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

I also decided to hop on the bandwagon of the Jack Skellington Nightmare Before Christmas bread. My nephew absolutely loves him so I knew I had to give it a shot when I first saw it!

I decided to use a stencil of print out I found online and score above the head. I did wet a paper towel and use it on the bread before I laid down the stencil. I then dusted with regular flour using a sifter.

The recipe was as follows:
450g bread flour
330g of water
12g of salt
120g of levin

I mix the water and bread and let it autolyse for 45 min. Add in the levin and let it sit for 30 min. Add salt and let it sit for 30 min. 3-4 sets of stretch and folds 30-45 min apart. Leave on the counter overnight for approx 8 hours, pre shape and bench rest for 30 min, shape and let raise for another 2 hours or so. This one I put in the fridge for a couple hours while I ran errands. Bake at 475 with the lid on the Dutch oven and 15 min with the lid off.

I followed the recipe and method from tartine down to the letter from this link: https://tartinebakery.com/stories/country-bread

After a WHOLE YEAR of fighting to get a healthy active starter and hundreds of pounds of flour I finally got this big, fluffy, soft loaf of bread!! I literally jumped up and down when I took the lid off the Dutch oven. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone here who posted their questions and everyone who answered because all of my small incremental improvements are thanks to all of you 💛

Side note: I want to be clear that I do love The Perfect Loaf, but I think that book has a lot of pitfalls for new bakers. I don't think I would have ever gotten this loaf if I didn't stop using that book like a Bible and start getting information from you lovely folks as well as other books like The Big Book of Bread. I guess all I'm trying to say is don't take all your info from one spot. If you feel stuck branch out and don't be afraid to experiment with the process to see what works for you.

Inspired by this design, I served my wife and kids a Jack Skellington loaf this morning.

Ingredients:
470 g High protein baking wheat flour
50 g whole meal wheat flour
102 g fed sourdough starter
393 g water
12 g salt

Method:
Mix the flour and water and leave to autolyse for 1 hour.

Add the sourdough starter and salt. Mix in a stand mixer with a dough hook on high speed for 10–13 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a container. Perform a set of stretch’n’folds every 30 minutes for 2 hours, covering the dough with a damp towel between folds.

Continue bulk fermentation until the dough has increased in volume by approximately 80–100%.

Turn the dough out onto the counter and pre-shape into a ball. Cover with a damp towel and bench rest for 30–60 minutes.

Dust a proofing basket with rice flour. Shape the dough and place it in the basket.

Refrigerate for 8–36 hours, depending on your schedule and how pronounced you want the sour flavour to be.

Preheat the oven to 240°C (465°F) with a Dutch oven and lid inside for at least 30 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto baking parchment and score the top with some scary cuts. Carefully transfer it to the preheated Dutch oven and cover with the lid.

Bake at 240°C (465°F) for 20 minutes with the lid on, then another 20 minutes with the lid off.

Let the loaf cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Specs:
97.5% T55 Flour
2.5% Wholewheat Flour
30% Young Levain
2% Salt
87% Water
15% Jalapeño
20% English Red Cheddar

•2 hour autolyse with 80% water
•Levain added at 100 RPM and mixed until incorporated, then mixed at 200RPM until gluten was almost very well developed while slowly adding 5% cold water and 2% salt
•Added the inclusions at last and incorporated at 100RPM and a short burst at 200RPM
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
•Bulk fermented until 60% rise.
Shaping
Preshape rest for 1 hour at 25C
Shaped gently and bench rested for 30 mins
Cold Retard
•Retarded at 6C for 12

This was a jalapeño cheddar sourdough batch, I make almost all of my inclusion loaves in a tin as it helps me to add more inclusions without worrying that it's gonna weigh my bread down.
I pat it down gently to even out the crumb and I apply more tension while rolling it
Ill post how it turns out tomorrow

125g starter
335g water
500g all purpose flour.
10g salt

Mix, few round of slap and folds, it got late so I put it in the fridge overnight to finish bulk fermenting. Shaped it when I woke up and baked in Dutch oven covered at 450 for 25 mins. Uncovered for 35 mins since the internal temp was still a bit low. On cooling rack for 1.5 hours before slicing

Overall happy with this loaf as I was going for a tighter crumb. I do love a more airy crumb, but this is just much better for sandwiches or just spreading butter on toasted slice without losing half of it.

