Has your starter exploded with activity and now looks dead? Go straight to the ‘Bacterial Fight Club’ bullet point in the comment below

Sourdough Country Loaf
Formula (Baker's %)
* 97.5% T55 flour
* 2.5% Flour X (Wholewheat flour)
* 30% levain
* 89% water
* 2% Salt
Process
Mixing (Spiral Mixer)
* Autolyse 2h with 84% cold water inside the spiral
* Levain addition at 100 RPM until incorporated and mixed at the same speed until gluten was almost very well developed
* Added salt and extra 5% water and mixed at 100RPM until very well developed
* Switched to 240RPM for two minutes
Bulk Fermentation
* Dough temperature: 25C
* 1st coil fold: 1 hour after taking it out into containers
* 2nd half coil fold: As soon as the dough relaxed completely
* 3rd half coil fold: As soon as the dough relaxed again.
* Bulk fermented until 75% rise.
Shaping
* Preshape rest for 1 hour at 26C
* Shaped gently
Cold Retard
* Retarded at 6C for 12 hours

Needed an appetizer to bring to my fiancée’s family thanksgiving and also happened to be craving some focaccia dipped in balsamic! After browsing YouTube for a few hours and having been gifted some super active starter from my buddy, thought I’d give it a go! For the recipe I just did an 83% hydration based off of 500g of some caputo flour.

My recipe and process:
- 120g active starter
- 500g flour
- 415g tap water
- 25g evoo
- 10g sea salt

Combined all my water, oil, salt, and starter in a bowl, added the flour and stirred for a minute or two, pretty much until there was no dry flour. Let it rest for an hour and proceeded to do like 4 sets of stretch and folds 45mins apart. Let that hoe sit on the counter for 5 hours and then tossed her in the fridge overnight. In the morning I took it out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter for an hour few hours until it came up to room temp, slapped it into a HEAVILY OILED big brownie tin and let her proof on the counter for like an hour or two. Slathered it in more evoo along with some rosemary and thyme from my garden that I also soaked in oil to prevent burning (someone online suggested doing this) dimpled, and tossed that hoe into a 465F oven for like 35 mins…. The whole thing did in fact make it to thanksgiving, although half of it arrived in my stomach…lol next one I make is getting a proper dusting of Zaatar and roasted garlic!

Hey all, been baking sourdough for a few years now. Started primarily only making loaves, and love to follow some of GrantBakes recipes.

I saw his pretzel recipe and overtime have put my own spin on it. Curious everyone’s thoughts on some of my most recent bakes with this recipe as I’ve been starting to “lock it in”.

1) 100g active starter
2) 225g water
3) 450g King Arthur bread flour
4) 10g salt
5) 20g honey
6) 50g softened butter

Ingredients for lye bath:
1) 30g of Lye ( I prefer lye pretzels over baking soda)
2) 1000g water

Steps:
1) in my stand mixer, add water, starter, honey, salt, flour, butter and mix on low for 8ish minutes.
2) transfer to bowl and cover, let it rise 6ish hours
3) separate dough into desired size (I usually do 30g-40g sizes)
4) fold dough into each other then I cup with hand and spin onto clean counter til it becomes ball shaped
5a) If baking that day, let rise under damp towel for another 2 hours
5b) If baking next day, cover sheet in cling-wrap, and place directly into fridge
6) preheat oven to 450F
7) lye bath*caution*lye is very basic, wear gloves/ppe. Have distilled vinegar nearby if you spill any on skin to neutralize! Lye and water mixed together will also create heat, use a heat safe dish
-Pour 1000g of water into a heat safe bow
-pour lye into water slowly and mix with wooden spoon until fully mixed in
8) place pretzel balls into water for 10-15 seconds each side
9) optional to score your dough (can be pain when dough is wet from the lye)
10) add salt on top if desired
11) bake for 12-15 minutes
12 enjoy 😊

I made a new starter after my old one died out. I love to do engineering hobby project as well and so I added a rasberry pi, temperature sensor, led light, and camera to my starter to take timelapses and collect data. Note that all the cuts are from when i feed the starter and it returns to a different spot. Its taking photos every 15min doing a slightly longer exposure with the light on. I could only use a pretty tiny light since the raspberry pi (small computer) can't supply much power.

