SOURDOUGH PIZZA
​
​On pizza nights, rules fly out the window. Any shape, any sauce, any toppings are possible, without the need to compromise. You don’t like pineapple on your pizza? Then make your own.

I have struggled to settle on my optimal pizza recipe over the years. Recipe after recipe, formula after formula, they always ended up too slack, too stiff, too sour, not sour enough, too tough, too chewy, too delicate, or too plain ole finicky. Plus, the best recipe for a sizzling hot pizza oven is very different from the best recipe for a home oven, even with the best stones, steels, and peels at your disposal. 

This, my *ahem* pizza de resistance, came from a few months of recipe testing and crucial knowledge from Andrew Janjigian, who dedicated all of November to sharing his pizza tips in his phenomenal newsletter. The recipe is exceedingly flexible and utilitarian—while I wouldn’t use it for deep-dish (but why would you make deep-dish?), it could be used for just about any other pizza style you’re craving.

EVERYDAY SOURDOUGH RECIPE
Having a staple sourdough is a wonderful joy. After making this bread over and over again, tweaking the hydration and the flour types slightly along the way, I have grown to love this loaf more through repetition. While I wouldn't call it predictable, as sourdough changes with the seasons, baking hundreds of batches of this bread does give me a consistently delicious loaf. This is the bread I recommend for your daily tables: It's versatile, classic, and dependable.

This recipe features a meld of local bread flour, all-purpose flour, local whole rye flour, and local whole wheat flour, but it can be adapted to suit your pantry. If you're looking to acquire some great local grains, I have recommendations for local farms and mills in the mid-Atlantic region included in the recipe below. You can also check out the growing directories here and here to find a source closer to home.

This recipe yields 2-1kg loaves (approximately).

EVERYDAY SOURDOUGH: TOTAL DOUGH FORMULA

 EVERYDAY SOURDOUGH PROCESS

Prep

1. Before starting the recipe, make sure you have a nice, active starter by giving it a few feedings if you usually store it in your fridge between bakes.
2. If you are milling your grains at home, make sure you mill at least one day before mixing to ensure that the flour has cooled to room temperature (if you forget, you can offset the warmth with colder water or even ice). And, conversely, if you store your whole grain flours in the freezer to avoid spoilage, make sure you remove them when you mix your levain so that they can warm up to room temperature (if you forget, you can balance out the cold flour with warmer water).
   1. Tip: Some bakers who mill their grains themselves prefer to age their flour to develop a stronger flour with a higher protein level, which can make the resulting loaves loftier and lighter. I generally don't purposefully age my home-milled flour more than a few days, because un-aged, freshly milled flour has a pleasantly nutty taste and contains more nutrients than older flour.

Mix

1. Approximately 8 hours before you intend to mix your final dough and a day before you want to bake your bread, mix your levain by combining 30g of mature starter (optimal starter activity is usually about 5 to 8 hours after it was fed last) with 134g tap water (cool to room temperature) in a large mixing bowl. Dissolve the starter into the water to form a milky solution and then mix in 134g of bread flour until no dry bits remain.
2. Let ferment at room temperature, loosely covered, for about 8 hours. The levain should have doubled in size, but not started to collapse yet. The bubbles on top should be raised and shiny in the optimal fermentation window before the levain begins to recede.
   1. Tip: A warmer environment or ingredients will cause your levain to ripen more quickly, so be sure to check it after 5 hours or so to monitor its growth. If it seems like there are some cracks/collapse in the top of your levain, it has begun to recede and is over-fermented. You can still use the levain if you catch it at this point, but will want to be more careful with your dough's fermentation and proofing down the line. If the bubbles start to become small and the mixture becomes more liquidy, make your levain again. You can use your overfermented levain in a discard recipe!
   2. Tip: If your plans change after you've built your levain and you want to push back your mixing a bit, you can refrigerate it for 8 to 12 hours; just try to move it to your fridge before it hits its peak!​
      