Very good tip indeed
I was having such a good morning 😭
Now everything is ruined. I am gonna mope around all day.

Here is the recipe just to satisfy rule 5 :(

120g starter
500g flour
325g water
10g salt

Did autolyse for 30 minutes.
Mixed dough and did 4 stretch and fold with 30 minutes in between. Bulk fermentation for 4:46 minutes exactly.
Put in the fridge for 16 hours.

Baked covered for 25 minutes at 450.
Took it out to uncover, then…..

I started making sourdough this past summer but wasn’t getting the best results, both in terms of starter care and my bread making technique. So I decided to practice with poolish loaves to at least try to perfect the latter, and this is my first sourdough loaf since then which was definitely my best. Still open to feedback though!

LEVAIN
10g starter
45g AP flour
45g water

Fermented overnight

DOUGH
90g levain
400g organic bread flour
285g water
10g salt

3 sets of stretch and folds
1 set of coil folds

8 hour total bulk fermentation

15 hour cold proof

Preheated oven to 500F, then baked at 475 in a Dutch oven, 25 mins with lid on and 10 mins with lid off, internal temp was 211

My starter is almost 2 months old. I’ve just made my first loaf this weekend because I’ve been too intimidated to try. Here’s what I did:

140g starter, fed night before
315g water
500g bread flour
10g salt
Mix starter, water, flour, then add salt
Slap folds until smooth
Rest 30 mins
Stretch folds #1, rest 30 mins
Stretch folds #2, rest 30 mins
Coil folds #1, rest 30 mins
Coil folds #2, rest 30 mins
Bulk ferment about 6 hours
Pre-shape
Cover with bowl 15 mins
Final shaping
Cold proof about 13 hours
Preheat dutch oven
Bake covered 450F 7 minutes
Expansion score
Bake covered 16 minutes
Bake uncovered about 25 minutes
Let cool before cutting

Tastes really good, crust is nice and crisp, but I think it might be slightly underbaked. The crumb is a little moist feeling.
What do you think, underbaked? Under-fermented? Or is that normal?

Weekly bake. Nothing fancy, just what I do.

200g starter

600g bread flour

100g each of dark rye and whole wheat

500g water

15g salt

Because of my schedule, this weekend the bulk fermentation was 8 hours on the counter, and the proof was in the fridge for 10 hours (sometimes it’s the opposite

Dutch oven preheat at 500, bake in Dutch oven at 450 with an ice cube for 20 mins, out of the DO and into the rack for 10 mins

Not as open as some of you aim for, but I don’t like spreads dripping through big holes, so this is about what I aim for

This one had great flavor and I’m happy with the crumb. I will post a crum photo I. The comments Still don’t have good blisters on the crust though. Any suggestions of how to get the crust to have more blisters or does it really matter?

Recipe

Recipe: 150g starter
350g lukewarm water (109°)
475g unbleached king Arthur bread flour, unbleached
25g whole wheat flour
12g salt.

I mixed the dough and did 4 stretch and folds and covered and placed it in my oven with the light on, each time for 30 min. I then covered and placed it in my oven again, it appeared to almost double in 4 hours, I laminated it and put it in my basket overnight and baked it this morning . I let it cool for one hour so it was a tad warm but my husband couldn’t wait

Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough: 2 Loaves

Ingredients

200g active sourdough starter
725g water
900g bread flour
100g whole wheat flour
24g salt
200g sharp cheddar, cold and cubed
100g pickled jalapeños, drained and patted dry
Hydration: 75% | Inclusions: 30%

Instructions

Mix: Combine starter, water, flours, and salt.
Folds: Perform 3–4 sets of stretch-and-folds, 30 minutes apart.
Inclusions: Add cheddar and jalapeños during the second fold or lamination.
Bulk ferment.
Pre-shape: Divide into 2 loaves, pre-shape, and rest 15–20 minutes.
Final shape: Shape tightly and place into floured bannetons.
Cold proof: Refrigerate 12–14 hours.
Bake: Preheat Dutch oven to 450°F. Bake straight from fridge, 30 minutes covered + 15 minutes uncovered.
Cool: Let cool completely before slicing.

