunna try again now that I've found your channel.
@@erincarr9411 You will make it dude! For me it was the wrong hydration I used for my flour and that my starter was to acidic. Now I am baking amazing breads and I started 8 months ago, baking once a month at the start...
Don't get discouraged. I had a lot of failures before I understood through trial and error what I am doing wrong. And it was always my own avoidable fault. You learn to bake sourdough consistently you will be happier for the rest of your life.
Made some amazing bread on my first try! I was expecting a failure, but it was really great. Excellent oven spring and amazing open crumb. Thanks for the great videos!
I was just about to give up when this video showed up randomly. God sent 🙏 deffinetly the best presentation i have ever watched. Been so helpful. Thank you so much
Thank you so much for sharing. I've watched so many sourdough videos but you're the only one who's really explained causes of unmanagably sticky dough and ways to fix it. Just what i needed. Fantastic!
I followed these suggestions/techniques on my last bake. Although my bread had been succesful in the past, this put it over the top! Thank you. Great video.
I love that you show how you work without using tools. Gives me a better understanding of working with dough. I really enjoyed your pizza video by the way
Moin Ratmaster4000, thanks a lot for the nice words. Agreed, I am trying to use as few tools as possible. This makes it easy for everyone to follow the steps. Some suggest to use lots of different tools, but in the end it's technique that matters.
I know it can be scary or intimidating putting shows on TH-cam, especially since so many others have coverade the topic. But you bring so much more, including the science and technique! Instant subscriber!!! Not only do I love sour dough, but I love your approach!
Thank you so much. I've come to understand the sourdough baking process so much better with your tips and all of the information you share in your videos. No more flat bread for me now, though I still have to improve my scoring...but it´s getting there. ¡Saludos desde México!
Such a good idea about testing hydration! I've been so sucked into trying to get "high hydration" for the sake of just having that number high (because somehow that makes me feel special). But maybe I should be letting the flour/blend dictate what I'm doing.
100% - this is so very much true. I have been there too. I recently made a video on testing the water content you can use for your flour: th-cam.com/video/BnvhhxQZQ14/w-d-xo.html. Just take some of your flour, prepare different bowls and mix with different levels of water. Test at which level you can get a window pane, and where it breaks. Much better than just following a % value you find on the internet. For beginners I always recommend to go lower. Your dough is way less sticky. You can focus on practicing the technique and become better.
German here. I will definitely do the testing soon. I have had decent results but my doughs tend to ferment faster than recipes suggest. Since you might have experience with flours here what do you suggest to use best. I have 550 wheat flour (Bio), Wholewheat Flour as well as Bread flour (no type on the bag). Do you have any experiences with those concerning the hydration levels? Thanks a lot.
Thank you so much for this very well thought out, helpful video. I’m only about 3 weeks into my sourdough learning process and so far, every boule I’ve cut into has been dense and gummy. Your video helped me to see some things I may need to do differently such as mix the starter into an autolysed dough instead of mixing my starter into water and then adding the flour. And now you have me questioning my water ratio and the acidity of my starter. I’m going to tweak a few things and get the next one in the oven! Thanks again!
I greatly enjoyed this video. I'm already having reliable results using KA Organic Bread Flour and fresh, locally milled Rouge de Bordeaux whole wheat flour (at 15% protein.) I'm using the coil fold (or "stretch-and-fold," if you prefer) method, but slightly different sequence of lift (which is doing a "stretch") and folds. Yet, there's always more to learn, and I love the way you handle the dough so gently. I'll try dividing the dough earlier to see if cutting the dough later has any noticeable effect on weakening the structure. Once I got adequately educated about the basics, I found that -- just as you demonstrate -- you develop a "feel" for how things are progressing through the steps, and you can make adjustments as you go. One thing I think can really help "beginners" (like me) is a long Autolyse. I mix the Levain and then immediately make the Autolyse. In about 3 or 4 hours, the Levain has doubled and I mix it and dissolved salt into the Autolyse. From the very beginning, with the flours I'm using and the extended Autolyse, I have pretty robust gluten.
Moin Paul. Awesome. Thanks for the comment. It's great to know that you figured out what works best for your flour. Yes - every flour is unique. You have to practice with the flours you have at hand. It's a good learning. Once you know it you will bake better bread!
@ 11:58 ypu wonder if it is OK to tell us about the dough. YES!!! OMG !!!! I have so looked at so many people making sourdough, and you are the first one I actually SEE the way the dough looks and reacts to your bread making. THANK YOU!!!! I have, in the short time I watch this, seen so many things to help my process.
I love this channel! This video is so helpful and typical of the others. Not only really comprehensive and practical, but presented in an engaging and approachable way by a fellow amateur who’s gone through the same roller coaster many of us have. Thank you!
I've also found Mary's Nest to have great information. Check out 'How to Make Foolproof Sourdough Starter' The trick is using Rye flour and it requires a very small amount which is nice. Good luck!
Great tutorial! Thank you, I am a beginning sour dough baker and I need all the instruction I can get....you are a good teacher and your English is terrific...thank you again.
Excellent demonstration .You have explained the steps that are necessary to create the perfect dough consistency that other videos have not clearly described. I have been very frustrated by my attempts so far.Thank you so much..I was about to give up on sourdough.
Moin and Gluten Tag Cheryl Sims, you are most welcome! Glad I was able to shed some light on some of the topics. Feel free to reach out with more questions! Happy baking.
your videos are the BEST bread videos I've ever seen. thank you so much for all your work! I've been baking seriously for over a decade, but your techniques have improved my bread already so much! I've ordered the book.
I’m alway tempted to buy a stand mixer but I really want to learn how to make a great dough without a machine. This is a masterclass, thanks for posting
I see it is not about timing and following a recipe but to learn to know the flours we use and figure out how our loaf process is going. Thanks so much.
Moin Cindy. Awesome, glad you enjoyed the tip. Just to be save, you can stop bulking at 50-75% size increase. Sometimes doubling is a little too much depending on your flour's properties.
A superb tutorial. It'd have been really good to know how to fix things when things do not work as expected at certain points, without discarding the dough, or whether fixing it is at all possible at that certain point.
Thank you for these videos. I failed hard with my first sourdough and your videos have been very helpful.. The german speaking Alexa made me smile. I was born in Germany. I hold it dear to my heart.
Moin. Lesson learned, sorry. I will include it next time. It is very similar but somewhat more open than the one I baked in this recipe: th-cam.com/video/U9_GVHuI1Ro/w-d-xo.html. Happy baking!
I agree.Not sure what "final look" you were going for. I would love to see it as you are putting it in the oven (What was the final shape, did you do any "last touches", what container was used) When did you add the cuts(What pattern is best), and to see what it looked like coming out
Hi! I’m new to your channel and have already learned so much about handling sourdough. I’ve made a lot of yeast breads and I hadn’t recognized how differently I was supposed to handle a sourdough! My next loaf will be so much better! I look forward to watching more of your content! Do you ever add Vital Wheat Gluten to your dough? I have one recipe that recommends it. I thought maybe because it was part whole wheat flour.