3. Once your levain is ready, assemble your ingredients for the final dough. Add 635g of water (reserving the final 50g) to your levain and mix to ensure even distribution.
   1. Tip: I like to mix by hand, but make sure you have your hair tied back and apron on before you dive in to the messy endeavor. If you prefer using a mixer, you'll want to use your mixer's dough hook on low speed. Most home mixers have a spiral dough hook or a C hook, which are used for kneading more than mixing, however, and can take a while to bring the ingredients together.
4. Add 422g of all-purpose flour, 285g of bread flour, 172g whole wheat flour, and 115g whole rye flour. Mix until incorporated and no dry flour bits remain. 
5. Cover and leave to rest and strengthen for 30 minutes. This is a modified autolyse; the traditional French technique calls for the flours to be hydrated before adding the leavening agent and salt in order to create a stronger, more extensible dough, but the modified version, where you mix the flour, water, and pre-ferment together and let it rest before adding the salt, is well-suited to sourdough breads because a fair amount of their hydration is in the levain.
6. After 30 minutes, dissolve 22g of salt in the 50g of remaining water and work the solution into the dough by pinching and folding (or mixing on a low speed).
7. Cover and let rest and absorb for 30 more minutes.
8. Perform a series of four folds on your dough by grabbing one side of the dough, stretching, and folding it over to the middle of the dough mass. Rotate and repeat in the three remaining directions.
   1. Tip: When washing your hands before your folds, don't dry them fully. Wet hands stick less to highly hydrated dough.
   2. Tip: Watch my demo!
9. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes and then repeat, continuing at 30-minute increments over 2.5 hours, for 5 subsequent folds. 
   1. Tip: For easier dough handling while shaping, added fermentation time (which leads to more of the traditional tangy sourness of sourdough), and more flexibility with your schedule, you can move the dough to the fridge after the final fold for a cold, long bulk ferment for 8-16 hours. Just make sure your bowl is covered well with a tight-fitting lid or cling wrap to ensure a skin doesn't form on top.

Shape

1. Let your dough relax for 30 minutes after the final fold or simply pull your retarded dough out of the fridge before beginning the shaping process. Sprinkle your bannetons with rice flour if using and keep them or your parchment-lined bowls close by. Dust a clean, dry surface with all-purpose flour and turn your dough out onto it, patting and gently tugging the edges to form a loose, extensible rectangle.
   1. Tip: Keep your hands dry and dough-free. Any moisture or dough remnants will cause the dough to tear, snag, or stick to your fingers or surface. Use your bench knife to scrape off any bits of dough that get stuck to your counter and then lightly flour the spot. If your hands become gunky, give them a "flour wash," by sprinkling flour over your hands and rubbing them together vigorously to loosen any clingy dough.
2. Divide the dough into two parts weighing roughly 1 kg each. You can either use your scale or embrace the fleeting opportunity for imprecision in baking and eyeball it. 
   1. Tip: Your dough may not exactly weigh 2kg, because of the weight lost each time you mix and fold the dough and scrape bits of the dough of your hands. Don't sweat it!
3. Take one half of your dough and begin shaping by stretching out each corner and folding it in to the center to create a package of dough. Then, fold the dough in half, leaving the smooth side face up. Cup the dough with both hands, your pinkies pressing against the countertop and under the bottom of the dough mass, and pull the dough back toward you. You should feel and see the surface of the dough become more taut. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat until you have a smooth boule, stopping before the dough tears from overwork.
   1. Tip: Watch my demo! (But feel free to ignore the pre-shape, which I have since deemed inessential.)
4. If using a banneton, place the boule inside the basket with the smooth side facing down and the seam facing up. If using parchment-lined bowls, place the boule with the smooth side facing up and the seam face down for an easier transfer when you're ready to bake.
5. Repeat with the second half of your dough.

Proof

1. Cover your boules with a clean dishtowel and leave them in a warm place to proof (usually for about 90 - 120 minutes).
   1. ​​Tip: You can also move your boules to the fridge for a long, cold final rise after shaping, for anywhere from 8 to 24 hours. This helps if you're a beginner who's uncertain of how to gauge how proofed your dough is, and also makes it much easier to transfer and score the dough.
2. About a half-hour before your bread is fully risen, move your dutch oven, baking steel or pizza stones, and/or steam-making device into your oven and pre-heat it to 450. If only baking one at a time, move your second boule into the fridge. If using a steam-making device (like an old cast-iron or oven safe pan) without a dutch oven, put some water on to boil.
   1. Tip: Err on the side of less proofed, as extra preheating time is better than a wobbly, overproofed boule. If it looks like your dough is fermenting too quickly, move it to your fridge while the oven continues to preheat. Your dough should spring back when you prod it, but not be too voluminous or bubbly.

