So you've got your sourdough down pat... now what? Now it's time to play around with some new flavours! These can be as simple as dry additions folded into the dough, or flavoured liquids used as a dough base. Here are some I tried recently.

Olive sourdough

Roasted red pepper sourdough

The most recent recipe I used for a standard sourdough boule was a winner, winner, chicken dinner. So why was my bread not coming out how I wanted it to? Don't get me wrong, it was delicious. It was crispy. It had that sour tang and chewy middle. But the bottom was gummy, the patterns I'd score didn't show up, and why why why was I getting a weird bottom blowout and no opening across the top?

I shared a few photos with the lovely community at The Fresh Loaf (go check out the thread if you want to see my "flying saucer bread") and they had some great suggestions on how to get closer to the perfect loaf.

1. My bread was underproved

Strange, right? I had some big air bubbles in the bread which would suggest that my bread was lovely and airy and puffy before baking. Wrong! It was the absence of tiny bubbles that showed that my bread wasn't as risen as it should be. It wouldn't even have occured to me that that's why my bread was rising funny in the oven. I thought it wasn't opening up in the oven due to the way I was scoring it. But it just didn't quite have enough oven spring to really jump up with the heat.

Solution: I increased my rise time to 8 hours (it's cold in Norway, yo) and I rested the dough bowls on smaller bowls filled with warm water to give it a nice gentle steam. That added heat and humidity, as well as the longer proving time, meant that my dough became a huge pillow of sourdough goodness.

2. My oven didn't have enough steam

For those that bake in Dutch ovens or in upturned Pyrex dishes, y'all are golden and don't need to worry about this. Baking under a cover already creates that steamy environment for your bread to really expand. I don't have one, and they're expensive for a nice one here in Norway. I baked on a sheet, with another deeper sheet underneath - once preheated, I'd pour water into the deep tray and it would create a big puff of steam and I'd quickly shut the oven and run away and hope for the best. Still, it wasn't enough, because my bread crust would harden too quickly before the bread could really open up, and then it did a weird side/bottom rise instead.

3. The underside of my bread was gummy

Top crust was deliciously crispy - yay! But when it got to the underside... ehh. A little chewy, nothing special. I needed to get a blast of heat to the bottom but the pan was in the way. So what now?

Solution for steam and gummy bottom: I switched up my oven set-up! Talk about two birds with one stone... On the forum, I was given a suggestion to see how different arrangements affected the bread. I decided to try baking it with the bread sheet pan on the bottom, and the deep steam pan on the top. And wow - wha a difference it made. The heat was able to hit the underside of the bread - which was insanely crispy afterwards - and the top steam pan also blocked too much heat hitting the top of the bread and solidifying the crust before it was ready. After 20 minutes, I removed the steam pan, so the top of the bread could brown. I spent the day running around and cooing at my beautiful, open, crispy bread. Just goes to show that small changes can hugely affect your bread!



And so - here's my adapted recipe!

Ingredients:

460g flour
I use about 425g white and 35g wholewheat for a white loaf, or a mix of various flours for variation
290g warm water
More if you're making it with wholewheat or rye flour
10g salt
50g mature starter at 1:1 ratio

Baker's schedule:

Day 1: create the pre-mix in the afternoon/evening
Day 2: stretch and fold day!
Day 3+: bake

Method:

You can refer to my original inspiration post for the recipe - it has a video that shows you the methods of mixing and stretching the dough - click here!

1. Create the pre-mix: mix together the flour, salt, and water into a shaggy dough and knead lightly to make a smooth ball. Using a dough scraper will really help you here! You should end up with a smooth, but probably fairly sticky, ball after you've kneaded it a while. No need to go crazy, you're just incorporating the ingredients, not trying to build up the gluten. If you're using wholewheat flours or others that soak up more water, you'll need to increase your water content. For a mix of wholewheat, white, and rye flours at approximately equal quantities, I tend to use about 250g of water. Leave the dough in the bowl, cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap to stop it going all dry, and put in the fridge for a few hours. Take it out before you go to sleep, and leave on the counter to autolyse overnight. The cooling down will stop it developing too quickly (but don't worry if you don't refrigerate it, I've forgotten to cool it, and I've also accidentally left it in the fridge overnight and it's turned out fine both way).

