Daily Dish the Fork Lift blog
Sourdough Startup
Sourdough is magic. From making it to eating it, the whole process is a thing of beauty. Its characteristic tang is the result of a natural fermentation process, beginning with a sourdough starter that you nurture (and name!). Get your start in the world of sourdough with these pro tips, tools, and recipes—welcome to your new obsession!
Sourdough is magic. From making it to eating it, the whole process is a thing of beauty. Its characteristic tang is the result of a natural fermentation process, beginning with a sourdough starter that you nurture (and name!). Get your start in the world of sourdough with these go-to recipes and tips from our pros. Welcome to your new obsession!
Make It: This trio of recipes is your key to sourdough success:
- Sourdough Starter: Starting your own sourdough starter actually begins with creating your own wild yeast culture. It may take a little time, care, and attention, but the results are well worth it in the end!
- Basic Levain: What's the difference between levain and sourdough starter? It's simple! A levain is ripe starter that's been freshly fed and fermented before use in baking as an offshoot of the original mother starter.
- Pain au Levain: At last, it's time to bake! Finish your scratch-made sourdough with this recipe for a classic loaf you're sure to love.
Infuse It: From blueberries to lemon zest, herbs to olives, jalapeños to nuts, dried fruit, and more, there are so many ways to make a good thing even better with inclusions aplenty. The best time to dapple your dough with delicious add-ins is halfway through the stretching and folding phase (in the Improved Development portion of our Pain au Levain recipe). Keep in mind, if your add-ins are wet, that will affect the hydration of the dough!
Shape It: Once you’ve got the round (or boule) down, try your hand at other fun forms:
- Batard: Oval, oblong loaf best baked in a Dutch oven
- Baguette: Thin, long loaf with a uniformly thick inner radius best proofed in a couche
- Ficelle: Like a baguette, but thinner!
- Pumpkin: A round (or boule) turned out onto the center knot of four strands of twine that get tied at the top to make eight even sections
- Turtle: A little dough nub tucked at the top for the head, four dough nubs tucked slightly under the round for the feet, and the top scored to look like a shell!
Score It: Scoring is essential for giving bread its rise. It’s easier to score dough cold, and with an easily maneuverable sharp bread lame, scissor blade, or razor, as a regular knife might drag. Start with a line that goes down the loaf, then make swift, confident, smooth cuts in all kinds of designs and have fun! Just remember to get it into the oven as soon as possible after you’ve beautified your bread.
Store It: After baking your loaf and eating your fill, help your leftovers last without getting stale by using these pro tips and materials made for the job. Primarily composed of biomaterials such as calcium carbonate (like in eggshells!) and other trace mineral ingredients, Ovtene Bread Bags are 100% recyclable and specially designed to keep perishables fresh. Bread heads, rejoice!
Don’t Discard It: The point of the “discard” step in sourdough starter maintenance is to refresh and balance the mother starter’s acidity levels, keep it healthy and active, manage its size and hunger when growing, and ultimately optimize the taste, texture, and rise of the finished bread. But “discard” doesn’t actually mean “get rid of it.” You can replace dry yeast with sourdough discard in all kinds of recipes by following our handy conversion chart—find it below!
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