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–+ servings
Early Bird Farm Bread Recipe

Phil's Sour Sam Sourdough Bread (Early Bird Farm Variation)

Making a good sourdough bread is a craft, like making a good French baguette or croissant. A craft is defined as the ability to create a good product predictably and repeatedly. Achieving this with a complicated and lengthy process, like that of sourdough bread, is difficult and requires patience, determination and practice – lots of practice. When you can feel what is happening with your dough through your hands and can adjust to things outside your control, like weather, yeast, that damn oven and the variations in your flour, and consistently take beautiful loaves out of the oven, you will feel rare pride in your craftsmanship. Stick with it through the difficult early and middle loaves. It will be worth it.
Enjoy,
Phil Turner
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Prep Time 1 day
Cook Time 40 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 4 people
Calories 100 kcal

Equipment

  • Dutch Ovens with flat top, e.g., Lodge L8DD3 Cast Iron Dutch Oven, 5 qt (flat top) or equivalent
  • 2 quart acrylic containers with lids
  • Round 10” bannetons
  • Bench knife (steel)
  • Bowl scrapper (plastic)
  • Instant-read thermometer
  • Wooden bowl with cover (wood bowls seem to work best because of their insulating qualities, but any large bowl will do. I use a large, 14”, wooden salad bowl)
  • Stand mixer/hand mixer (if you make a lot of bread, a stand mixer is a godsend)
  • Space in refrigerator (set to approximately 40 degrees) for two bannetons
  • Scale (in grams)
  • Large plastic bags for sealing the proofing containers (bannetons)

Ingredients
  

Part 1

  • 50 grams starter
  • 220 grams filtered water at 70+ degrees (room temperature)
  • 125 grams Early Bird Farm All Purpose Flour
  • 125 grams Early Bird Farm Espresso Hard Red Wheat Flour

Part 2

  • 500 grams Early Bird Farm All Purpose Flour
  • 300 grams Early Bird Farm Whole Wheat Flour
  • 100 grams Early Bird Farm Rye Flour
  • 675 grams water (75-85 degrees- cooler in summer/warmer in winter)

Part 3

  • 1,575 grams autolyze
  • 21 grams salt
  • ¼ tsp instant yeast (winter)
  • 250 grams levain

Instructions
 

Prepare the Starter (7:30 AM)

  • Mix 50g sourdough starter, 220g water, and 125g each of all-purpose and hard red wheat flours. Cover and let rest 8-10 hours.

Autolyze (5:00 PM)

  • Combine 500g all-purpose, 300g whole wheat, 100g rye flour, and 675g water. Mix well, cover, and rest for 20-60 minutes.

Mix the Dough (6:00 PM)

  • Add 250g levain, 21g salt, and optional ¼ tsp yeast. Mix until smooth and elastic. Transfer to a bowl for fermentation.

Fold During Bulk Rise (6:30-8:00 PM)

  • Perform 3 folds at 30-minute intervals. Stretch and fold the dough to build structure, letting it double in size.

Shape Loaves (8:30 PM)

  • Divide dough, shape into boules, and place in floured bannetons. Cover and refrigerate overnight (8-10 hours).

Bake (6:00 AM)

  • Preheat Dutch ovens at 475°F. Transfer dough to hot Dutch ovens, bake covered for 25 minutes, then uncovered at 450°F for 15 minutes. Cool before slicing.

Notes

Notes:
A.     Higher temp in your kitchen means faster rising
B.     An older/longer developing levain equals a more sour sourdough bread.
C.      Wet dough will stick to hot iron – hence the dusting of the loaves mentioned above (Step 2)
* We are very lucky to have our own excellent miller in Western Nevada County, Drew Speroni at Early Bird Farm. Note: Early Bird Farm’s fresh milled flour needs to be stored cold, ideally in your freezer or refrigerator, to prevent it from becoming rancid in the Summer. Fresh flour retains the oils and nutrients which are removed during milling by large scale/industrial millers in order to increase shelf-life.
Sourdough principles:
1.      Time equals flavor and digestibility, i.e., give your yeast a chance to do its work
2.      Moisture equals crustiness (a higher hydration/wetter dough makes a crustier bread)
3.      Temperature differential at baking drives “oven spring” (a cold dough in a hot baking vessel increases the size and improves the appearance of your loaf)
4.      The sourdough bread process is sensitive to seasonal/temperature change, water temperature and even flour temperature, e.g., cooler temperatures in your kitchen require longer rise times. Warmer water speeds up rise times. (For example, bulk rise (encompassing the folding steps) in winter is 2 ½ to 3 hrs. vs 1 ½ to 2 hrs. in summer)

Nutrition

Calories: 100kcal
Keyword Bake, Bread
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