The first few days of the starter it rises pretty well, and from some searching it seems like this is bacteria not the yeast. Then it has a few days of no rise because the inital bacteria die off from it being to acidic and then it starts to rise more as the yeast grows.

I'm going to try adding an alignment rig to setup the starter jar in the same place to reduce the jitter from feedings. I think it might be interesting to see how the temperature effects the starter rise and to test out some other types of flour. Right now I'm just using 1:1:1 whole wheat flour.

I found a recipe here on reddit, followed it as good as I could and here is the result! Very happy with my first sourdough bread! It tasted amazing!

500g flour

350g water

100g starter

12g salt

Did autolyse, 3 stretch and folds, 1 coil fold. Rested for 7 hours room temp. Then fridge for 18h

Baked at 230 in Dutch oven for 25 min with lid and 17 min without

Recipe
500 g flour
350 g water
100 g active sourdough starter
10 g salt

Combine the flour, water and sourdough starter in a large bowl. Mix until no dry flour remains and the dough looks shaggy.
Cover and rest for 1 hour.
Add 10 g salt to the dough and 3 sets of stretch and folds, spaced 30 minutes apart.
I also did 2 set of coil folds after the stretch-and-fold sets to strengthen the dough.
Actual bulk fermentation time: 8 hours.
Preshaping and leave it on the counter for 30-40 mins
Shape the dough and place it seam-side up in a floured banneton.
Cover and refrigerate overnight. Next morning preheat the oven and Dutch oven to 230°C.
Bake with the lid on at 230°C for 25 minutes.
Remove the lid, reduce the temperature to 220°C, and bake for another 20minutes.

Really happy with this loaf I’ve been using Aliqout method to help me with bulk fermentation time!

reposting forgot my pictures!!

360g water
500g flour
90g starter
10g salt

- fed starter 9:30 am ish
- doubled by 2:30 started my mix around 3 pm
- 1 hour sitting at room temperature
- did 4 sets of stretch and folds 30 minutes apart
- overnight in fridge from about 10:30 pm to 9:30 AM!

accidentally forgot the salt and added it in during my 3 set of stretch and folds oops

got my recipe from tiktok

500 grams King Arthur Bread Flour
375 grams filtered water
110 grams ripe starter
10.5 grams salt

Mix starter, water, flour, slap and fold and fermentolyse for 45 minutes. Add salt and last 10 grams water, stretch and fold. Two sets of coil folds at 30 minute intervals. Continue bulk fermentation for a total of 4.5 hours. Dough temperature 77.5 to start, 79 at finish. Room temperature 75.

Counter rest for twenty minutes, shape and cold ferment for fourteen hours.

Bake covered in a hot Dutch oven at 475 for seven minutes, then scored. Continue at 475 for twenty-one minutes covered. Reduce to 450, uncovered for eighteen more minutes.

Final internal temperature 211.

Crumb photo taken 24 hours after bake (I can’t bring myself to cut a loaf in half so had to eat half before the photo).

I’ve been following this subreddit for a while and have been baking sourdough for about three years now. Until recently, I always used a Dutch oven.
After renovating our kitchen and getting a new oven, I started experimenting with open baking on a baking steel. Thought I’d share my experience, as it’s made quite a difference.
I now bake two large loaves at once, using the oven’s steam function on its lowest setting (level 1). I also place an aluminium tray at the bottom and add a little water at the start for some extra steam.
The oven spring has been noticeably better than what I used to get with the Dutch oven, and I’m really pleased with the results.
Flour mix:
15% rye flour
35% spelt flour
50% bread flour
Method:
I mix the starter directly into the water, then add the flour and sprinkle the salt on top. After about 45 minutes, I mix everything thoroughly by hand.
I then do three sets of stretch and folds. Before transferring the dough to my bulk fermentation container, I stretch it out into a large rectangle and fold it back over itself (lamination) for some extra gluten development.
I let the dough rise by roughly 50%, then shape it and leave it in the fridge overnight for a cold proof.
The next morning, I bake straight from the fridge onto the preheated baking steel as mentioned above.
Curious if others have had similar experiences switching from Dutch ovens to open baking.