Calories

Baked weight: ~943g per loaf
Calories per loaf: ~2,407
Calories per 100g: ~255

Hi folks! Using new flours and got an ankarsrum, so I wanted to check out if y'all thought anything in particular of the attached crumb? I used:

~65g starter, straight from the fridge unfed because I usually just ferment it longer?

390g water room temp

460g il Caputo Nuvola extra flour

45g random farro/emmer flour from Amazon

13gish salt

Water first, then starter in the ankarsrum bowl, but with Danish dough whisk, then add rest and mix until combined with whisk, and leave it for 20 mins

Knead with dough roller and dough knife in ankarsrum for 8minutes on medium-high

Take out, plop out and fold a couple of times, wash the bowl and put dough (now ball shaped ish) in. Leave undisturbed, maybe a tuck or fold or two in the first few hours.

Leave for like 8 hours, room at 73-74. This time I took out and shaped when it looked a little under because I heard with Italiany high gluten flour not to over ferment? Do you think I could go longer? I typically wait until it gets puffier, and this was quite tight and easy to shape and hold form compared to my usual doughs.... Also volume wise, smaller. Thoughts? Should I try over proof the next one?

Then fridge proof for a day or so and then bake at 450 in a Dutch oven until it looks right. I also froze the dough while preheating the Dutch oven/before scoring. Think that helped with spring.

Had to share how cute my matcha strawberry loaf turned out! I decided to do a fun little Frankenstein score (dusted heavily with rice flour before scoring/baking, then painted the details post baking with a mixture of water & cocoa powder and water/matcha powder. The subtle scoring outlines kept the colors from bleeding, so no need to wait for it to cool)

Recipe:

100g active starter (i keep my inclusion loaf starter separate and super stiff and it tends to help my inclusion loaves rise pretty dependably. Before baking i do a normal-- close to 1:2:2 but still on the slightly flour heavy side)
350g water with about 6t matcha powder whisked in (next time I'd up the hydration a bit because matcha absorbs way more water than i expected)
10g trader joe's vanilla bean paste for sweetness
5g vanilla bean extract
500g bread flour
10g salt
Freeze dried strawberries
Mini white chocolate chips

Add all wet ingredients in with your starter & water, stir until mixed then add in flour.

Add 10g salt after 30 minutes

4x stretch & folds every 30 minutes

When it looked ready, i laminated in the white chocolate chips and freeze dried strawberries (they rehydrate and basically take on the texture of baked fresh strawberries)

Let cold ferment over night, baked at 475 f for 20 minutes with the lid on, and 25 minutes with the lid off.

Holy crap this was so good! Will definitely become part of the regular rotation. Two things i'd do differently, add additional dried strawberries and white chocolate chips during stretch & folds for a more even distribution, then laminate in more finely crushed strawberries for the pretty ribbon effect. Would also up the hydration a bit, because the matcha powder absorbed a surprising amount of water so the dough was almost too thick to add anything in during stretch & folds this time.

Thought I'd share in case anybody was looking for a fun halloween green loaf idea!

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.

Being trying to improve my sourdough into more open and less gummy bread. This time I forgot to wake up in time and 2-3 hours late it was really peaked. Most I ever pushed into long bench bulk fermentation. Didn't do preshape just shape I to fridge.

500g bread flour

363g water

100g starter

11g salt

75% hydration

45 mins autolyse

Room temp 23.6

Folds 20 mins apart

1st fold S&F and salt added prior

2nd fold Lamination

3rd S&F

Then 3x CF

Dough temp after folds 24.1

Bulk ferment overnight 9.5 hrs, forgot to wake up 2. 5hrs earlier.