Thank you and hearing your speaking German once in a while lets me hear what my Dad sounded like, I miss him and both of yours languange. Wish I had learned from him. Danka --sorry if spelling is incorrect
I just ordered the Hardcover of The Sourdough Framework book. The free digital download convinced me it is worth it. I have been baking sourdough for over a year and am constantly learning. I find the book by Ken Forkish to be extremely valuable too (Flour Water Salt Yeast is the title). Keep up the good work!
Another great video and I appreciate that you spend so much time reading and replying to comments too! Salut to you🙇🏻♀️ quick question, when will you add your inclusions in sourdough? Lamination phase? Hope to see you do more German style bread too 🥰🥰
Moin Gloria.You are most welcome. Your words mean a lot. Thank you! I always add the sourdough after the Autolysis stage. So I mix flour and water, let it sit for at least 30 minutes, then add salt and sourdough. Happy baking!
Hi! Thank you so much for this video!! What I learned was that everything starts with the sourdough, but you started with water and flour… I have to try this again now when I know how to do 👍
Your videos are SO thorough and helpful. Thank you so much for making such great content ! I'm sitting here while I have a nice Sourdough baking in the oven :))
Wow! I never realized how much you end up having to work the dough. No wonder why my bread bowls didn’t come out like I thought they should. Danke for zer gut engles. I’m sure I just combined German and Dutch there, it has been decades since I’ve spoken either one. Thank you for your tutorials, very helpful. Ingrid
This is so helpful - thank you. I've been making sourdough for around six weeks now with varying degrees of success, so I'm looking forward to trying your techniques on my next bake. 😊
Hi, thanks for this excellent tutorial ! I've been baking since May with my rye starter thanks to virus and workingfromhome! Only today I managed to have that ears and oven spring by this amazing video. I might have missed, after autolyse, whilst doing the bench kneading do you wet the bench or not? Thanks again! ✌🏼
Love this, learned so much. Finally understand what autolyse is and why it's so important. Also got to practice my German (Alexa timer for 6 hours -- I understood!!). And you are a very sporty and skilled guy. Thank you!
Thank you! I was just about to give up-everything I tried previously still resulted in weak flat loaves. I tried your method and both of my loaves turned out just like your picture! I used your oven temp trick as well and they had perfect oven spring and perfect ears. And I love your sense of humour and the name of your starter -Bread Pitt 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I only have been baking for about 3 months and I feel my doughs don't have a nice gluten structure like yours do even though they are consistently getting better each time. I will follow your steps next weekend bake!
Awesome! Try changing only one parameter each time. That way you will learn from each loaf. Happy baking and feel free to reach out with more questions!
thank you so very much. Extremely beneficial to see how dough should look and feel ; to know there is a way thats not so much a hands coated with sticky dough filled process, and to know well, how very off my recipes have been. haha hah at me. I have relied on my rough measure "feeling" for cooking in assembling my ingredients but must leave that to the dough manipulation and get out my digital scale first. I was also using far too much starter,and mixing it with the water before adding to the flour... I will try autolysis or autolyzing ... the mixing of the water with the flour, then adding the right amount of starter.... more starter not beiing better. Very good information.
Oh wow, someone actually tells me what to do with my too sticky dough, I can oil a loaf tin and then bake it. Normally I would go on and on, trying to get strength into my dough, but now I know it will never happen. Great tip of taking a piece of your dough and putting it into a ramekin and watching for proving/doubling in size visually, rather than guessing by using time. Thank you for teaching me about correct water/flour hydration and I’m going to try your way of testing my flour with the different water ratios. I’ve learned so much from watching 3 of your videos. You rock!😉👍🏻🤗
Hi! I can’t thank you enough for the time you take making these fascinating videos. Do you have any tricks to get the dough out of the pot (when you cannot just flip it upside down) ? Everything was going perfect, including the coil folds, but the dough got completely torn apart when I tried to get it out ;-( So sad ... I got the feeling that I waited too long between the last fold, and the shaping ; so the dough had lost all its strength, and it was impossible to get it out. Do you think that it is important to do the last fold shortly before shaping ? Thanks a lot, and please continue posting those videos ! (I apologize if the question has already been asked, I didn’t find it in the numerous comments I read)
Moin TheSdubray. Oh noes, damn! I feel what happened is that you ran into overfermentation. You fermented your dough for too long and then the acidity broke down the gluten network. This can easily happen. Try feeding your starter a ratio of 1:5:5 and then maybe even try to finish bulk fermentation a little earlier (50-75% size increase). Feel free to send more questions.
Indeed, I had several signs of overfermentation, but didn’t believe it because the dough hadn’t doubled (thanks to your genius probe trick !) I never dared to try a 1:5:5 ratio because I once read that on the long term the starter would die if you did not respect 1:1 flour ratio. I will definitively follow your advice ! At least I discovered cool folds, which are indeed incredibly satisfying ... Thanks again, I can’t wait for my next try !
Hi, just wanted to give you some news, and eventually some help to people who had the same problems. It appears that my main problem was not only over fermentation, but also too much water for my flour, and the use of rye flour, which causes the dough to be too sticky for my capacities. I started again from the beginning, with a plain and easy white flour, followed your tricks, and ... I am so so so moved, because for the very first time I got a real beautiful oven spring, just as I was dreaming of. These months of work are paying off, and once again thank you so much for your help !
Vielen Dank for such detailed instruction. I have just begun making sourdough breads. My first two breads were a failure but I haven't given up hope. The next one will be following your instructions. Wish me Glueck!
I bake bread at home for my family 2-3 times a week. Some notes: - This is definitely good starting point to get *best* sourdough white bread, but it takes relatively large amount of work if you are only baking one or two loaves at a time, - I prefer a compromise that gets me very good bread, repeatedly, with absolute minimum effort and without my skin getting irritated from all that acid and constant washing. And for that I am using stand mixer, high-protein flour, slightly less hydration (so that the hook can "bite" into it) cold proofing in the fridge (so that I can make it ahead of time when it is convenient for me which is important if you have a day job or errands but you still want to make bread regularly). - My basic daily bread recipe is 77% hydration with Caputo Manitoba ORO (very strong) flour, 3% of salt, 10% of 66% hydration starter, for 1kg loaf (baked on a slab of marble) - I try to simplify the process to absolute minimum that is needed to get very good bread. - I use dry sourdough starter which is 50-66% hydration (compared to 100% of normal starter). This starter is easier to keep, spoils less, develops slower, is less messy, but it is hard to incorporate into bread dough. That is where whisking it into water helps. It also ensures starter gets everywhere which makes for even development. - I use only 5-10% starter. Because I am not in a hurry to bake this bread (I will be putting it in the fridge anyway) it can just sit there on the counter for however it needs. I usually start in the morning so that I can put it in the fridge sometime afternoon or I start the bread in the evening so that I can do it in the morning. Which one I choose depends on weather and my time. If I leave it overnight on the counter (only when it is relatively cold) I will reduce the starter to 5%. - Using small amount of starter means I can add everything initially and it won't start developing dramatically during autolysis meaning I have all the time I want. - I perform entire process in the mixer bowl practically without touching the bread. But I never run the mixer for long or fast because it would damage the gluten. After autolysis I will give it 30s to 1 minute to knead the dough mainly to homogenize it. After that I will run it for just couple revolutions as frequently as is practical for me (every time the dough relaxes). In practice this means something like every 20-30 minutes for the next couple of hours. This approximates the stretch and fold as much as possible with a stand mixer. - I will manually turn the dough in the middle of the process to make sure more even results. - To mix the ingredients initially I am using paddle attachment until all flour is wet. I remove the paddle, let it autolyse, and use the hook only after 0,5h of autolysis. AMA
50 minutes is such an odd number of minutes. I think he meant 15 minutes, but Ive made a lot of bread and it's not critical. As long as the dough rests a bit. I knead for half an hour then leave it ferment overnight to improve the yeasty flavor.