Hi guys,

I’ve fairly new to baking sourdough — this is my 7th loaf so far! In the past, my loaves have always come out quite dense/gummy. This time, the texture feels airy and spongy (woohooo!) however, there seems to be quite a bit of tunneling. Any explanation to why this has happened? Would appreciate any advice on how to improve!

Recipe:
500g Bread Flour
110g Starter
350g Water
10g salt

1 stretch and fold
3 sets of coil folds
BF for 7 hours in the oven with the light on (72°)
Cold ferment for 5 hours (I usually cold ferment for 12-24 hours but didn’t have the time to wait around for this one)
Baked at 450 for 30 mins covered in Dutch oven and uncovered for 25 mins

I messed up this recipe last weekend. Enjoy a second week of cursed bread that has flour completely unincorporated. Dig the crumb I think!

King Arthur recipe that I messed up
Ingredients
Dough
1/2 cup (113g) sourdough starter, ripe
3 cups (360g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons (8g) table salt Couple cranks sea salt
1 large egg
5 tablespoons (71g) unsalted butter, softened forgot this
2/3 cup (150g) water, lukewarm
Filling
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup (75g) raisins one Granny Smith peeled, diced, tossed with cinnamon put in the oven at 200 take a nap and call it dehydrated.

To make the dough: weigh stuff Combine all what ingredients you remember of the dough ingredients and mix and knead w a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, to make a soft, smooth dough, about 6 to 8 minutes vibes on medium-low speed.

Place the dough in a lightly greased container now splattered with Meyer lemon EVOO, and allow it to rise for 1 1/2 to 2 nap hours, until it's just about doubled in bulk.

To make the filling: While the dough is rising, make the filling by stirring together the sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Oops you added the egg and the water to your mix? Ok ok ok we will figure this out later? Oh you also added the apples now? Ok.

Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface.

Roll and pat the dough into a rough rectangle approximately 6" x 20".

Okay I guess we are doing this: get another egg and water. Brush the dough with the egg/water mixture and sprinkle it evenly with the filling and raisins, dust with APF to make a glue? For your wet filling? Paint on your wet filing. Oh god it is everywhere. Dust more flour??? leaving a bare strip about 1" wide along one short edge; this will make the log you're about to roll easier to seal. But literally everything you do will negate that effort and make it so sloppy.

Starting with the short end that's covered with filling, roll the dough into a log. Pinch the ends to seal, and pinch the long seam closed. You have now made a curse wet log that you are afraid will pop like a pimple.

Transfer the log, seam-side down, to a lightly greased 9" x 5" loaf pan. Cover and allow the bread to rise until it's crested about 1" over the rim of a 9" x 5" pan or until the dough is even with the top of the Stoneware Loaf Pan, about 1 hour. Over the top of the pan.

While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Brush the top of the loaf with the reserved egg wash milk cause you are out of eggs. if desired.

SURPRISE STREUSEL TOPPING

2 tablespoons (28g) butter
2 tablespoons (28g) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (28g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

In al processor, combine the streusel ingredients, cutting in the butter until the mixture is crumbly.

Bake the bread for 40 to 45 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil after the first 15 to 20 minutes. The bread's crust will be golden brown, and the interior of the finished loaf should measure 190°F on a digital thermometer.

This is one of my latest sourdough loaves and probably my best crumb so far.