2. The next morning, your autolysed dough should be smoother and more elastic than the rough dough from the night before. Add in 50g of your mature starter (it should float in water!) and gentle use a pinch and fold technique to mix it in. It's not as complicated as it sounds, just use gentle movements and folds and squishes to get that gooey starter mixed in. I do this over a half hour period, letting the dough relax for 5-10 minutes so it's nice and soft still.

3. Once your starter is mixed in, you need to let the dough rise. The original recipe calls for 6 hours, but it's cold in Norway so I give it 8 hours. Over this time, give the dough a series of stretch and folds - usually every two hours. This builds up the gluten and you end up with a soft and silky, fluffy dough.

4. Time to preshape! After the last stretch and fold, turn your dough out and gentle shape into a boule. Refer to the video for tips! Let this rest on the counter for 30-60 minutes.

5. Shape into a boule, and place into a well floured banneton or well floured cloth lined bowl.

6. Refrigerate overnight (or longer if you need) for the final rise and to develop the flavour.

7. Preheat the oven to 250c, with a deep tray on the top shelf - turn out your bread onto a lined baking sheet and score the top to allow the bread to open up in the oven. Place the bread on the bottom shelf of the oven, and pour water into the hot tray on top (watch out, steam burns hurt!) and shut the oven door, then turn down the temperature to 230c. After 20-25 minutes, take out the steam tray and move the bread pan up one notch. Bake for a further 15-25 minutes, until well browned and a tap on the underside of the bread sounds hollow.

8. Let the bread rest for at least 3 hours to set the crumb and prevent the inside from going gummy. Then slice and enjoy! We like it toasted the next day.



Easy to follow recipe: ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫
There was a video! Step by step instructions plus helpful visuals
Energy required: ⚫⚫◯◯◯
A little elbow grease to make the pre-mix for autolyse, but after that just stretch-and-fold
Dough difficulty: ⚫⚫◯◯◯
A stiffer dough that's easy to work with, but you have to be gentle not to knock out the air
Taste: ⚫⚫⚫⚫◯
It has that signature sourdough tang, and the amount of salt is perfect
Airiness: ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫
Not as much of an open crumb as a high hydration dough, but much lighter after a proper bulk proof.
Crust: ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫
Soooooo crispy, especially on the bottom
Adaptability: ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫
Easy to change for other flours, or add in things like nuts and olives in the stretch and folds!

I dived into the third attempt almost immediately after throwing away The #2 💩. Somehow, the quest for the perfect (or even just acceptable) bread had lit a fire in my belly and I was determined to find a recipe that worked for me.

I needed to bring together my favourite parts of both recipes: the tight, silky dough from The Virgin Loaf, and the open crumb from The #2 (supposedly, I never got to the baking part...).

A stumbled upon this recipe by Trevor Wilson - a sourdough that promised an open crumb with a stiff dough. There was a video tutorial to make sure you were doing everything right, and step by step photos.... Looked good. Poor Bernie had to work overtime, being refreshed a few times in a short span of time, to get him strong and bubbly for making bread. I can't imagine he was too pleased, it was like being called into work on a Sunday, but nonetheless he grew big and fluffy and was ready for action.

• 436g bread flour
• 24g wholewheat flour
• 10g salt
• 290g water
• 50g starter at 100% hydration

Obviously I'm oddly rebellious in following a recipe exactly, and I didn't have wholewheat flour, so I made one with only white flour, and one with a mix of white and rye. 

There's a certain magic with this recipe, where you give the bread small amounts of attention over a long period of time. The first step is creating and overnight autolyse - you mix all the ingredients except the starter, pop it in the fridge for a few hours, then leave it out on the counter overnight. Because I was unexpectedly refreshing my starter, I left it out to autolyse until lunchtime and it was all fine. The dough went from a rough sticky ball to a smooth and silky one, and then it was time to add the starter.



This went fairly well, although the feel of it was somewhat disgusting. There was a balance between making sure the starter was well worked in, and being gentle to the dough that had strengthened overnight.