Sorry for my Denglisch haha. It is 15 minutes. So between kneading and then bench kneading, 15 minutes. Afterwards 15 minutes until lamination. You want to not wait too long so that dough structure can build. At the same time you want to wait a little to allow your gluten to relax.
I live i. germany and found it very hard to get high protein flour in normal supermarkets. I found a place that sold pure wheat protein and add ot to standard flour but may I ask what flour you use or recommend in germany to get higher protein like 14%
Moin Richard. Excellent idea. I wrote a small article on that recently: blog.the-bread-code.io/tutorial/2020/08/20/sourdough-flour-in-germany.html. Cheers.
Oh wow such amazing advice, not to blindly follow hydration, but to work with your own flour and understand it. This is next-level bread philosophy, you are clearly operating on a higher plane of bread knowledge, but this was just what I needed to hear to overcome my present issues. Thank you!
It was a great demonstration and very therapeutic to watch; but soooooo much work. I'd have loved to see how it turned out after baking. What I did the other day, and I'd just heard this would work and never tried it before: I created one lot of dough (with 600g strong white flour) in my breadmaker, then put it in a cold fridge and left it there for 5 days. I prepared it a roasting tray like a focaccia, let it rise one more time and cooked with some rock salt, olive oil and rosemary on top. As hoped, that had the same texture and taste as sour dough. But all told it used less than 15 minutes of my time. I'd love to taste your bread to compare the outcomes (even given the different finishing in my case.
Hi tsuchan1, haha awesome, thank you very much. That really means a lot! I would only bench knead when going for around 65% hydration. Now if you have a higher hydration you have to knead more, apply more work. For an easy bread I would not do all of it. Did the dough also incease in size after 5 days in your fridge? I am very curious. Happy baking.
@@the_bread_code It did at the start - maybe while still cooling down - and then it stopped trying. The first time I did this, it tried to make a dash for freedom popping the lid I put on it. The second time I put it in a bigger container, and I'd already turned down the fridge temperature. It gave up trying to rise fairly soon, but it still doubled in size when I brought it out of the fridge. It was really stretchy then. Best of luck, always.
I finally got an amazing loaf of open grain artisan style bread after many unsuccessful attempts following your method and recipe. I put it overnight in the fridge as the dough was not ready until late in the evening, and who can sleep with the smell of fresh bread in the house! Thanks again, I now have a go-to method for an amazing loaf of bread.
Moin Justino. I would add those a little later. Reason being, enzymes are being activated once you add water to your flour. You want those reactions to happen without any disturbance. Then after 1-8 hours you can add the other stuff. I like doing an autolyse over night these days. Works very well. Cheers to Puerto Rico.
Moin Johnny, yes, I would say this belongs to the same category, but just has a different name. Stretch and folds are typically not as gentle. Some people tear the dough. This coil fold is really making sure to touch the dough with very gentle hands.
Hi, so sorry for all the questions, I’m no scientist : ) how do I know about my flour protein so to work out how much water & starter? Also, how do I know if my starter is too sour, what do I compare it to when I taste it? Is there any advice you can give as I make mine with whole grain & wholemeal spelt flour & add lots seeds, so any tips gratefully received. Thx Ingrid.
Moin Ingrid. Excellent question. The % protein is typically listed on the packaging of your flour. What does it say there? I'd try feeding your starter 1:5:5. That should do wonders. Then try tasting it, just to develop a taste for the sourness. You can compare it with a starter that you let at room temperature for a little bit longer. I would recommend you to also consider using a loaf pan, it will make things a lot easier :-)
If your flour is "All Purpose Flour" it will have a protein content between 9-12%; if it says "Bread Flour" it will have between 12-14%; "pastry flour" 8-9%; "cake flour" between 7-8%.
@@the_bread_code so you mean 1 part starter, 5 parts water, 5 parts flour I guess? And what to do if my starter is too sour? Keeping it at room temperature, feed it more often, change the ratios (to 1:5:5 for example :D) Thanks :)
@@the_bread_code so you do the bench kneading after a 15 minute rest after adding the starter and salt and the lamination after a 15 minute rest after the bench kneading? Thanks.
Thank you for your video, I have bad times handling super sticky dough & frisbee loaf. Your recipe is the game changer! I got my 1st ever oven spring loaf & the EARS!!!! Again, thank you very much!
I got a bit disappointed today with the last loaf I made, but after I watched your video dude, even with those words of encouragement at the end, made me a bit more hopeful and now im gonna rewatch your video and work on this craft. I gave up last year then made excuses, this time i have none. Also, If i wanted to make sourdough baguettes, can I use the same recipe for bread and shape it differently? or are there different ratios for it?
Hi FinishMe. No worries - that happens. Been there myself many times! I would suggest to avoid doing baguettes, it's the same recipe yes, but - the technique in the end to load them in the oven is more complicated. Not as easy. Try mastering the first boules and batards, then consider baguettes. Happy baking!
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You can read about this in detail in my free book called “The Sourdough Framework”. You can get it here: breadco.de/book. You can support the project with a donation, but there is absolutely no knead. I believe information like this should be free and accessible to everyone. The book is made for everyone who wants to understand the important details when making sourdough bread. Thank you!
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What type of flower do you use? It has a beautiful flaky look to the dough idk what it is perhaps its left over husk from the seeds?
@@spiceytaco95 thanks for the excellent question. I got the flour from "Mulino Padano". I wrote an article on this earlier: blog.the-bread-code.io/tutorial/2020/08/20/sourdough-flour-in-germany.html. Happy baking!
Can you please make german subtitles in your videos ?
@@littlewitch8954 Sorry, not for now. It is too much work 😿. I might be making a German video every now and then.