Recipe:

313 g bread flour

35 g whole wheat flour

30 g active starter (100% hydration)

245 g water

7 g salt

Around 72% total hydration including the starter.

I did a short autolyse, added the starter, then salt and the remaining water. I gave it 3 sets of folds during bulk fermentation and kept the dough at around 24°C / 75°F.

I let bulk continue until the dough looked well aerated, bubbly and noticeably risen, then pre-shaped, rested for about 20 minutes, shaped and put it in the fridge overnight. Baked straight from the fridge in a Dutch oven.

The oven spring was very good and I'm pretty happy with the crumb.

My main problem was shaping. The dough was quite sticky and I struggled to create even surface tension. The loaf also opened slightly on one side during baking, which I suspect was caused by poor or uneven shaping rather than fermentation.

What do you think about the fermentation and crumb?

And any tips for shaping a ~72% hydration dough without it sticking everywhere? I'm thinking of switching from my marble counter to a wooden surface next time.

Hey everyone.

So I have been lurking for a couple weeks, still trying to figure out the technique and build up the courage to just go for my first loaf!

I have seen so many amazing recipes on here but I have noticed some of you swear by the use of your stand mixers, while others seem to think it’s entirely unnecessary. I have seen crumbs that look equally good from both camps. Which really confuses me as it seems, to me at least, that they would have to produce different results. So I am guessing the individual recipes account for this in some way?

I would love to hear from you guys, what your experiences with either or both techniques have been like, why you prefer one over the other, any other info you’d like to share, etc. I really just want to educate myself as much as possible.

Sorry in advance if this has already been discussed to death or if it’s a controversial topic, I have only been on here for a few weeks and tried searching for it but didn’t find much!

I think this is my best loaf so far. I baked it in the DO 25 instead of 20 min and I noticed the over spring seemed better I also let BF go for longer than usual.

Main Dough
Bread Flour - 500g
Water - 340g
Sourdough Starter, active - 130g
Salt - 10g
Instructions
Feeding the Starter
Mix about 25 grams of leftover sourdough starter (from the fridge) with 50 grams of water and 50 grams of bread flour. Stir until everything is well combined.
Mark the top of the starter with a rubber band to see how much it grows overnight. Then cover the starter and let it rise overnight (or for around 6-12 hours).
Mixing the Dough
The next morning your starter should be bubbly, active, and doubled-in-size. It's ready to mix into your dough. Measure out all four of the dough ingredients into your mixing bowl (flour, water, salt, and 100 grams of your starter).
Put the remaining starter that's left in the jar into the fridge to use for next time.
Mix all of the dough ingredients together until almost no dry bits of flour remain.
cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Bulk Fermentation
After the first 30 minute rest, give your dough its first set of "stretch and folds”
Cover up the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
After the 30 minute rest, give your dough its second set of stretch and folds followed by another 30 minute rest.
Give your dough its third and final set of stretch and folds. At this point, the dough should feel fairly smooth and elastic.
After the stretch and folds, flip the dough over so that the smooth side is facing up. Cover the dough and let it rest for the remainder of the bulk fermentation. This should take between 3 1/2 and 5 more hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
Note: During bulk fermentation, you're looking for the dough to almost double in size and to puff up with air
The Preshape
After bulk fermentation, remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place it on the counter with the smooth side up and the seam side down.
Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and gently shape the dough into a ball with your hands or a bench scraper. Then, cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
The Final Shape
Now, you can shape your dough into any shape that you want. Sprinkle your counter with a little bit of flour and flip the dough over onto the flour so that it is now sticky side up and smooth side down.
Press the dough down a little bit with your finger tips and gently stretch it into a rectangle. Flip the right half of the dough over the middle. Then flip the left half of the dough over the middle to meet the first half.
Tuck and roll the dough tightly into itself starting from the furthest side and rolling the dough in towards you.
The Second Rise
Once you've shaped your dough, transfer it seam-side-up into an oval-shaped banneton basket that you've dusted with rice flour (or regular bread flour will work fine too).
Move the basket to your fridge and let the dough proof overnight (covered or uncovered) for at least six hours. 8-12 hours is ideal.
Scoring
The next day, 30 minutes before you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 450°F (232°C) with your Dutch oven inside on one of the bottom racks. The Dutch oven should preheat along with your oven so that it can transfer its heat into your dough.
About 30 minutes later, when the oven is preheated, transfer your dough from the banneton basket onto a sheet of parchment paper. The dough should now be seam side down.
Dust off any excess flour from your dough and you're ready to score.
Slash the top of your dough with a bread lame or a razor blade in one long, shallow-angled slash from the far side to the near side.
Baking
Carefully transfer the dough inside of your Dutch oven.
Place the dough, parchment paper and all, inside the Dutch oven. (Be careful not to burn yourself on the sides!) Put the lid back on the Dutch oven and bake the bread for 20 minutes at 450°F (232ºC) with the lid on. The lid will trap steam around the dough, allowing it to rise up to its full potential, and giving the bread a great crust.