Once that was all mixed in, it was time for bulk fermentation and stretch-and-fold. You leave the dough in the bowl for two hours, then gently do a round of stretch-and-fold. This both strengthens the bread and locks in a few additional air pockets for good measure. You repeat this twice more, which makes it three stretch-and-folds over six hours.



After the last stretch-and-fold, you turn out the dough and begin the preshape. That's just shaping it into a round-ish ball, and leaving it on the counter for an hour to rest a little. You could see the huge air pockets in the dough by now, so I was getting more and more excited to bake it.



After the hour passed, you shape into a boule and place into the bannetons. I'd picked up some rice flour by this point, so as to avoid any more sticking incidents. It worked like a charm! It proved in the fridge overnight, and next day I baked it in the afternoon.

It had a delicious crispy and chewy crust, and a soft, holey crumb within. I was very happy with this bread - until I learn to work with high hydration doughs, this provided me exactly what I was looking for.



I'm still missing a little bit of rise, but I think that's largely down to the flour I'm using (not quite enough gluten). Also, I'm trying hard to make a deep score into the bread, to encourage it to open up, but I'm only making little cuts, so we're only getting a little opening. I'm going to try to really slice it, so we get upwards growth and not a split on the underside.

I repeated this later in the week, and got the same delicious results. Until I learn to work with high hydration doughs, this is the perfect practice to get used to sourdough bread and to get experience with how the dough should feel, when it's ready to bake, etc.

Easy to follow recipe: ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫
There was a video! Step by step instructions plus helpful visuals
Energy required: ⚫⚫◯◯◯
A little elbow grease to make the pre-mix for autolyse, but after that just stretch-and-fold
Dough difficulty: ⚫⚫◯◯◯
A stiffer dough that's easy to work with, but you have to be gentle not to knock out the air
Taste: ⚫⚫⚫⚫◯
It has that signature sourdough tang, and the amount of salt is perfect
Airiness: ⚫⚫⚫⚫◯
Not as much of an open crumb as a high hydration dough, but I'll totally take it! 
Crust: ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫
Soooooo crispy
Adaptability: ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫
I made it with half white, half rye, and it was great! With the stretch-and-fold technique it's also super easy to add other ingredients for extra flavour

Looking for a bread recipe was quite honestly exhausting. Hydration levels, open or closed crumb, room temperature or fridge proofing... Aaah. I had no idea what anyone was talking about, or what any of these things meant. And so... I did what any other millenial would do, and I went to YouTube to look for a tutorial 🙈

The first ones I found were supposedly "simple sourdough" recipes, and yet they threw around words like levain and autolyse and it really put me off... And then - like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day - an easy to follow, simple sounding recipe. I dove straight in.

Attempt 1: The Virgin Loaf

This was my first sourdough ever. It had to be simple, so I could follow along, and it couldn't be too long a video because my attention span is zero, especially when I'm excited to just get stuck in.

I watched this video - a short and snappy how-to, made better by a tasty looking Domhnall Gleeson-type baker.

• 800g strong white flour
• 10g salt
• 460ml water
• 320g sourdough starter (Bernie's chance to shine!)

I added in all my ingredients - although I actually used 75% white wheat flour, and 25% rye. Firstly, because I ran out of white flour 🤷, and secondly, because when I knit I don't swatch for gauge, so why would baking be any different?

A note - here in Norway, there isn't any strong bread flour. I used plain flour, with a protein (gluten) content of 11.2%, so slightly higher than plain flours in the UK (which come in at 8-10% gluten). It did the trick for me, but in the long run I may purchase vital wheat gluten to add to the flour for that extra stretch.


This dough was quite labour intensive at the start - there was a solid half hour of kneading. The recipe only says 10 minutes, but with the naturally lower gluten content of the rye bread, and the lower percentage of gluten in the plain white flour, I'd kind of set myself up for a lot of work. The dough was so, so sticky, though I managed to get to the windowpane effect not long after this photo.


I placed it in a slightly oiled bowl, and left it to hang out for 3-4 hours to prove.