I'm glad you pointed out that if your dough doesn't quite work out, you may need to just start over from scratch. I feel like there are too many TH-camrs who try to trivialize the degree of technique and experience it takes to make good sourdough, and downplay the effects of mistakes. In my experience that just leaves people feeling discouraged. I've been a pretty active hobbyist baker for about 10 years, and I've baked thousands of loaves, and I still get a bad batch every now and then. What I've started doing is, when I get a batch that isn't developing good structure or rise, I just knead in some extra flour and a touch of sugar and use it to make flatbreads. None of my friends have ever complained about sourdough pita or tortillas, especially when I serve them with some shawarma or carnitas. Most of them never even realize that my flatbreads are "Plan B".
Moin Flats. Thanks for the excellent comment. Yes, 100%. I feel that many of the recipes are overly simplified. You will have a hard time reproducing the results. Me too, I would say I manage to nail 80% of the breads that I bake. It's also due to the fact that I love experimenting and trying a few different things.
Thanks, i have had breads where I can tell it isnt going as planned. I go ahead and bake, and give to the birds, but your idea is much better.
Rob, repurposing and then starting over is a good suggestion.
For my learning of pizza dough, I make very small sample sizes, so that rating it doesn't become burdensome.
@Rob how do you make the tortillas do you simply just roll it out and put it on the comal?
The best, most compehensive, step- by step tutorial for beginners. You do not take corners and show ever step. Tanks so much for taking the time for making such videos. Please continue this good work.
As a beginner sourdough baker I've watched many videos, and this was far the most informational and detailed explanation. Thank you for sharing your wisdom! Now I need to go out and find the next step where to go from here :)
Moin Kati. Thanks for the nice words. Figured this could be a good video with some more info about the whole process: th-cam.com/video/0kFYyj3WKpE/w-d-xo.html. Feel free to reach out with more questions.
Ohh okay I’ll try doing a little jig and sing 🎶 my wild Irish 🌹
I agree with Karl above, you explained the bakers math, autolyse and lamination better than any of the videos or members of the Facebook groups I belong to. Thank you for being a teacher as well as a baker.
Does it matter what type of flour I use in my starter? I have been using rye and wheat flour. Could that make my starter too sour? Should I be using only white flour? By the way, great video! The technique for shaping the dough using the bench scraper was especially helpful. Thank you!
@@annebrosnan6384 The real sourdough experts suggest to use whole wheat and rye in the starter. I think the sourness depends on the length of the fermentation. The longer you ferment the dough (not the starter), the more sour your bread will be. I'm not an expert, so take it with a grain of salt 😉
The most amazing moment of the video is Alexa actually setting a timer on the first attempt. Wow. Mind blown.
I had trouble getting good oven spring, and then I followed these steps. The result is astonishing, the best looking bread I have ever done. Thank you so much !
Moin and Gluten Tag katimaboy, you are most welcome! Feel free to reach out with more questions! Happy baking.
This video has helped me achieve consistent and ideal results. Thanks!
Finally! After hours of watching the bread code videos and countless attempts I HAVE OVEN SPRING! thank you!!, 🎉❤
I appreciate your many useful tips and charming manner. This week I made my first totally successful sourdough loaf in a Dutch oven after watching one of your videos. Bench kneading helped, but I think the winning tip was to place the chilled dough in the freezer for 30 minutes to facilitate scoring. Game changer!
Moin Judith. Awesome. Thanks for the nice words. That truly means a lot. Glad you made an amazing bread, it is so satisfying! Happy baking!
I have not had any successful oven springs yet, so I'm very glad you put this video together.
Moin Sippi. Thank you very much. That really means a lot. Happy baking and please feel free to reach out with more questions.
Goodness!! 40 seconds in and I've already learned a very important point: too sour of a sour dough affects the structure of the loaf. I've got incredibly tangy loaves & they've looked great up until they come out from the oven!
I need to learn more too about what to do when my starter may be too sour. I hadn't heard of this before.
Right what should we do?
Feed your starter more often, discard more starter, use more new flour and water compared to the amount of starter, warmer temperatures (cold encourages more lactic acid bacteria), shorter fermentation time
Gluten Tag! Never did i think i could make my own bread, let alone bread that makes my family and friends sing my praise! Its all thanks to you!
And your bread joke is solid too!
I've watched many TH-cam channels about sourdough and yours is the best and so well-explained! After watching a several of your videos, I finally found out what's gone wrong with bread (too sour starter, too high hydration for the flour I use and over fermented during bulk fermentation). I referred to your other video about hydration, did a few experiments and came up with my own formula. I then applied the tips you've shown in this video and I'm so pleased with the result - I have a stronger bread with nice 'ear' and beautiful crumb! :) Thank you!
Moin Amanda T, you are most welcome! Feel free to reach out with more questions at any time. Happy baking and cheers from Hamburg.
Is anyone else terrifically disappointed that he didn’t end the video by showing off the finished bread?! 😢
It probably looked mostly the same
Yes, I wanted to see the results of this process.
Not really. At the moment the big thing for me is handling 70% hydration dough. I start off using a stiff spatula in a mixing bowl, turning the bowl and folding the rough dough until all the flour is incorporated then I scrape the dough onto the counter and continue kneading with a metal bench scraper.
Maybe it's not the best method but my hands stay clean.
I also learned that putting the dough in the fridge to proof overnight really improves the flavor.
I've been using frozen pizza dough and I want to start making my own pizza dough.
Good thing I didn’t waste 30 minutes to watch it. The finished bread is the best part….
I am!!! I watched this because I made bread where the dough looked and behaved like this until after I tried to final proof it in the bannington it wouldn’t really hold shape and when I scored it, it just melted open. So I was absolutely disappointed I didn’t get to see him score and bake! My loaf rose really well but the crust was really thin and the score didn’t really show so it didn’t have an ear :-( waiting till tomorrow to cut it open
Thank you for your videos! I have been following the Ken Forkish method with pretty good results, but found the folding method difficult until this video. I find your method has one big difference that made the whole process easier - you divide your dough in half before the folding process. It made folding much more manageable and for that I thank you so much. I ended up with two beautiful loaves with ears 🥰
I've scoured near and far for better spring in my Sourdoughs. This is the preeminent video for that. Thank you this.
Moin Fis. You are most welcome. Happy baking!
Honestly even that very first trick alone was worth the watch! I was always going straight in and trying to add strength to my dough immediately after mixing, waiting even half an hour makes a night and day difference!
Thanks for taking time to edit and have actual captions for the Deaf, helps make video easier to follow.
Gluten tag!! Love these videos you’re such a happy guy and really enthusiastic so it’s lovely to watch but also very helpful and covers all the principles excellently!! Thank you so much 😁
While I am very discouraged, I am still trying to get this most challenging technique. I have made bread for most of my 67 years. This sour dough deal is different than a yeast bread. My SD bread is still very dense. Lately I have been watching Patrick Ryan. ❤️ Please wish me some Irish luck.☘️🇮🇪🙂
Good luck! You will succeed. It just takes a few attempts.
How are things now, two months later? Kept on trying?