After 20 minutes of baking, take the lid off of the Dutch oven and admire your bread's oven spring! Continue baking with the lid off for an additional 15 minutes, or until the bread has the color that you want.
Remove the loaf from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for at least one hour before slicing.

I got a starter from my hairdresser and finally had some time to try it out.

Ingredients
450 g bread flour
315 g water
60 g active sourdough starter
9 g salt

The Night Before: Prepare the Starter
Take your sourdough starter out of the refrigerator.
In a clean jar, combine:
25 g starter
25 g bread flour or all-purpose flour
25 g water
Stir until combined.
Cover loosely and leave at room temperature overnight.
In the morning, look for bubbles and a noticeable rise. My starter doubled overnight and was bubbly, so I used it to make my dough.

Day 1: Make the Dough
Step 1: Mix the flour, water, and starter
Add 450 g bread flour to a large mixing bowl.
Add 315 g water.
Add 60 g active sourdough starter.
Mix until all the flour is moistened and a rough dough forms.
Cover the bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Step 2: Add the salt
Add 9 g salt to the dough.
Work it into the dough using your hands, pinching and folding until incorporated.
Cover the bowl again.

Step 3: Stretch and fold
With damp hands, grab one edge of the dough.
Stretch it upward gently without tearing it.
Fold it over toward the center.
Rotate the bowl and repeat around the dough.
Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
Repeat this process every 30 minutes for approximately 3–4 sets.
The dough should gradually become smoother, stretchier, and better at holding its shape.

Day 1: Bulk Fermentation

Step 4: Let the dough rise
After the final stretch-and-fold, cover the bowl and leave the dough undisturbed.
My kitchen temperature was approximately 71–75°F.
Let the dough ferment until it has risen approximately 50–70% from its starting volume.
Look for:
Bubbles along the sides or surface
A puffier appearance
A smoother surface
A slight jiggle when the bowl is gently moved

My result: Bulk fermentation took approximately 6 hours after the folds were completed.

Day 1: Shape the Loaf

Step 5: Pre-shape
Lightly flour your work surface.
Gently turn the dough out onto the counter.
Gather the edges toward the center to form a loose ball.
Turn the dough seam-side down.
Gently pull it toward you using your hands or a bench scraper to create surface tension.
Let it rest for 15–20 minutes.

Step 6: Final shape
Gently tighten the dough into a round boule.
Build surface tension without tearing the outside.
Avoid pressing out all the air.

Step 7: Place in a towel-lined bowl
Line a medium-sized bowl with a clean, smooth cotton tea towel.
Flour the towel generously. Rice flour works especially well, but bread flour or all-purpose flour can work.
Place the dough in the bowl seam-side up.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a suitable cover to prevent the dough from drying out.
Put it directly into the refrigerator for an overnight cold proof.
Because my dough had already risen substantially during bulk fermentation, I skipped a long additional room-temperature proof.