Bake

1. When your oven is heated and dough proofed, transfer your boule(s) into your dutch oven(s), score the surface quickly and confidently with a well-sharpened knife or razor blade, place the cover back on the dutch oven, and return it to the oven. Scoring allows steam to escape while the loaf is baking to controls its rise and maintain its shape. If using a baking stone or steel, you'll want to score the boule before it goes into the oven, either using a peel or parchment paper to transfer it to the oven after scoring. If using a cookie sheet, simply transfer the boule onto the sheet, score it, and load it into the oven.
   1. Tip: Watch my demo!
2. If you're not using a dutch oven, you'll want to create additional steam inside the oven to allow the boule to continue rising before the crust sets. With proper gear and a very careful hand, pour about an inch of boiling water into the preheated steam-making device. It will create a cloud of steam immediately on contact.
   1. Tip: If using a steam-making device in a glass-fronted oven, remove the preheated receptacle and pour in the boiling water on your stovetop rather than in the oven before transferring it back to the bottom of your oven. Better safe than sorry, as sudden and high temperature changes on glass can make it shatter.
3. Close the oven door and bake for 20 - 25 minutes.
4. After about 25 minutes, take off the lid of the dutch oven or remove the steam-making agent and rotate your loaf. If you're baking one boule at a time, you can carefully transfer the parbaked boule onto your oven rack or a heated baking stone/steel, if the crust is set enough. Then, you can score and load your second boule, repeating steps 1 and 2 as necessary.
5. After an additional 20 - 25 minutes, check your bread and remove it when the crust has reached your desired darkness. To test its doneness, rap the bottom of the loaf and listen for a hollow sound or take its temperature. It should read at least 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Leave to cool for at least two hours to allow the inside structure to fully set, and then dig in! 

If you give the recipe a try, I'd love to hear how it goes! Let me know in the comments or on Instagram by tagging @jennycstarrs or using #starrssourdough!

SOURDOUGH FOCACCIA RECIPE

This is such a simple, forgiving, and adaptable recipe that I very nearly brushed off writing it up. Focaccia is a pleasure for me to make because of its versatility and variability. Savory or sweet; two-day fermented or same-day baked; in a round or spread out in a pan; it's going to be delicious just about any way. I'll note the plentiful options and side-routes you can take in the process along the way!

This recipe yields one full pan (approx. 9 x 13 in) of focaccia or two rounds (approx. 10 in diameter) of focaccia, and can be topped with just about anything you desire.

Tip: Make sure your toppings are sliced thinly, or else they can weigh down the focaccia and lead to soggy pockets. My current favorites include coarse sea salt, garlic, and rosemary; cherry tomatoes and basil; peaches, herbes de Provence, and goat cheese; and pesto and nuts.

TOMATO BASIL SOURDOUGH RECIPE

This naturally leavened, red-tinged loaf is the epitome of summer. Whole rye gives it a denser crumb and a delicious tang to bring out the acidity of the tomatoes and the freshness of the basil. And paprika gives it a flavorful zing and deepens its natural color. Pair this loaf with some bruschetta or a Caprese salad or even just olive oil and herbs, and you're in for the perfect summer meal.

Recipe yields 2 1-kg loaves.

TOMATO BASIL SOURDOUGH PROCESS

Mix

1. Mix the levain 6 to 8 hours before you intend to start mixing the final dough by dissolving 30g of mature starter into 120g of cool water in a medium mixing bowl. Mix the milky solution with 120g of strong bread flour and leave to ferment at room temperature, loosely covered.
2. When the levain is at its optimal fermentation point, it will have doubled in size and have bubbles pushing up out of the surface, but will not yet have started to recede in volume. Once it's ready, dissolve 250g of the levain into 390g of cool water in a large mixing bowl. You can set the rest of the levain aside to use as discard, or save it to perpetuate your original starter.
3. Add 305g of the whole, peeled canned tomatoes and 100g of tomato paste and mix well, breaking apart the tomatoes with your hands as you mix.
4. Sprinkle 30g of dried basil leaves, 20g of salt, and 15g of paprika over the solution and give it a stir to evenly distribute the spices before adding 610g of bread flour and 285g of whole rye flour and fully mixing to combine. The high percentage of rye will make the dough feel a little sticky, but resist adding extra flour unless the mixture isn't coming together in a cohesive mass.
5. Once thoroughly mixed, leave the dough to bulk ferment for four hours, performing two sets of stretch and folds one hour and three hours after the initial mix.