You’re insane. Sourdough is infinitely easier than regular bread. Very, very easy.
Hi Mary Jo: Don’t get discouraged about baking sourdough. Give yourself at least a year of trying it to improve. I started the journey in 2020 and I’ve watched so many videos taking from each the things that made sense to me. I had to stop being so hard on myself. Also, a recipe with less hydration may be better. The recipe here is more for experienced bakers. You might want to search: Artisan sourdough small hand mix from start to finish for a recipe that is less hydration. Hope this helps.
If it's any consolation my local birds are really enjoying my weekly fails, although I do have to soak it in water for them 😂
I loved this video.I watched it on my way to work to learn more.I’ve been practicing on baking bread from different TH-cam creators and your method is wonderful.I will try it your way. Thank you so much.And your English is great!.I’m Cuban,raised here since I was seven and now I will be 62 on May 1,2023, and sometimes,I have a little trouble.I subscribed to your channel.God bless you.
I just had a 2nd sourdough failure..... feeling kinda discouraged and stumbled on your video. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement, I am sure a lot of newbies like me will feel brave to venture into the bread world again. Thank you for this very informative video.
Thank you very much for the nice words!
I've failed at least 6 or 8 times now for just a broad. I've used starter to Levin bisquets and buns successfully.. But I'm gunna try again now that I've found your channel.
@@erincarr9411 You will make it dude! For me it was the wrong hydration I used for my flour and that my starter was to acidic. Now I am baking amazing breads and I started 8 months ago, baking once a month at the start...
Don't get discouraged. I had a lot of failures before I understood through trial and error what I am doing wrong. And it was always my own avoidable fault.
You learn to bake sourdough consistently you will be happier for the rest of your life.
Wow, you feel discouraged by not able to make a bread. Life is going to give you some amazing surprises. 😂
Vielen Dank Hendrik! I just baked my best bread ever following this video! Gluten Tag aus Niederlande!
Made some amazing bread on my first try! I was expecting a failure, but it was really great. Excellent oven spring and amazing open crumb. Thanks for the great videos!
I was just about to give up when this video showed up randomly. God sent 🙏 deffinetly the best presentation i have ever watched. Been so helpful. Thank you so much
This is hands down the best lamination technique I’ve seen on YT. Thanks for the tutorial, I tried it and was ‘so satisfying’ as you like to say.
Moin Karen Lee, you are most welcome! Feel free to reach out with more questions at any time. Happy baking and cheers from Hamburg.
Thank you so much for sharing. I've watched so many sourdough videos but you're the only one who's really explained causes of unmanagably sticky dough and ways to fix it. Just what i needed. Fantastic!
You are most welcome 🙏🏻
You're a very good teacher.... Thank you for your efforts here, I'm learning a lot!
Awesome. Glad you are enjoying the videos. That really means a lot. Cheers.
Your content is amazing. So much detail and advice. There's really no other channel like it
I followed these suggestions/techniques on my last bake. Although my bread had been succesful in the past, this put it over the top! Thank you. Great video.
I love that you show how you work without using tools. Gives me a better understanding of working with dough. I really enjoyed your pizza video by the way
Moin Ratmaster4000, thanks a lot for the nice words. Agreed, I am trying to use as few tools as possible. This makes it easy for everyone to follow the steps. Some suggest to use lots of different tools, but in the end it's technique that matters.
I know it can be scary or intimidating putting shows on TH-cam, especially since so many others have coverade the topic. But you bring so much more, including the science and technique! Instant subscriber!!! Not only do I love sour dough, but I love your approach!
Moin Chris. Sank you very much! Feel free to reach out with questions at any time!
Thank you so much. I've come to understand the sourdough baking process so much better with your tips and all of the information you share in your videos. No more flat bread for me now, though I still have to improve my scoring...but it´s getting there. ¡Saludos desde México!
This is the best sourdough baking video I've seen. You explain everything so well
Moin Pao, you are most welcome! Feel free to reach out with more questions at any time. Happy baking and cheers from Hamburg.
Such a good idea about testing hydration! I've been so sucked into trying to get "high hydration" for the sake of just having that number high (because somehow that makes me feel special). But maybe I should be letting the flour/blend dictate what I'm doing.
100% - this is so very much true. I have been there too. I recently made a video on testing the water content you can use for your flour: th-cam.com/video/BnvhhxQZQ14/w-d-xo.html. Just take some of your flour, prepare different bowls and mix with different levels of water. Test at which level you can get a window pane, and where it breaks. Much better than just following a % value you find on the internet. For beginners I always recommend to go lower. Your dough is way less sticky. You can focus on practicing the technique and become better.
German here. I will definitely do the testing soon. I have had decent results but my doughs tend to ferment faster than recipes suggest. Since you might have experience with flours here what do you suggest to use best. I have 550 wheat flour (Bio), Wholewheat Flour as well as Bread flour (no type on the bag). Do you have any experiences with those concerning the hydration levels? Thanks a lot.
@@the_bread_code great! Thanks.
kaeseatom @
Are you using 100% whole wheat flour?
Thank you so much for this very well thought out, helpful video. I’m only about 3 weeks into my sourdough learning process and so far, every boule I’ve cut into has been dense and gummy. Your video helped me to see some things I may need to do differently such as mix the starter into an autolysed dough instead of mixing my starter into water and then adding the flour. And now you have me questioning my water ratio and the acidity of my starter. I’m going to tweak a few things and get the next one in the oven! Thanks again!
There is nothing wrong to mix the starter with water, I've been doing this for years!
I greatly enjoyed this video. I'm already having reliable results using KA Organic Bread Flour and fresh, locally milled Rouge de Bordeaux whole wheat flour (at 15% protein.) I'm using the coil fold (or "stretch-and-fold," if you prefer) method, but slightly different sequence of lift (which is doing a "stretch") and folds. Yet, there's always more to learn, and I love the way you handle the dough so gently. I'll try dividing the dough earlier to see if cutting the dough later has any noticeable effect on weakening the structure.
Once I got adequately educated about the basics, I found that -- just as you demonstrate -- you develop a "feel" for how things are progressing through the steps, and you can make adjustments as you go. One thing I think can really help "beginners" (like me) is a long Autolyse. I mix the Levain and then immediately make the Autolyse. In about 3 or 4 hours, the Levain has doubled and I mix it and dissolved salt into the Autolyse. From the very beginning, with the flours I'm using and the extended Autolyse, I have pretty robust gluten.
Moin Paul. Awesome. Thanks for the comment. It's great to know that you figured out what works best for your flour. Yes - every flour is unique. You have to practice with the flours you have at hand. It's a good learning. Once you know it you will bake better bread!
@ 11:58 ypu wonder if it is OK to tell us about the dough. YES!!! OMG !!!!
I have so looked at so many people making sourdough, and you are the first one I actually SEE the way the dough looks and reacts to your bread making. THANK YOU!!!! I have, in the short time I watch this, seen so many things to help my process.
