Bread Baking Recipes

Starter

Starting a starter from scratch:

1. Use a small plastic container that seals and will have room for approximately 2 or more cups of liquid (I like to use a heavy duty Tupperware) This is so there is room for the gas in the starter to escape without exploding your lid off, or, if you choose to use glass, break the glass.
2. Add ½ cup each of flour and water. Leave the container covered with a cloth at room temperature.
3. Wait approximately 12 hours.
4. “Discard” ½ of the starter, and add ¼ cup each of flour and water. This is called “feeding” your starter. When I “discard” I put all discards into a single bowl, and when I have enough to bake a different recipe that calls for flour and water but does not specify to not mix too well (crepes, muffins, etc), I use the discards. It will taste better if you use some amount of fresh flour in the new recipe.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you start to see bubbles and the starter smells fruity and sweet in the middle of the cycle between feedings. This may take anywhere from 5 to 17 days. The bubbles may appear before you smell anything – continue to feed until you smell.

Starting with starter from the meeting:

Please put your starter in a plastic container that seals, or if you choose to use glass, do not seal tight! The starter will explode. You’ll be doing these steps quite often so it gets its own heading.

Refreshing Your Starter

*These starter amounts are for whole wheat bread. If you are making white bread, please double the amounts!

• Add 2 Tablespoons flour (1 of whole wheat, 1 of white/AP) and 2 Tablespoons of water. Cover and leave container at room temperature.
• Wait 2 hours.
• Again add 2 Tablespoons flour (1 of whole wheat, 1 of white/AP) and 2 Tablespoons of water. Put in the fridge. This should create a nice sweet bread for at least 3 weeks without feeding. By the end of a month the bread will start to taste a tiny bit sour. I’ve left my starter for two months before and still been able to use it with a bit of an extra refresh.
  • If you have neglected your starter and it is grey and liquidy, but still smells fine, you will likely have to do extra refreshing with your starter by using the steps above in “starting a starter from scratch.” Using old starter will take much less time than starting from scratch.
  • If there is mold growing, or there is a definite off odor, discard and start from scratch.

Bread Dough (start a day before you want bread for the best results)

White bread:

1. Pour the starter into a large non-reactive bowl (No metal. Glass, ceramic, wood or plastic are all fine), leaving 1 Tbs of starter behind in the starter bowl. Have a cover ready for this bowl. I like to use a pot lid that fits snugly, but is not airtight. You can also use a large plate.  If you are using tupperware, a sealed plastic lid *may* be able to expand and accomodate the escaping gas.
2. Add 5.5 cups of flour, 1.8 cups of water, and 1 heaping Tablespoon of salt.

*  If you are using a scale, it is 600g flour and 400 g water. I usually add a little less water to start, because the flour may be moister (fresher / better packaged) than usual, and it’s easier to add than subtract.

3. Mix just until a rough dough forms, making certain all ingredients are moist.
4. Cover and let rise for 1½ to 2 hours, or until the dough has flattened on top and doubled in size. *Please also follow steps for Refreshing Your Starter, above, at the start of your rise time.*

* If you want to make bread right away please jump to 6a.

5. Gently fold dough over itself 4 times, with a quarter turn each time. You should end up with a roughly ball shaped lump of dough.
6. a.  Longer but better tasting bread: Put both the starter and the bread dough in the fridge for at least 8 hours before forming your first bread. This dough will last approximately 1 week, with the best flavor and texture for shaping on days 3 and 4, while declining noticeably in shaping texture by day 7. If you have moister dough, it may not last 7 days, and if you have firmer dough, you may be able to get it to last a little longer. Wetter dough creates tastier bread than drier dough does. The starter stays in the fridge until you decide to make more bread.
7. Quicker but not as tasty bread: Alternatively, if you want to bake bread sooner, you can skip step 5, and fold only once.
8. Wait 1 hour.
9. Make a quarter turn and fold once.
10. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for a total of 3 times.
11. On the 4^th hour, you are ready to proceed to step 7. The bread will not be as complex, but still quite tasty.
12. When you are ready to make bread, follow the steps below for Making the Bread.

Whole wheat bread:

1. Mix 5.5 cups of flour with 2.75 cups of water in a large non reactive bowl (No metal. Glass, ceramic, wood or plastic are all fine). Cover and leave at room temperature. I like to use a pot lid that fits snugly, but is not airtight. You can also use a large plate. This mixture should sit out between 4 – 14 hours. For better results 6-8 hours is ideal.

*  If you are using a scale, it is 600g flour and 600 g water. I usually add a little less water to start, because the flour may be moister (fresher / better packaged) than usual, and it’s easier to add than subtract.

2. Take the starter out of the fridge and mix in 1/4 cup of flour (1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 white/AP) and 1/4 cup water. 1/4 cup is 4 Tbs. Cover and leave at room temperature. This mixture should sit out between 4 – 12 hours. 6-8 hours is also a good amount of time for the starter. Longer hours may result in more sour bread, but also tends to result in less rise in the bread.
3. After the two mixtures have been sitting out for the appropriate amount of time, dump the starter into the bread mixture, leaving 1 Tbs of starter in the starter bowl.
4. Mix just until a rough dough forms, making certain all ingredients are moist.
5. Optional: Wait 15 minutes. This will give the yeast a chance to colonize the bread mixture.
6. Mix in 1 heaping Tbs of salt.
7. Cover and let rise for 2-3 hours, or until the dough has flattened on top and doubled in size. *Please also follow steps for Refreshing Your Starter, above, at the start of your rise time.*

* If you want to make bread right away please jump to 8b.