Shape

1. After four hours of bulk fermentation, the dough should feel stronger (more elastic) and have risen about 50 percent. Turn it out onto a well-floured surface and divide into equal 1-kg rectangular pieces using a bench knife or other cutting tool, and then pre-shape the dough by extending each of the four corners of the dough and folding them toward the center to form an envelope-style package, with the seam facing up, and then roll one edge over the other and leave to rest, smooth-side up, for about 15 minutes. This gives the dough time to relax before the final shape into a boule. Repeat with the other dough portion. While the dough is resting, liberally flour two bannetons or parchment-lined bowls for the boule to proof in before baking.
2. Once the dough has loosened and relaxed, scrape most of the flour off of your surface and flip the pre-shape over so the seam-side  is up. Working decisively and confidently, fold the edge closest to you over on itself, rotate the dough about 90 degrees (seam-side up), and repeat. Then, cupping your hands under the boule, pull back under the dough slightly to create surface tension, stopping if the dough tears or sticks to the table. If using a banneton, carefully deposit the boule seam-side up in the floured wicker basket. If using a parchment-lined bowl, gently transfer it so that the smooth-side is facing up. Repeat with the other pre-shape.
3. Let the boules proof for about an hour at room temperature before moving them into the fridge to retard for 12 to 18 hours, depending on your schedule. You can also skip the cold final rise and bake them the same day.

Bake

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees for 40 minutes, with your baking vessel(s) (dutch oven or oven-safe pot) inside to also preheat.
   1. If you do not have a pot or dutch oven, place a steam-making agent, like a cast iron pan (never glass), onto the bottom rack of the oven about 20 minutes into the pre-heat and boil enough water to cover about an inch of the bottom. 
   2. If you only have one pot or dutch oven, move one boule into the fridge to bake after the first.
2. Remove your baking vessel(s) from the oven and transfer your boule(s) in, either carefully flipping them out of the banneton so the smooth, lined side is face-up, or lifting the edges of the parchment and depositing the parchment and boules into the bottom of your baking vessel. Cover and place in the oven.
   1. If you do not have a pot or dutch oven, you can transfer the boules to a baking sheet, leaving ample room between them, since dough likes to grow together. After transferring the baking sheet to the top rack of the oven, carefully remove the steam-making agent and pour the boiling water in, away from any glass oven doors or exposed skin, as it will hiss and steam immediately. Pour in about an inch of water and return to the bottom rack of the oven.
3. Bake, covered/with steam, for 20-25 minutes, then remove the lid(s) and/or steam agent.
4. Bake uncovered for 20-25 more minutes. The bottom of the boule should sound hollow when tapped, and have an internal temperature of 200 degrees.
5. Remove from the baking vessel, repeating steps 2-4 for the second boule if needed, and let them cool for at least 3 hours before slicing, and for 6-8 hours for optimal crumb to prevent the high rye percentage from making the interior gummy.

SOURDOUGH BANANA MUFFIN RECIPE

The two constants in my kitchen are overripe bananas and excess sourdough starter. I prefer banana muffins to their denser companion, banana bread, which I always struggle to cook through. Plus, these are easy to freeze and then thaw individually when you need a sweet treat for breakfast!

Recipe yields 12 muffins.

MUFFIN INGREDIENTS

• 3 overripe bananas (about 400g)​
• 4 tablespoons (60g) melted butter
• 1/4 cup (60g) yogurt or sour cream (or more butter)
• 1 cup (250g) ripe sourdough starter
• 2 eggs (about 100g)
• 3/4 cup (175g) brown sugar
• 2 cups (225 - 275g) whole wheat flour*
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/2 cup (125g) walnuts

STREUSEL INGREDIENTS

• 4 tbsp (60g) melted butter
• 3/4 cup (95g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (115g) brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

​For a dairy-free alternative, replace the butter and sour cream with vegetable oil, and use 1/2 cup honey in the streusel instead of the butter and brown sugar.

SOURDOUGH BANANA MUFFIN PROCESS
 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease or line your muffin tin.
2. To start the muffin batter, mix together the flour, spices, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a separate bowl.
3. Mash up the browned bananas in a medium to large mixing bowl. Using a fork works just fine!
4. Add the butter, sour cream or yogurt, brown sugar, sourdough starter, and eggs to the mashed bananas, and mix thoroughly if mixing by hand, or for 1 1/2-2 minutes if in a mixer.
5. Mix in the dry ingredients until no dry bits remain.
6. Fold in the walnuts.
7. To start the streusel topping, mix together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
8. Add the melted butter and mix together with a fork until chunks of streusel emerge. If it's too paste-like, add more flour, starting with 1 tsp and working your way up in small increments. If it's too dry, do the same with more melted butter.
9. Ladle the muffin batter into your pre-greased or lined pan, filling nearly to the top.
10. Sprinkle the streusel liberally on top.
11. Bake for 18 - 22 minutes, checking halfway through to spin the pan if your oven is anything like mine.