I love this channel! This video is so helpful and typical of the others. Not only really comprehensive and practical, but presented in an engaging and approachable way by a fellow amateur who’s gone through the same roller coaster many of us have. Thank you!
Moin and Gluten Tag Richard Bradshaw, you are most welcome! Feel free to reach out with more questions! Happy baking.
Had to come back to comment. I've been struggling for months with sourdough & watched many videos but this one clicked for me.
I've also found Mary's Nest to have great information. Check out 'How to Make Foolproof Sourdough Starter'
The trick is using Rye flour and it requires a very small amount which is nice. Good luck!
Great tutorial! Thank you, I am a beginning sour dough baker and I need all the instruction I can get....you are a good teacher and your English is terrific...thank you again.
Moin Flying. Awesome. Thank you very much. That really means a lot! Feel free to reach out with questions any time!
Very very patient and a super good teacher.
Excellent demonstration .You have explained the steps that are necessary to create the perfect dough consistency that other videos have not clearly described. I have been very frustrated by my attempts so far.Thank you so much..I was about to give up on sourdough.
Moin and Gluten Tag Cheryl Sims, you are most welcome! Glad I was able to shed some light on some of the topics. Feel free to reach out with more questions! Happy baking.
After 5 months of nerdy baking/research of sourdough, i find your tips best of all of youtube.
Thank you
Moin Gorazd. Thanks a bunch, that truly means a lot! Happy baking.
your videos are the BEST bread videos I've ever seen. thank you so much for all your work! I've been baking seriously for over a decade, but your techniques have improved my bread already so much! I've ordered the book.
I’m alway tempted to buy a stand mixer but I really want to learn how to make a great dough without a machine.
This is a masterclass, thanks for posting
Thanks Keri ❤️
Do it without. I’ve been wanting to buy one but only because I sometimes do pop up of 30-60pizzas
Your videos are very informative. Because of you and the Foodgeek channel I have become better at making Sourdough loafs. Great video. Thanks!
Moin Pauline. You are most welcome. Glad you enjoy the content. Feel free to reach out with questions at any time. Happy baking!
Thank you for making and sharing this excellent video. I learned so many new techniques! Thanks again!!
You are most welcome God. Thank you for the nice words.
I see it is not about timing and following a recipe but to learn to know the flours we use and figure out how our loaf process is going. Thanks so much.
I can say that the suggestion to put a small part of the dough into a small container has saved me mistakes in bulk fermentation. Thank you!
Moin Cindy. Awesome, glad you enjoyed the tip. Just to be save, you can stop bulking at 50-75% size increase. Sometimes doubling is a little too much depending on your flour's properties.
Wow, nice work. Always nice to see someone enjoy showing the world how fun it is to goof around in kitchen. The rewards are satisfaction.
A superb tutorial. It'd have been really good to know how to fix things when things do not work as expected at certain points, without discarding the dough, or whether fixing it is at all possible at that certain point.
Thank you for these videos. I failed hard with my first sourdough and your videos have been very helpful.. The german speaking Alexa made me smile. I was born in Germany. I hold it dear to my heart.
It would be great to see the finished loaf as well as the crumb. I know this was more about strength but seeing the final product really helps
Moin. Lesson learned, sorry. I will include it next time. It is very similar but somewhat more open than the one I baked in this recipe: th-cam.com/video/U9_GVHuI1Ro/w-d-xo.html. Happy baking!
I agree.Not sure what "final look" you were going for. I would love to see it as you are putting it in the oven (What was the final shape, did you do any "last touches", what container was used) When did you add the cuts(What pattern is best), and to see what it looked like coming out
This video is pure gold. You have enough material for a masterclass. Thank you for the great tips. L'amour de Montréal
The moment with sunglasses really shows how much his dough means to him.
Vielen dank für das Video! Es war sehr nützlich, und ich hoffe, dass mein nächstes Brot ein bisschen mehr kräftig wird.
Danke! Das freut mich sehr.
Hi! I’m new to your channel and have already learned so much about handling sourdough. I’ve made a lot of yeast breads and I hadn’t recognized how differently I was supposed to handle a sourdough! My next loaf will be so much better! I look forward to watching more of your content! Do you ever add Vital Wheat Gluten to your dough? I have one recipe that recommends it. I thought maybe because it was part whole wheat flour.
Thank you for showing this technique, it was very helpful to me.
Moin and Gluten Tag Martin, Thanks. That means a lot. Feel free to reach out with more questions! Happy baking.
Thank you and hearing your speaking German once in a while lets me hear what my Dad sounded like, I miss him and both of yours languange. Wish I had learned from him. Danka --sorry if spelling is incorrect
Hey Sharon. Haha awesome. Yes that's almost correct. It would be "Danke"
I just ordered the Hardcover of The Sourdough Framework book. The free digital download convinced me it is worth it. I have been baking sourdough for over a year and am constantly learning. I find the book by Ken Forkish to be extremely valuable too (Flour Water Salt Yeast is the title). Keep up the good work!
Another great video and I appreciate that you spend so much time reading and replying to comments too! Salut to you🙇🏻♀️ quick question, when will you add your inclusions in sourdough? Lamination phase? Hope to see you do more German style bread too 🥰🥰
Moin Gloria.You are most welcome. Your words mean a lot. Thank you! I always add the sourdough after the Autolysis stage. So I mix flour and water, let it sit for at least 30 minutes, then add salt and sourdough. Happy baking!
Thank you for explaining. Each time i make it it gets better but each timw i watch someone who actually explains it, i learn a better technique
Ein Video zu reinem Vollkornbrot mit Sauerteig wäre toll
Hi! Thank you so much for this video!!
What I learned was that everything starts with the sourdough, but you started with water and flour… I have to try this again now when I know how to do 👍
Your videos are SO thorough and helpful. Thank you so much for making such great content ! I'm sitting here while I have a nice Sourdough baking in the oven :))
Moin Síofra Collins, you are most welcome! Feel free to reach out with more questions at any time. Happy baking and cheers from Hamburg.
Wow! I never realized how much you end up having to work the dough. No wonder why my bread bowls didn’t come out like I thought they should.
Danke for zer gut engles. I’m sure I just combined German and Dutch there, it has been decades since I’ve spoken either one. Thank you for your tutorials, very helpful. Ingrid
This is so helpful - thank you. I've been making sourdough for around six weeks now with varying degrees of success, so I'm looking forward to trying your techniques on my next bake. 😊
Awesome. Glad you found this tutorial useful. Feel free to reach out in case you have more questions. Happy baking.
I am on gluten free diet I appreciate if you show me and teach from start to make the starter
Thanks
Good video! Glad to learn about the dough: which one is strong and which one is weak, and... why? Thank you for educating us!
You are so welcome!