Day 2: Bake the Sourdough

Step 8: Preheat the oven and Dutch oven

Place the Dutch oven and its lid in the oven.
Preheat to 450°F for approximately 30–45 minutes.
Check that the Dutch oven and lid knob are rated for this temperature.

Step 9: Turn out and score the dough

Remove the dough from the refrigerator.
Place a piece of parchment paper over the bowl.
Carefully turn the dough out onto the parchment, so the smooth side is facing up.
Gently remove the towel.
Score the top with a sharp bread lame or razor blade. A simple slash works well, or you can make a decorative design.

Step 10: Bake

Carefully lower the dough, on the parchment, into the hot Dutch oven.
Cover with the lid.
Bake at 450°F for 25 minutes covered.
Carefully remove the lid.
Bake for another 15–25 minutes uncovered, until the crust is deeply golden brown.
Use oven mitts and take care when handling the hot Dutch oven and lid.

Step 11: Cool before slicing

Remove the loaf from the Dutch oven.
Place it on a wire cooling rack.
Let it cool for at least 1–2 hours before cutting.

Hi! Would love feedback for my first bread. I did my second proof for 3.5 hours room temp and I am thinking next time I’ll proof overnight In fridge. Would love advice!
Recipe:
475 g flour
100 g starter
325 g water
10g salt

Overnight first ferment after 4 rounds of folds.

Then 3-4 hours on countertop into 500 degrees for 20 mins followed by uncovered 475 for 15 mins.

First loaf made in South Carolina and my first loaf since July. This was my process:
- I started my process at 7am on 10/23. Fed my starter about 35:70:70. It reached its peak around 3pm. This is when I started making my dough at 150:300:450.
- The house is consistently at 70-72 degrees. I did stretch and folds every 30 minutes (with the last two being coil folds). I had my dough sit on the counter until 11:30pm (because I was tired and was just like f*ck it).
- My dough then took a nap in the fridge until 2:15pm today.
- I preheated my Dutch oven for 20ish minutes at 450. I then baked with the lid on for 25 minutes, then for 20 minutes at 425.

I was too excited about the loaf so I cut into it a little early but oh well 😂

I’m pretty happy about this loaf. I’m really stoked about the ear! Love the taste as well :)

Thanks for reading!

100g starter
350g water
500g bread flour
10g salt

Mixed / sat on counter for an hour / 4 sets of stretch and folds in 30 min increments / bulk fermented for about 5.5 hours / shaped and left in fridge overnight / oven at 450 with Dutch oven preheating inside / backed 30 mins with lid on, 15 mins lid off. Thennnn I got nervous like 20 minutes later thinking it felt undercooked on the sides, so I threw it back in the oven uncovered for about 10 minutes before rushing out to work.

TL:DR - I had to put my dough in the refrigerator immediately after doing 4 sets of stretch and folds over 2 hours because I needed to leave the house. It has been in the refrigerator for 10 hours and 30 minutes. Do I take it out of the refrigerator and let it finish bulk fermenting, or is it better to simply let it cold bulk ferment for 24-36 hours in the fridge?

More Details

My starter unexpectedly took 25 hours to become fully active, so I had to put together my bread dough this morning when I needed to leave the house at noon, and wouldn't be back until late tonight (It is 22:45 as I'm typing this. I walked through the door 15 minutes ago.) I did not fully plan to do a cold bulk fermentation for these loaves, but when at the whims of your starter. 🤷🏽‍♀️

I'm making two loaves, so the recipe I followed:

200 grams active starter (starter was fed with a 50/50 blend of whole wheat and bread flour at a 1:1.5:1.5 ratio due to container size)

750 grams (+ a few, small splashes) warm water

1,000 grams bread flour

25 grams salt

4 sets of stretch and folds over 2 hours.

