RecipeSourdough Revisited

Episode Description

Join us on this edition of Baker’s Insight as our host, Dan DaRocha, President of Erika Baking Equipment, revisits artisan sourdough with our Test Baker, Beth Karam-Putt. Watch as Beth takes us through each phase of the sourdough process, from feeding your starter through the final bake!

Recipe

This recipe is a multi-day process that will yield 75 lb. (34 kg) of dough or 75, 1 lb. (453g) boules.

Sponge Ingredients
Active Starter – 743g
Malt – 47g
Room Temperature Water – 743g
Coarse Whole Wheat – 1040g
Salt – 37g

Preferment Ingredients
Sponge – Entirety of prepared sponge
Malt – 44g
Room Temperature Water – 1131g
Bread Flour – 1307g
Coarse Whole Wheat – 636g
Salt – 71g

Dough Ingredients
Preferment – Entirety of preferment
Cold Water [36°F (2°C)] – 10.319 kg
Unbleached All Purpose Flour – 5.794 kg
Bread Flour – 11.588 kg
Salt – 33g

Methodology

Below is the methodology across all three production days.

DAY 1
Mix Sponge – Mix all the sponge ingredients in a large stainless steel mixing bowl. It’s best to begin early morning.
Rest Sponge – Cover with an airtight lid or plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature (68°F | 20°C) for 8 hours.
Mix Preferment – After your sponge has rested for 8 hours, mix all of the sponge along with the preferment ingredients in 20-quart mixer bowl with the paddle attachment.
Rest Preferment – After mixing preferment, allow it to rest in mixing bowl tightly wrapped with plastic wrap at room temperature (68°F | 20°C) for 16 – 18 hours.

DAY 2
Mix Dough – After your preferment has rested for 16 – 18 hours, add your additional dough ingredients (reserving the salt) to a your spiral mixer and mix on first speed for 5 minutes.
Add Salt – After mixing for 5 minutes on first speed, sprinkle salt evenly over the dough.
Second Mix – After adding salt, mixing again on second speed for approximately 8 minutes or until a gluten window is achieved with the dough.
Rest – After mixing, allow dough to rest while still in the mixing bowl for 15 minutes.
Divide & Shape – After resting, divider and shape dough into 1 lb. | 453g boules.
Retard – Retard for 24 – 48 hours at 40°F (4°C).

DAY 3
Proof – After retarding, proof your boules at 60°F (15°C) for 4 hours at 65% humidity. Your proofing time may vary greatly based on equipment being used, ambient temperature and humidity.
Preheat Oven – Preheat oven to 460°F (238°C).
Bake – Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Baking methodologies may vary based on your oven. In our video we utilized our modular electric deck oven with the following criteria:
Preheat at 100% full power – Power distribution programmed at a 65% top/sky and 35% bottom/land split. Overall power consumption reduced to 80% during the actual bake

Additional Directions:

Load oven
Set steam injection for 3 seconds
Open damper after 15 minutes
Bake until desired level/color of crust is achieved
Enjoy your freshly baked artisan sourdough!