Hi, thanks for this excellent tutorial ! I've been baking since May with my rye starter thanks to virus and workingfromhome! Only today I managed to have that ears and oven spring by this amazing video. I might have missed, after autolyse, whilst doing the bench kneading do you wet the bench or not? Thanks again! ✌🏼
Moin Nigar. No need to wet the bench. You want it to be dry so that the dough sticks to it. That way you can fold it over more. Happy baking.
So much about this is brilliant, but the tiny 'doubling' sample is genius beyond anything else I've seen!
Love this, learned so much. Finally understand what autolyse is and why it's so important. Also got to practice my German (Alexa timer for 6 hours -- I understood!!). And you are a very sporty and skilled guy. Thank you!
melissa johnson hahha. Thank you very much. Cheers 🎉
Thank you very much. Your TH-cam channel and your blog is a newfound
treasure for me. So much information that I've been looking for.
Thank you! I was just about to give up-everything I tried previously still resulted in weak flat loaves. I tried your method and both of my loaves turned out just like your picture! I used your oven temp trick as well and they had perfect oven spring and perfect ears.
And I love your sense of humour and the name of your starter -Bread Pitt 🤣🤣🤣🤣
You are teaching the world how to make bread. Thanks so much!!
I only have been baking for about 3 months and I feel my doughs don't have a nice gluten structure like yours do even though they are consistently getting better each time.
I will follow your steps next weekend bake!
Awesome! Try changing only one parameter each time. That way you will learn from each loaf. Happy baking and feel free to reach out with more questions!
thank you so very much.
Extremely beneficial to see how dough should look and feel ; to know there is a way thats not so much a hands coated with sticky dough filled process, and to know well, how very off my recipes have been. haha hah at me. I have relied on my rough measure "feeling" for cooking in assembling my ingredients but must leave that to the dough manipulation and get out my digital scale first. I was also using far too much starter,and mixing it with the water before adding to the flour... I will try autolysis or autolyzing ... the mixing of the water with the flour, then adding the right amount of starter.... more starter not beiing better.
Very good information.
Oh wow, someone actually tells me what to do with my too sticky dough, I can oil a loaf tin and then bake it. Normally I would go on and on, trying to get strength into my dough, but now I know it will never happen. Great tip of taking a piece of your dough and putting it into a ramekin and watching for proving/doubling in size visually, rather than guessing by using time. Thank you for teaching me about correct water/flour hydration and I’m going to try your way of testing my flour with the different water ratios. I’ve learned so much from watching 3 of your videos. You rock!😉👍🏻🤗
Moin Linet. Awesome. You are most welcome and thanks for the nice words. Truly means a lot! Happy baking.
Hi!
I can’t thank you enough for the time you take making these fascinating videos.
Do you have any tricks to get the dough out of the pot (when you cannot just flip it upside down) ?
Everything was going perfect, including the coil folds, but the dough got completely torn apart when I tried to get it out ;-( So sad ...
I got the feeling that I waited too long between the last fold, and the shaping ; so the dough had lost all its strength, and it was impossible to get it out.
Do you think that it is important to do the last fold shortly before shaping ?
Thanks a lot, and please continue posting those videos !
(I apologize if the question has already been asked, I didn’t find it in the numerous comments I read)
Moin TheSdubray. Oh noes, damn! I feel what happened is that you ran into overfermentation. You fermented your dough for too long and then the acidity broke down the gluten network. This can easily happen. Try feeding your starter a ratio of 1:5:5 and then maybe even try to finish bulk fermentation a little earlier (50-75% size increase). Feel free to send more questions.
Indeed, I had several signs of overfermentation, but didn’t believe it because the dough hadn’t doubled (thanks to your genius probe trick !)
I never dared to try a 1:5:5 ratio because I once read that on the long term the starter would die if you did not respect 1:1 flour ratio.
I will definitively follow your advice !
At least I discovered cool folds, which are indeed incredibly satisfying ...
Thanks again, I can’t wait for my next try !
Hi, just wanted to give you some news, and eventually some help to people who had the same problems.
It appears that my main problem was not only over fermentation, but also too much water for my flour, and the use of rye flour, which causes the dough to be too sticky for my capacities.
I started again from the beginning, with a plain and easy white flour, followed your tricks, and ... I am so so so moved, because for the very first time I got a real beautiful oven spring, just as I was dreaming of.
These months of work are paying off, and once again thank you so much for your help !
Vielen Dank for such detailed instruction. I have just begun making sourdough breads. My first two breads were a failure but I haven't given up hope. The next one will be following your instructions. Wish me Glueck!
Moin Steve galkin, you are most welcome! Feel free to reach out with more questions at any time. Happy baking and cheers from Hamburg.
I bake bread at home for my family 2-3 times a week.
Some notes:
- This is definitely good starting point to get *best* sourdough white bread, but it takes relatively large amount of work if you are only baking one or two loaves at a time,
- I prefer a compromise that gets me very good bread, repeatedly, with absolute minimum effort and without my skin getting irritated from all that acid and constant washing. And for that I am using stand mixer, high-protein flour, slightly less hydration (so that the hook can "bite" into it) cold proofing in the fridge (so that I can make it ahead of time when it is convenient for me which is important if you have a day job or errands but you still want to make bread regularly).
- My basic daily bread recipe is 77% hydration with Caputo Manitoba ORO (very strong) flour, 3% of salt, 10% of 66% hydration starter, for 1kg loaf (baked on a slab of marble)
- I try to simplify the process to absolute minimum that is needed to get very good bread.
- I use dry sourdough starter which is 50-66% hydration (compared to 100% of normal starter). This starter is easier to keep, spoils less, develops slower, is less messy, but it is hard to incorporate into bread dough. That is where whisking it into water helps. It also ensures starter gets everywhere which makes for even development.
- I use only 5-10% starter. Because I am not in a hurry to bake this bread (I will be putting it in the fridge anyway) it can just sit there on the counter for however it needs. I usually start in the morning so that I can put it in the fridge sometime afternoon or I start the bread in the evening so that I can do it in the morning. Which one I choose depends on weather and my time. If I leave it overnight on the counter (only when it is relatively cold) I will reduce the starter to 5%.
- Using small amount of starter means I can add everything initially and it won't start developing dramatically during autolysis meaning I have all the time I want.
- I perform entire process in the mixer bowl practically without touching the bread. But I never run the mixer for long or fast because it would damage the gluten. After autolysis I will give it 30s to 1 minute to knead the dough mainly to homogenize it. After that I will run it for just couple revolutions as frequently as is practical for me (every time the dough relaxes). In practice this means something like every 20-30 minutes for the next couple of hours. This approximates the stretch and fold as much as possible with a stand mixer.
- I will manually turn the dough in the middle of the process to make sure more even results.
- To mix the ingredients initially I am using paddle attachment until all flour is wet. I remove the paddle, let it autolyse, and use the hook only after 0,5h of autolysis.
AMA
This is what I have been missing in my bread making. Thank you.
Your English is excellent.
You are welcome 😊
Sorry, are you saying 15 minutes or 50 minutes rest? This is a great video. Thank you.