Once that was done, I shaped into little boules, and placed into the bannetons (little cane baskets) for proving. Traditional sourdough is a much wetter and looser dough than regular yeasted bread, and so you have to prove it inside a vessel of some sort, otherwise it will just grow into a big ole pancake.



The loaves went into the fridge overnight, ready to be baked in the morning.

Most people will bake their sourdough in a Dutch oven, to get the bread to steam itself for the first 10-15 minutes of baking. I've seen Dutch oven prices in the UK and in Spain... so I dread to think what they're like in Norway. I baked on a regular baking tray, with another deep tray at the bottom of the oven with some water poured in (check the YouTube video recipe to see what I mean).

And here was the result!



For a first bread, these were dang delicious! We passed some to our upstairs neighbour who agreed 👌

Easy to follow recipe: ⚫⚫⚫⚫◯
Energy required: ⚫⚫⚫⚫◯
Dough difficulty: ⚫⚫◯◯◯
Taste: ⚫⚫⚫⚫◯
Airiness: ⚫⚫◯◯◯
Crust: ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫
Adaptability: ⚫⚫⚫⚫◯


The recipe was easy to follow - the video tutorial was really helpful and I knew what to look for in the various stages of kneading and proving. There's also a great explanation of how starters work and how to maintain them. Although it took a lot of kneading - so maybe not the best bread for people with limited mobility or someone who's a bit tired and under the weather that day - the dough was smooth and silky to work with and shape at the end. The baked bread had that slight tang, and the crust was unbelievably crispy. We wolfed down half a loaf for breakfast that same day (clearly, I threw caution to the wind about letting it cool for at least 3 hours). I can imagine it would be easy to add seeds or change the flour proportions (especially as I'd already deviated from the recipe, and got a fairly nice loaf out of it). One thing I was missing was the "open crumb", the big air bubble holes that are characteristic of a sourdough loaf. And so, I went in search of a different recipe, one that would bring me closer to an open crumb...

Attempt 2: The #2 💩

Ayyyyyy. This did not go well.

I used this recipe - it's long and detailed, but definitely worth the read.

• 700g bread flour
• 20g salt
• 200g starter
• 525g water

I mixed the ingredients to form a rough dough, and left to autolyse. You can see the difference in dough smoothness between the first and second picture!


Instead of then kneading the dough, this recipe called for stretch-and-fold, where you take one end of the dough, pull it up and over the bread, and tuck it across the other side. You repeat this across all quarters, and each time the dough gets smoother and more elastic.



I let it prove in the bowl, but rather than do the bulk prove in the fridge overnight, I decided to let it prove a little longer in the bowl and then do the final prove overnight in the fridge. Maybe it was my deviation from the recipe that led to my eventual downfall, maybe it was the fact that there wasn't enough gluten in the flour to hold up a wetter structure. I'll never know. But once it had gone into the bannetons overnight (which looks great in the picture, for sure), disaster struck.



It got stuck in the bannetons, and by the time I'd managed to scrape it out, all the air had been knocked out and it was a sticky puddle of chewing gum. Straight to the bin, do not pass go, do not collect £200. Ouch.


Easy to follow recipe: ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫
Energy required: ⚫⚫◯◯◯
Dough difficulty: ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫
Taste: 🤷💩
Airiness: 🤷💩
Crust: 🤷💩
Adaptability: 🤷💩

You'll notice that my ratings are uh, a little different for this bread. The recipe itself is great. There are a ton of tips and tricks, and the recipe comes with step-by-step photos to guide you through the process. Although the stretch-and-fold technique was simple and low-energy, I found the dough so hard to work with, that I wasn't able to shape it properly and instead of having a nice high tension skin, it went into the bannetons sticky and gloopy.

I'm clearly too inexperienced to work with high hydration sticky doughs at the moment, so although I'm sure this recipe would be beautiful for a more experienced baker, I won't be returning to it until I've got a better understanding and feel for the bread, something that only comes with time and practice.

They key takeaway from all this, was that I need a stiff and workable dough, but one that will result in a light and airy crumb. And so, I went looking for a third recipe which turned out perfectly. More about that in the next post :)

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4-7

Day 8

So what now? 

My starter has a layer of weird liquid on top, what now?