*Updated on 6/13: home-milled whole wheat flour is much lighter than store bought, so this range was updated after some more recipe testing with both kinds of whole wheat flour.

OLIVE AND HERB SOURDOUGH RECIPE

This olive and herb sourdough is packed with salty, herby flavor, plus a subtle nuttiness from whole spelt flour. It even entranced me, a firm olive hater. I'm still far from an olive advocate, but after baking this bread for my olive-loving partner for a few years now, I finally see the merits of this briney fruit.

LEVAIN

• 15g ripe sourdough starter
• 30g wholegrain rye flour (I use Migrash Farm's Rye No. 18 or home-milled rye from Castle Valley Mills; can be substituted for wholegrain wheat flour of bread flour, if needed)
• 30g bread flour
• 60g water

FINAL DOUGH

• 135g levain (from above)
• 260g water
• 265g bread flour (I use a mix of King Arthur's Sir Lancelot and Migrash Farm's Hard Redeemer Wheat No. 60)
• 110g wholegrain spelt flour (I use home-milled spelt from Migrash Farms; this can be substituted with wholegrain wheat flour or bread flour, if needed)
• 110g rinsed and pitted olives (Use your favorite variety or varieties; I use Kalamata or Picholine or a mix of the two)
• 10g herbes de Provence (or a blend of savory, thyme, rosemary, basil, tarragon, marjoram, and oregano)
• 7g salt (non-iodized kosher or sea salt is best)

OLIVE AND HERB SOURDOUGH BAKER'S PERCENTAGES (a universal, slightly more technical way to share recipes that is well explained here, but you can also just ignore this)

​LEVAIN
100 percent hydration
50 percent rye
50 percent bread flour
25 percent ripe starter (aka 1:4 ratio)

TOTAL DOUGH FORMULA
73 percent hydration (15 percent pre-fermented in levain)
67.5 percent bread flour (7.5 percent pre-fermented in levain)
25 percent spelt flour
25 percent olives
7.5 percent rye flour (pre-fermented in levain)
2 percent herbes de Provence
1.5 percent salt

EQUIPMENT

• Medium bowl
• Large bowl
• Dutch oven, oven-safe pot, or a baking sheet plus cast iron pan or other oven-safe pan
• Scale
• Bench knife (optional, but helpful for shaping)
• Banneton (optional, but helpful for proofing)
• Parchment paper (optional)

OLIVE AND HERB SOURDOUGH PROCESS

MIXING

Evening

1. Weigh out 15g of ripe sourdough starter in a medium bowl.
2. Add 60g of water (room temperature or slightly chillier), 30g of wholegrain rye flour and 30g of bread flour, and mix well.
3. Cover loosely with a lid or tea towel, and let rise at room temperature overnight (about 8 hours) in a cool spot.

Morning

1. In a wide bowl (or in a mixing bowl, if you have both a mixer and a dough hook), weigh out 260g of water. Your levain should have some nice air bubbles, have doubled in size, and pass the float test. Scrape your levain into the bowl and break it up in the water. 
2. Weigh out 265g of bread flour, 110g of wholegrain spelt flour, and 7g of salt, and add to the bowl. 
3. Mix together thoroughly, until all the flour is hydrated and there are no clumps remaining. You can perform a series of "slap and fold" kneads in the bowl to give the dough some initial strength.
4. Perform a set of folds in your bowl by grabbing the underside of the dough, stretching it out one way (but not allowing it to tear), and folding it over on itself. Rotate the bowl and do this in each direction for a total of four folds. Cover the bowl and let rest for 1 hour.
5. Sprinkle 10g of herbes de Provence and 110g of olives over the top of your dough, and work them into the dough by squeezing gently and performing a set of folds. Let rest for 1 hour.
6. Repeat the folds two more times, over two more hours. Over the course of the folds, the dough should become stronger, more elastic, and smoother. If it still seems floppy or too sticky, increase your final folds to four instead of two, at 30-minute intervals instead of 1-hour intervals.

