In Fall of 2022 my sister taught me how to make sourdough bread. Since then, anytime I post a picture of my sourdough experiments I’ve had someone ask me for tips/tricks/advice on making sourdough bread at home. The truth is, i’m not an expert — not even close. BUT because you all have been so interested in the subject I figured i’d turn to the person i know that is an expert — my sister, Jaden.
She graciously let me into her light-filled kitchen a few weeks ago and answered a few of my questions about her tips and trick on how you all can embark on your very own sourdough bread journey. Since the techniques used are much more easily understood visually I tried to capture as many photos as possible of the kneading and shaping stages to make it easier to understand. I hope you leave this post feeling inspired and ready to get baking!
Without further ado, here’s my sister’s sourdough bread journey, recipe, and tips/tricks.
How did you get into baking?
Jaden: While on my honeymoon, we spent time in Airbnbs and tried to cook dinner and breakfast to save money. It was safe to say I had no idea what I was doing. I burnt most things and everything tasted awful. I even ruined a pan of one of the ladies we were staying with. Daniel graciously ran to the store and bought her a new one and we all had a good laugh about it afterwards. Once we settled in a few months later, I was trying to decide if I wanted to go back to school. I also was new to the area so I was trying to find an avenue to make new friends. Daniel suggested I go to culinary school (Obviously for my benefit as well as his).
So I enrolled in our culinary program here in Omaha. They go through and they talk about the two sides of culinary- pastry and culinary. The intro course explained that pastry students almost never make it past the first quarter. This was partially because of the difficult of the subject, but also because the head Chef was a very difficult professor. Obviously, I was so drawn to how difficult and terrible pastry sounded, so I went with that. I don't think I could have ever prepared for how hard it was going to be, but also how fun. Yes, I cried in the walk in multiple times before, during, and after many practical's, but I also laughed until I cried with the people who I shared those classrooms with. We would spend 8-9 hours together in a kitchen, so friendships were formed quickly. What drew me to baking was initially a desire to make friends and to learn a skill that I knew I'd use everyday, but it turned into a full on obsession very quickly.
What drew you to sourdough?
Jaden: If you go back, you remember I said the head chef of the pastry department was difficult. She would not shy away from telling you what you spent hours working on looked, tasted, smelled, or "gave an overall sense of" terrible. She did not soften her words and she did NOT give out compliments unless it was perfection.
I interacted with this teacher for almost a year in all my classes, getting lots of "Jaden, rustic is not a style. This just looks like shit" and things like that, but never compliments. My friends kept my spirits up, even though I would never say cakes or chocolates were something I was good at. I was never an incredibly student in the kitchen. I really struggled and felt I never made things look quite good enough or pretty enough. I just kept going, thinking I was just going to be "okay" at everything. Well, then came breads class. I went in with the same expectations of being in the middle of the class, only to find bread is probably the only thing I would excel at. Bread is long considered to be the most difficult thing to master. Ever heard of Bread Week on Great British Baking Show? Absolute fear in those contestant eyes as Paul Hollywood prowls around their work stations. Terrifying. So I was nervous about the class, but ended up loving it.
I had one of my chefs take my focaccia to the main kitchen that served the public and tell them they needled to learn how to make it from me. I was absolutely flabbergasted. My head chef was also blown away because it took her by surprises as much as me. While others struggled as I did on every single other class, I soared to the top of the class. Why was I so good at bread? I have no idea. I hate perfection and do not like rules- both of which I've always heard you had to have in order to be good at pastries (especially bread).
I think what I like about bread is that once you know what the recipe should feel like, smell like, or look like, you can really just throw all caution to the wind. I never measure or read a recipe because I know if I add to much water I'll throw more flour in there and its fine. I don't think there's any other pastry that can be that flexibly. I also love that you don't have to frost or decorate bread. Frosting cakes is a waste of time to me and Christina Tosi and her "Naked Cake" revolution to spite her pastry chef from school is an inspiration to me. Truly Iconic. Sourdough is the queen though. There's something about spending hours kneading and folding a dough that makes it that much better. It also is such an impressive looking piece once it comes out of the oven.