I'm pretty sure 50 minutes.
50 minutes is such an odd number of minutes. I think he meant 15 minutes, but Ive made a lot of bread and it's not critical. As long as the dough rests a bit. I knead for half an hour then leave it ferment overnight to improve the yeasty flavor.
Same question.. i guess its 15
Sorry for my Denglisch haha. It is 15 minutes. So between kneading and then bench kneading, 15 minutes. Afterwards 15 minutes until lamination. You want to not wait too long so that dough structure can build. At the same time you want to wait a little to allow your gluten to relax.
15 it is, sorry.
Very helpful for people which want to learn how to bake a sourdough bread.
Sank you very much for the nice words 🎉
I live i. germany and found it very hard to get high protein flour in normal supermarkets. I found a place that sold pure wheat protein and add ot to standard flour but may I ask what flour you use or recommend in germany to get higher protein like 14%
Moin Richard. Excellent idea. I wrote a small article on that recently: blog.the-bread-code.io/tutorial/2020/08/20/sourdough-flour-in-germany.html. Cheers.
Man, I am from Brazil and we suffer with the same problem here.
Oh wow such amazing advice, not to blindly follow hydration, but to work with your own flour and understand it. This is next-level bread philosophy, you are clearly operating on a higher plane of bread knowledge, but this was just what I needed to hear to overcome my present issues. Thank you!
Thank you for all the tips! Just two questions:
1. Is it 15 minutes between the steps or 50?
2. Can I get the same results with dinkel mehl?
1. 15 sorry!
2. Yes. Lower the water amount a little.
@@the_bread_code thank you!
It was a great demonstration and very therapeutic to watch; but soooooo much work. I'd have loved to see how it turned out after baking. What I did the other day, and I'd just heard this would work and never tried it before: I created one lot of dough (with 600g strong white flour) in my breadmaker, then put it in a cold fridge and left it there for 5 days. I prepared it a roasting tray like a focaccia, let it rise one more time and cooked with some rock salt, olive oil and rosemary on top. As hoped, that had the same texture and taste as sour dough. But all told it used less than 15 minutes of my time. I'd love to taste your bread to compare the outcomes (even given the different finishing in my case.
Hi tsuchan1, haha awesome, thank you very much. That really means a lot! I would only bench knead when going for around 65% hydration. Now if you have a higher hydration you have to knead more, apply more work. For an easy bread I would not do all of it. Did the dough also incease in size after 5 days in your fridge? I am very curious. Happy baking.
@@the_bread_code It did at the start - maybe while still cooling down - and then it stopped trying. The first time I did this, it tried to make a dash for freedom popping the lid I put on it. The second time I put it in a bigger container, and I'd already turned down the fridge temperature. It gave up trying to rise fairly soon, but it still doubled in size when I brought it out of the fridge. It was really stretchy then. Best of luck, always.
Good day, thanks for sharing this. I am trying to master cinnamon rolls. Do you have a video for this?
Hey Edwana, thanks for the comment. With sourdough? I have made them before, but don't have a video on it.
@@the_bread_code oh my lord, please do a cinnamon roll video. That would be great! Never tried sourdough rolls though.
I finally got an amazing loaf of open grain artisan style bread after many unsuccessful attempts following your method and recipe. I put it overnight in the fridge as the dough was not ready until late in the evening, and who can sleep with the smell of fresh bread in the house! Thanks again, I now have a go-to method for an amazing loaf of bread.
Hello from Puerto Rico! Do you add all ingredients when autolyse? (Salt, sugar, almonds, etc.) Thanks.
Moin Justino. I would add those a little later. Reason being, enzymes are being activated once you add water to your flour. You want those reactions to happen without any disturbance. Then after 1-8 hours you can add the other stuff. I like doing an autolyse over night these days. Works very well. Cheers to Puerto Rico.
@@the_bread_code Okay, thanks. I will do it that way. Cheers to Germany.
Your English is perfect
Thank you
Patricia
The kneading-like technique you use that you said didn’t have a name is called “stretch and fold” by many.
Moin Johnny, yes, I would say this belongs to the same category, but just has a different name. Stretch and folds are typically not as gentle. Some people tear the dough. This coil fold is really making sure to touch the dough with very gentle hands.
Very good detail. A lot of steps--that's okay. I will try this.
Glad it was helpful!
Hi, so sorry for all the questions, I’m no scientist : ) how do I know about my flour protein so to work out how much water & starter? Also, how do I know if my starter is too sour, what do I compare it to when I taste it? Is there any advice you can give as I make mine with whole grain & wholemeal spelt flour & add lots seeds, so any tips gratefully received. Thx Ingrid.
Moin Ingrid. Excellent question. The % protein is typically listed on the packaging of your flour. What does it say there? I'd try feeding your starter 1:5:5. That should do wonders. Then try tasting it, just to develop a taste for the sourness. You can compare it with a starter that you let at room temperature for a little bit longer. I would recommend you to also consider using a loaf pan, it will make things a lot easier :-)
If your flour is "All Purpose Flour" it will have a protein content between 9-12%; if it says "Bread Flour" it will have between 12-14%; "pastry flour" 8-9%; "cake flour" between 7-8%.
@@the_bread_code ,
Werqk
@@the_bread_code so you mean 1 part starter, 5 parts water, 5 parts flour I guess?
And what to do if my starter is too sour? Keeping it at room temperature, feed it more often, change the ratios (to 1:5:5 for example :D)
Thanks :)
Thanks , it is the best video for sourdough making . I dont need to spend much money for attending the course of sourdough.
You are most welcome. Cheers!
Apologies - my hearing is not as good as it once was - 15 or 50 minutes?
Moin Carlos. No worries haha. I can never listen myself. It's 15 minutes, apologies. Happy baking.
@@the_bread_code so you do the bench kneading after a 15 minute rest after adding the starter and salt and the lamination after a 15 minute rest after the bench kneading? Thanks.
Excellent video and commentary- thank you !
Thank you too 🙏🏻
Hi, wonder how to know if my starter is too sour? Is there a PH level for that?
It should have more than 4.5 PH. The taste test also works very well. Try feeding your starter 1:5:5 that should help a lot 👍
Thank you for your video, I have bad times handling super sticky dough & frisbee loaf. Your recipe is the game changer! I got my 1st ever oven spring loaf & the EARS!!!! Again, thank you very much!
I got a bit disappointed today with the last loaf I made, but after I watched your video dude, even with those words of encouragement at the end, made me a bit more hopeful and now im gonna rewatch your video and work on this craft. I gave up last year then made excuses, this time i have none.
Also, If i wanted to make sourdough baguettes, can I use the same recipe for bread and shape it differently? or are there different ratios for it?
Hi FinishMe. No worries - that happens. Been there myself many times! I would suggest to avoid doing baguettes, it's the same recipe yes, but - the technique in the end to load them in the oven is more complicated. Not as easy. Try mastering the first boules and batards, then consider baguettes. Happy baking!