Afternoon

1. Four hours after you mixed your dough, and one hour after your last set of folds, flour your countertop or table to begin shaping.
2. Preshape your dough by gently pressing down on the dough and stretching it into a rectangle. Stretch out a corner of the dough and fold it into the center. Use a bench knife to scrape the dough off the surface if it's sticking, and reflour. Repeat with each corner, until you have a little package of dough, and then roll it over. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
3. Final shape your dough into a batard, first by turning the preshape over so the smooth, floured side is facing down and brushing off excess flour. Lightly press the dough out into a rectangle, and fold the bottom two corners up and into the center, like a bicycle seat. Roll/fold the dough over on itself, starting with the slimmer bottom and working up to the far end. Tuck the outer tails in and stitch up the seam if needed.
4. If you have a banneton, lightly flour it (using rice flour is best, but all-purpose will do too; just flour more liberally if using AP) and place the batard into it with the smooth side facing down. If you're using a different vessel or surface for proofing, cover it with a sheet of parchment paper and place the dough on the parchment with the smooth side facing up. Let proof on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour, then store in the fridge for the night or preheat your oven for baking.

BAKING

1. The next day, preheat your oven to 475 F for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, place an oven safe pot, Dutch oven, or combo cooker in the oven to preheat for the final 30 minutes, with the lid on. If you don’t have a sufficient oven-safe container, you can put a pot or kettle of water on to boil and place a cast iron pan or other high-heat stable pan (not glass) on the bottom rack of your oven. 
2. Remove your dough from the fridge and your Dutch oven from the oven. Take off the lid, and, if you used a banneton, turn it over to let the bread slide gently out onto the bottom of the pot or onto the baking sheet. If you proofed your bread on parchment, pick up the sides of the parchment while wearing oven mitts and gently transfer it to your baking surface. Score the top of the loaf with a quick, decisive, and long slash, using a razor blade, a sharp knife, or even a box cutter. 
3. Place the lid on your pot, if using, and put it into the oven. Without a pot, place the sheet or pan on the second rack of the oven. Carefully pour the boiling water into the cast iron pan to create steam, while wearing oven mitts to protect your hands. 
4. Bake for 20 minutes, and then remove the lid of your pot or remove your steam-making pan. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the loaf 180 degrees, and then bake for 10 to 15 more minutes, until the crust is golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. If you have a thermometer, the center of the bread should register a temperature of 200.
5. Remove the bread from the pot to cool. Wait at least two hours before slicing!

​BEGINNER SOURDOUGH RECIPE

This is a flexible sourdough recipe for beginning bakers. Feel free to change things around to fit your schedule, pantry, and tastes. You can put your dough in the fridge directly after the bulk fermentation step and shape it later, or bake it directly after shaping and proofing instead of giving it a cold fridge rest. You can substitute all all-purpose flour instead of a portion of whole wheat, or use a meld of grains, like einkorn, spelt, or rye, for the 140 grams of whole wheat that the recipe calls for. Most importantly, get up to your elbows in the dough and feel the magic of sourdough.

Levain
-20 grams active starter
-80 grams water
-80 grams bread or all purpose flour (unbleached)

Final Dough
-180 grams levain
-235 grams water
-235 grams bread or all purpose flour (unbleached)
-140 grams wheat flour (or all purpose if that's all you have on hand)
-9 grams salt

PROCESS

SAMPLE WEEKEND BAKING TIMETABLE
-Thursday evening (between 8 and 10 p.m. - flexible): Take your starter out of the fridge, discard and feed it (keep 30-50 grams of starter and then mix in the same amount of flour and water). Leave the starter at room temperature.

-Friday morning (between 8 and 10 a.m. - flexible): About 8 to 12 hours hours after your morning feeding, repeat the same discard and feeding process.

-Friday evening (between 8 and 10 p.m. - flexible): About 8 to 12 hours hours after your evening feeding, mix your levain. Weigh out 80g of water (no need to be finicky - I use a 5g range) in a separate, mid-sized bowl. Remove 25g of mature starter from your main starter (it should be bubbly and sour-smelling), and put it in the 80g of water. It should float to the top or near the top. Break up the starter in the water, and then add in 80g of all purpose or bread flour. Mix well and leave at room temperature. You can store your remaining starter back in the fridge without feeding again.