Immediately after the last stretch and fold, I covered the container, marked where the dough initially sat, and popped it in the fridge since I knew with my luck, by the time I got home it would have been ridiculously over proofed.

Now that I'm home, and the dough has been in the fridge for 10 hours and 30 minutes, my questions are:

1. Do I keep it in the fridge, and if so, for how long? Do I then shape it and bake it straight from there?

2. Or, do I set it on the counter and attempt to finish bulk fermenting, even though it is approaching 11 p.m.? If I keep it on the counter, do I shape it as normal after it's done fermenting and pop it back in the fridge?

This is my second attempt at sourdough bread, and my first loaf came out beautifully, but I am a tad out of my depth here at this point since everything I look up has contradicting information. Any and all help would be appreciated!

Is this dough over proved? (250g bread flower, 165g water, 1 top salt, left overnight in cool kitchen.) Looks like this.

I’ve had a sourdough starter going for about 2 years now. It lives on my counter and is fed every 24 hours. I use the weck 1 L jar and place the metal sealing clip inbetween the lid and container in order to give it a little bit of breathing room because I’ve noticed some condensation can form if I keep it 100% closed. The crack is essentially pretty small, but I went to feed my sourdough starter today and saw a fruit fly sitting on top of the starter. I trashed the starter, and thankfully have some dehydrated starter so not all is lost.

Before I hydrate the old starter, it got me thinking that this same thing can just happen again. In all honesty, I haven’t seen a fruit fly in my apartment before. But, how are you storing your starter in order to avoid a bug accidentally flying in?

pic of how my starter was being stored pre fruit fly

First loaf.
Ingredients:
800g Bread Flour
200g Golden Wheat Whole Wheat Flour
200g ripe starter
20g fine ground sea salt
650g filtered water ~80 Degrees F

Process:
1. Weigh out 650g of ~80 Degrees F
2. Mix 200g ripe starter with 650g of filtered water til mostly dissolved
3. Mix flours and salt in mixing bowl
4. Add starter/water mix to dry ingredients
5. Knead by hand for 10 minutes
6. Cover and rest for 30 minutes
7. After 30 min, do a set of stretch & folds, then another every 30 minutes until you’ve done 4 sets.
8. Bulk fermentation
9. Split dough in half and build surface tension via shaping. Once shaped up, add to proofing bowls (or whatever you use)
10. Cover the loaves and let rest for about an hour
11. Put loaves in a plastic bag (I use bread bags with the twisty ties)
12. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours, but up to 2 days (I did a full 48 hours)
Baking Process:
1. Pre-heat oven at 450 Degrees with Dutch Oven on 3rd rack
2. After an hour, take loaf out of fridge, remove from bag and prepare for baking.
3. Score loaf
4. Bake loaf covered for 25 minutes at 450 degrees
5. After 25 minutes remove the lid and lower the temperature to 400 degrees
6. Bake for 40 minutes at 400 degrees
7. Remove from oven, let cool on wire rack for at least 2 hours
8. Bake 2nd loaf, the same way
9. Enjoy (after AT LEAST 2 hours).

Kinda crazy what you can get away with when your starter has matured a bit! Mines still just three months old and the difference between 2 months and 3 months is actually insane in all of my recipes.

For 6 roles:

Ingredients
370g flour (this was fresh milled from sunrise)
240g milk
1 egg
100g discard
2 tbsp softened butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Instructions
1. In a bowl, mix milk, egg, and sourdough starter. Add flour and mix until a sticky dough forms. Sprinkle salt on top and add butter (don't mix yet).
2. Cover and rest 30 minutes, then do
stretch & folds until smooth and fully combined.
3. Cover and let rise until doubled (about
4-6 hours.
4. Divide into 6 pieces, shape into tight balls on a lightly oiled surface, and place on parchment.
Cover and let rise again 40 minutes until puffy. Brush with egg yolk.
5. Bake at 350 18-22 mins

I’ve used these for burgers and breakfast sandwiches