What are your three top takeaways for making sourdough at home?
Jaden:
Do not let the online pictures fool you. Sometimes SD is big and has crispy beautiful crust and tall, bending ear. But sometimes its a little on the flat side. They all taste the same! Don't pick and choose what you share or take to a party- they're both good!
You can fit sourdough into any schedule. You control your dough, not the other way around. Use your fridge to extend stages by slowing down the yeast.
Please, for all that is good and holy, just put your starter in the fridge. Don't feed it everyday unless youre making bread on a weekly basis. If you are not using it, put it in the fridge. Mine has lived in there for almost 8 months. Just give it 4-5 feedings after taking out before using and good as new!
Favorite Items for Baking SD at home?
The Stretching and Folding
The Shaping
Scoring the Bread
Jaden’s Sourdough Bread
Makes 2 medium Loaves
Feeding the Starter
3 oz starter
4 oz water
4 oz bread flour
Step 1) Feed your starter daily if you’re going to be using it, but if you can’t use it for a while just put in the coldest part of your fridge until you want to use it again. Then remove it from the fridge and feed 8-24 hours before you want to bake bread.
Making the Bread
Levain:
1 oz Starter
4.78 oz Bread Flour
5.32 oz Water
Step 2) Make the levain the night before by combining the starter, bread flour, and water. Cover. Allow the mixture to sit on the counter until the following morning or at least 8 hours.
22 oz bread flour
4.5 oz dark Rye Flour
0.69 oz salt
16-18oz water
rice flour for sprinkling on bannetons
Step 3) Add the 22 ounces of bread flour, 4.5 ounces of rye flour, salt, and water to the levain. Mix together until mostly combined. I like it to be on the more dry side as the flour will absorb the water as it sits. Let sit with slightly damp towel over it for 30-45 min.
Step 4) Stretch and fold the dough. Essentially you’re picking up the dough from one side, stretching it up, and then tucking it gently to the other side of the dough. The photos above demonstrate this well. Let the dough sit for 30-45 min. Repeat the stretching and folding until the dough is stretchy and smooth. This is how you’re developing the gluten in the bread that will give the bread structure. Usually repeating the stretching and folding process three times will get it to where you want it to be.
Step 5) Place the dough in a large bowl, cover and place in fridge for 24-36 hours.
Step 6) This is where we shape our loaves. Lightly sprinkle a little rice flour on the bannetons first to ensure your bread does not stick. Then begin shaping the dough by dividing the dough in half. Following along with the photos above. Starting on the left (or right) side, stretch the dough outward and fold it over toward the center. Repeat on the opposite side. Stretch and fold the dough from the bottom to the center. Repeat on the top. Roll the dough up from the bottom and then pinch the seam of the loaf with your fingers to seal it up. This will keep the gas from escaping during the proofing process. Place the dough in a banneton with the seam side up.
Step 7) Allow the dough to ferment in a proofing bag in the fridge (24-36 hours) (Jenna uses these shower caps to cover her bread while it its in the fridge instead of using a bag and they work great!)
Step 8) Preheat oven at 500 degree with Dutch oven or bread pan inside for 1 hour.
Step 9) Remove the bread from the proofing bag and turn upside down onto a piece of parchment paper or a silicon mat. Score the bread by using either a very sharp knife or a bread lame to cut a slit on one side of the loaf. There are lots of fun pattern inspiration out there so feel free to go crazy! It’s main purpose is just to give the heat a place to escape to while baking. Remove the bread pan or Dutch oven from the oven, place the bread inside inside (BE CAREFUL) then place lid back on.
Step 10) Bake for 15 mins with the lid on then remove lid.
Step 11) Turn the oven down to 450 degrees and Bake for 15 mins or until it has a nice and dark crust.
Step 12) Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let cool on a wire rack completely before you cut into it.
Repeat with second loaf