8. a. Longer but better tasting bread: Put both the starter and the bread dough in the fridge for at least 8 hours before forming your first bread. This dough will last approximately 1.5 weeks, with the best flavor and texture for shaping on days 2 and 3, while declining noticeably in shaping texture by day 8. If you have moister dough, it may not last the full 1.5 weeks, and if you have firmer dough, you may be able to get it to last a little longer. Wetter dough creates tastier bread than drier dough does. The starter stays in the fridge until you decide to make more bread.
9. Quicker but not as tasty bread: Alternatively, if you want to bake bread sooner, you can gently fold the dough over on itself once, trying not to pop any of the gas bubbles.
10. Wait 1 hour.
11. Make a quarter turn and fold once.
12. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for a total of 3 times.
13. On the 4^th hour, you are ready to proceed to step 7. The bread will not be as complex, but still quite tasty.
14. When you are ready to make bread, follow the steps below for Making the Bread.

Making the Bread

1. Pour at least ½ cup of water in an oven proof container, placing it in the oven.
2. Heat oven to 500°F.
3. Choose a mat on which to shape the bread. You can use a cloth, such as canvas, that doesn’t have too many bits sticking out (eg, do not use terrycloth), but has some texture. If you use a cloth, the first time you use it, rub enough starch (potato, corn, tapioca – your choice) in to the threads to form a light barrier between cloth and dough. If your dough sticks to the cloth, you may want to add more starch. Alternatively you can use a silicone mat / parchment paper.
4. Sprinkle flour on the mat in the rough form of the bread shape you would like. eg, for a baguette, I spread flour in a line the length of my cloth, and approximately 3-4 inches wide. You can also sprinkle nuts, seeds, and/or herbs as well as the flour.
5. Take bread out and cut off a lump of dough, approximately the size of a grapefruit, for a medium sized baguette. The next steps will explain baguette shaping. If you would like to try other shapes, the internet has a wealth of information on this, as well as videos demonstrating these techniques. Cover and return the remaining dough to the fridge.
6. As you bring the dough out, gently stretch the lump into a long baguette like form. Try not to push any of the air out that has formed in the dough. Place on the floured portion of the mat, being careful not to put any dough on the unfloured portion where it will stick. If you need to continue elongating the dough, you can do this on the mat. Please be aware that if, at any point, your dough starts springing back while you are trying to shape, you should let the dough rest for a few minutes before attempting any more shaping.
7. Once the dough is approximately as long as you want your baguette to be, pull the sides to make the dough wider. You will likely lose some of your length, don’t worry.
8. Fold the top half of the dough lengthwise over itself as if you are folding a letter.
9. Fold the bottom half of the dough to meet the first half in the middle.
10. Lightly pinch these folded ends together.
11. Gently pull the loaf back into the intended length. You may need to wait a few minutes before the dough does not spring back.
12. Sprinkle with flour, brushing gently so all sticky parts of the dough are now covered in flour and no longer sticky. Roll over so seam side is on bottom. This helps keap the seam from popping open.
13. If possible, fold mat over the dough. This is to protect it from drying out, as well as from random things landing on it. If it’s not possible, it should be fine uncovered.
14. Wait approximately 20 minutes. This should approximately be the length of time your oven takes to reach 500°F. If you need to wait for longer, the dough should be fine for up to an hour before losing the tension your earlier folding created, that will help the bread rise up, rather than out. (It will still probably be tasty even if it pools out.) If your oven is already hot, and you’re in a rush, feel free to start on step 15 right away
15. Roll the baguette back so that the seam is now facing up. If you used cloth or a silicone mat to shape your bread, gently flip the baguette over onto a piece of parchment paper, or a silicone mat. If you used your counter to shape, use your fingers to gently flip the bread over onto the parchment. The seam should now be face down. Be aware that most silicone mats are not meant to be heated to 500°F, and you may see degradation of your mat over time. (Even those that are supposedly fine to 500°F will degrade if they are used often at 500°F. I prefer FSC (sustainable) parchment paper, which is reuseable a few times – it’s cheaper, biodegradable, and sustainable, and one roll has lasted longer than a 500°F mat I have had.) Brush off the excess flour, as it can spill while shifting the baguette to your oven and back out again.
16. If you are using a silicone mat, it has enough structure that you do not need to use a baking sheet. If you are using parchment paper, gently place your baguette onto a light colored baking sheet. You can use the underside if it’s easier. Transfer the bread to the oven. Alternatively, if you have a pizza stone or can get quarry tiles from a local tiling store, those make a crustier bread, and will provide the surface to bake the bread. Those stones should be put in the oven before the preheating. I leave mine in my oven at all times.
17. Bake for 5 minutes. Take out container of water.
18. Bake for 8 more minutes. Turn off oven.
19. Bake for 9 more minutes.
20. Take bread out of oven and cool on a rack for at least 5 minutes.
21. Enjoy!