Sourdough chocolate cruffin - recipe Sourdough&Olives (2024)

FAQs

How to get fluffier sourdough? ›

Step 3: Cover and let the dough rise for 10-12 hours. This is called bulk rise or bulk fermentation. Step 4: After 10-12 hours, the dough should be doubled (or even tripled) in size. Many recipes will tell you the dough is over-proofed if it triples in size but I find that it makes deliciously fluffy bread this way!

Place the levain in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it, and allow it to ferment overnight at room temperature (65°F to 75°F). It should take the levain about 12 hours to mature. The mature levain will have doubled in size and be domed on top, or just beginning to sink in the middle.

Moreover, the crust of real sourdough bread is usually thin and airy and makes a distinctive crackling sound when the bread is broken in half. The inside of the bread should be bubbly and chewy and the bread should have a slightly tangy taste.

% levain to flour ratio. Typically 10% to 30%, depending on how long you want the dough to ferment. % levain hydration; typically 100%.

One of the most common mistakes is having a dough temperature that's too low for the starter to feed on all the flour in the dough, resulting in a crumb that's dense, with fewer openings. "Starter is happiest and most active at around 75 degrees. If it's a lot colder, the process will be much slower.

If it sinks to the bottom, the starter is presumably not ready, requiring further time and feedings before use in your sourdough recipes.

Overnight levain method: I suggest that, early on in your sourdough days, you build the levain the night before you want to make a loaf of sourdough, around 10pm. Ideally, you'll have fed the starter that morning, so that it's active in the evening when you build the levain.

You can keep your levain in your refrigerator, in an airtight container, for up to one week.

6. Just add water for softer sourdough. The secret to sourdough is simple: water. The more water you add to your dough will affect how open the crumb (bigger holes and softer texture) will be once it's baked.

Over the years, I've found keeping the mixture warm at around 80°F (26°C), and high hydration (100% water to flour in baker's percentages) helps get things started. In addition, while not mandatory, using certain flour also helps increase the chances a starter will take hold quickly (see below).

What makes sourdough bread more flavorful? ›

Longer fermentation

As your dough proofs, the good bacteria eats up sugars and starches in the flour. This decreases the sweet undertone and creates a more sour undertone. The longer you ferment, the more starches and sugars the bacteria eats, and the more sour your bread will be.

A sourdough starter is a cultivated wild yeast culture made by fermenting water and flour together and maintained with regular feeding. Levain is an off-shoot of the sourdough starter, typically fed a higher ratio of water and flour to increase activity, for the sole purpose of being used to leaven dough.

To speed up the levain just use a different ratio. 1:2:2 for example – 20g starter, 40g flour, 40g water. This will rise at lot quicker and be ready for use in just a few hours. Every starter and the conditions in every kitchen are different, so it is up to you to get to know your starter and learn how it reacts.

Since I don't have a sourdough culture, I follow the recipe developer's instructions found in a comment under the recipe: instead of making a levain with culture, water and flour, make a "preferment" using a pinch of baker's yeast, flour and water. Then follow the recipe.

You can get the sourdough starter to rise more by putting it next to the stove while you're cooking. The warmth from the stove can help to activate the yeast in the starter and make it rise more. For dough you should cover it with a damp cloth or plastic wrap so that it doesn't dry out.

It must be kept alive and well with additional feedings (flour and water) to keep it bubbly and active. Remember, it's a living culture which must be cared for with intent. Otherwise, your bread won't rise. Think of it like a pet that needs to be fed daily, or a house plant that needs water and a sunny window.

If your starter is not active, it will not produce enough gas to leaven the bread. Another possibility is that you are not using enough starter. If you are not using enough starter, the bread will not have enough gluten to rise properly. Finally, it is also possible that you are not baking the bread long enough.

To get better oven spring on your sourdough bread, you should shape your dough twice. Giving the dough a pre-shape and a final shape will build extra strength and structure into the dough, which will cause it to rise higher in the oven when it bakes, giving you better oven spring.