How I make my sourdough 🥖

Making sourdough bread at home can be a highly rewarding and therapeutic experience, especially when you see the bubbly, milky starter transform into a delicious loaf. From my experience, the key to a great sourdough is patience and careful attention during each step. Starting with a lively 100g starter ensures that your dough will have enough natural yeast and bacteria to rise properly. Using filtered water helps maintain purity without any chlorine that could inhibit fermentation. I typically mix 350g of filtered water with 475g of bread flour and about 15-18g of salt, which balances flavor and aids gluten development. After mixing the ingredients until the dough is shaggy, it’s important to let it rest for about an hour. This resting period, often called autolyse, helps the flour hydrate and enzymes to break down starches, making the dough easier to stretch and fold. Stretch and folds every 30 minutes over the next two hours strengthen the dough’s structure and develop gluten, which is crucial for that characteristic chewy texture and open crumb in sourdough. Throughout the process, maintaining the dough at room temperature between 70-75°F (21-24°C) provides an optimal environment for the starter to ferment effectively. Finally, shaping and proofing the dough allow the gases from fermentation to create those lovely air pockets. Overall, don’t rush this slow fermentation process. The more time you give your dough to develop, the richer the flavor and better the texture of your homemade sourdough bread. Happy baking!