-Saturday morning (9 a.m.): In a wide bowl (or in a mixer's bowl if you have both a mixer and a dough hook), weigh out 235g of water. Your levain should have some nice air bubbles, doubled in size, and pass the float test. Scrape your levain into the bowl and break it up in the water. Weigh out your flour, using either 235g of all purpose/bread flour and 140g of wheat flour or simply 375g of all purpose/bread flour, and add to the bowl. Then weigh and add 9g of salt and mix together thoroughly, until all the flour is hydrated. You can perform a series of "slap and folds" in the bowl to give the dough some initial strength, but don't worry too much about kneading. 

Bulk fermentation (9:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.): Perform a series of folds in your bowl by grabbing the underside of the dough, stretching it out one way (but not allowing it to tear), and folding it over on itself. Rotate the bowl and do this in each direction for a total of four folds. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and leave it for 1 hour, and repeat the folds every hour, so at 9:15, 10:15, and 11:15, for a total of four sets of folds. You can set a timer to remind you, but, again, don't be too finicky. 5, 10, even 15 minutes early or late is fine. During the folds, the dough should transform from a shaggy and sticky mound to an extensible, smooth ball. If it still feels hard to handle at 11:15, add in an extra set of folds at 11:45 and/or double up on your folds, doing two folds in each direction for a total of eight folds. You can also do this if you forget a fold. But it is important to give your dough a rest from folding for the final hour, from 12:15 to 1:15, so that it's relaxed when you go to shape it.

1:15 p.m.: Plop your dough onto a lightly floured countertop. Pick up the edges and make sure they're not sticking to the counter - if so, remove the stuck bits and reflour. Gently press down on the dough, but not so hard that you completely de-gas it. Stretch out a corner of the dough and fold it into the center. Repeat with each corner, until you have a little package of dough. Flip it over and let it rest for 15 minutes. This is called the "preshape."

1:30 p.m.: Return to your preshape for final shaping. Turn the dough over, so that the smooth, floured side is again facing down. Fold the corners in again, and flip the dough over again so that the sealed ends are on the bottom and the smooth side is on the top. With your hands cupping under the farside of the dough, pull the ball back toward you, creating surface tension on the boule. Rotate the dough and repeat until the dough is taut, but not going so far that it tears. If you have a banneton, lightly flour it and place the dough into it with the smooth side facing down. If you do not, then put a sheet of parchment paper into a medium sized bowl and lightly flour it, making sure that you have extra parchment sticking up on the sides of the bowl (this will make the transfer for baking easier!). Place the dough into the parchment-lined bowl with the smooth side facing up. Let rest and rise on the counter for 30 minutes, then store in the fridge for the night.

Sunday (noon): Time to bake! I usually wait until the evening, to give it a longer time in the fridge, but you could speed it up to bake in the morning if needed.

Preheat your oven to 475 for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, place an oven safe pot, Dutch oven, or combo cooker in the oven to preheat for the final 30 minutes, with the lid on. If you don’t have a sufficient oven safe receptacle, you can put a pot of water on to boil and place a cast iron pan or other high-heat stable pan (not glass) on the bottom rack of your oven. 

Remove your dough from the fridge and your Dutch oven from the oven. Take off the lid and, if you have a banneton, turn it over to let the bread slide out onto the bottom of the pot. Score the top of the loaf with a quick, decisive slash, using either a sharp knife or a razor blade. If you don’t have a banneton, score your bread and then, wearing oven mitts, grasp the sides of the parchment paper with your dough on it and transfer it into your pot. Place the lid on and put it in the oven.

Without a pot, simply place your scored bread on a baking sheet (with parchment or silicon under it so that it doesn’t stick) and put it in the oven on the second rack. Pour the boiling water into the cast iron pan to create steam.

Bake for 20 minutes, and then either remove the lid of your pot or remove the steam-making pan. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate the loaf 180 degrees, and then bake for 10 to 15 more minutes, until the crust is golden and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. If you have a thermometer, the bread should have a temperature of 200. 

Remove the bread from the pot to cool, waiting at least two hours before slicing!

Part of sourdough's magic is its shelf stability and long-last freshness after it's pulled from the oven. So once you've baked or bought a loaf of sourdough, you can maximize its freshness with these storage techniques.

Saving stale bread
There will come a day when, despite your best efforts, you leave a loaf out too long. But there are still many alternatives to the garbage bin or the compost heap. Bread crumbs, garlic bread, croutons, crisps, French toast, and bread pudding are all excellent projects for stale sourdough.