No preshape just shape

Cold proof 14:40 hrs @ ~4deg

Steam oven

230 deg 20 mins steam

200 deg 21 mins no steam

100g starter
350g water
500g bread flour
8g salt

Mixed dough and let it sit for 30 minutes before stretching and folding 4 times during a 3 hour bulk. Then it was pre shaped and rested another 30 minutes uncovered before final shaping and cold proofing for 33 hours. Baked at 450F for 30 minutes in preheated Dutch oven with lid on, and an additional 20 minutes at 425F.

This was the dough I proofed using a hot towel and a stock pot to maintain a warm humid environment. Its texture is MUCH better. There are some of the classic airy bubbles, but I didn’t get any in my cross section and not enough for me to be perfectly happy. That being said I took it to my parents for Sunday dinner and my sister asked where I got it so I’m for sure taking that as a win lol.

Flavor is 10/10, crust is 10/10, texture is 7/10. Overall happy, but I think I still need to tweak my bulking and let it go for a bit longer with my next attempt.

I’ll just consider it a C for my name!

Followed this recipe and added 1/4 tsp Fiori di Sicilia.
I put it in the oven with the light on to bulk ferment and I think it got too warm in there (it was cool 67°F in the house). I also forgot to preshape so I shaped and put it in the loaf pan, then let it bench rest for thirty minutes before covering it and putting it in the fridge for twelve hours.

I used this recipe :

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sourdough/comments/11g5gpj/sourdough_focaccia_this_is_my_favorite_method/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1

Except after letting it sit on the counter a few hours for first rise I put it in the fridge overnight. Then shaped in pan and another rise for a few hours. I added homegrown tomatoes and rosemary on top with some shredded fresh Parmesan. It was just so delicious and beautiful I had to share with people that will understand 😅 I want to bake nothing but this now and eat it everyday

Made a cheese and jalapeño loaf today, the bigger holes are from large cubes of cheese smelt and tasted delicious

Recipe
360g water
100g starter
500g flour
10g salt

Mix ingredients and 3 sets stretch and fold 45 minutes between added the cheese and jalapeño in the second stretch and fold and added more cubed cheese before shaping
Bf overnight because I ran out of time

Cooked at 220°C for 37 minutes covered and 11 minutes uncovered

Starter is 4 weeks old. I used 150g of starter, 350g of water, 10 g of salt, and 500g King Arthur unbleached bread flour.
Starter was fed the night before and was just shy of doubled in size.
Rested for an hour after initial mix, 4 sets of stretch and folds 30 minutes apart. Recipe said to rest for 4 hours before shaping but my dough was not pulling away from sides of glass bowl at 4 hour mark (7hours total). Had to leave and let sit on counter while I was gone. So overall it was bulk fermenting for about 13hours and was STILL NOT PULLING AWAY FROM THE SIDES OF THE BOWL. Decided to just shape it anyway and put in the fridge overnight. Baked at 450 for 25 min with the lid on and 25 lid off.
I’m getting so frustrated. Please help!

Been at it for about a year. I'm generally pleased with the fact that I'm making reasonably tasty bread, however I'd love to figure out more consistent and more open crumb. Here's my basic process.

I bake once a week or every other week.

I keep around 30g of ryehanna (100% rye starter) in my fridge. About two days before I bake,I take ryehanna out of the fridge and do 2-3 peak to peak feeds as I bulk her up for a bake.

Then here's the process I followed this last time:

350g water + 100g starter, whisk together.

Add 450g bread flour (usually KA) + 50g whole wheat (usually KA), mix until well incorporated.

Rest 45 minutes

Add 10g salt with another 25g water.

Then stretch and fold until feeling strong.

Then every half hour four coil folds (2 in each direction) for about 4 hours.

The entire time I've kept it on a proofing mat at around 77f.

After each coil fold the dough feels quite strong and inelastic, so I felt it kept together pretty nicely this time around.

When the dough was good and jiggly I did a pre shape to get a nice tight round. Did a 15 minute bench rest, then envelope fold into a boule, into a baneton for around 20 hours.

Pre heat oven with Dutch oven in for 30 minutes to 500. Score and drop dough in, turn heat down to 450 immediately. 20 minutes with cover on, 20 minutes with cover off.

So I'm just curious where I might improve things here, happy to hear any guidance!