Sourdough Bread Tips

Here, you’ll find important Sourdough Bread tips and recommended articles about baking sourdough bread. Most of Sourdough Beginners’ questions are answered by reading these posts first.

Baking Sourdough Bread: How To Shape Sourdough “The Right Way”

November 3, 2024 by admin 8 Comments

Mindblower, game changer ⤵️

Okay, so last November when I started to grow in followers, I shared this bit of sourdough baking advice that I couldn’t believe no other sourdough baker was teaching

And I WAS SHOCKED because surely, I didn’t invent this, I just stumbled upon it…

And when I shared this back then, SO MANY of you told me it’s how you plan on baking sourdough bread from now on

SO WHAT IS IT? WHAT DO I DO DIFFERENTLY?

Well, it’s the way I shape my sourdough bread!

NO, this isn’t about using

the tri-fold method vs

the envelope method …or even vs

the new trendy caddy clasp method I see now…

My sourdough baking CHANGED when I realized I could shape my sourdough bread with WATER instead of FLOUR

Yes, you read that right☝️

You see, I have a really very small kitchen,

With an even smaller counter space

So kitchen real estate is very previous

And so doing things this way has SO MANY BENEFITS:

LESS MESS to clean up —no flour everywhere
No eating raw flour (more on this below)
Less flour used = more money saved

💡How does this work? ⤵️

The whole point of folding is to build the gluten network so the dough holds its shape.

And Shaping is really just a series of rapid folding/kneading.

While you are building this gluten network through your folding and shaping, the surface of the dough starts to get SMOOTH and TAUT.

This is the gluten network building right before your eyes.

THIS IS WHAT STOPS THE DOUGH FROM STICKING to you, your liner, your banneton, etc.

As long as you are building surface tension in your dough, the dough doesn’t get sticky.

💡So what do I do EXACTLY?

Instead of dusting my table with flour, I wet my hands and wipe the table with a tiny layer of water and then I shape my sourdough dough

And instead of dusting my banneton with flour, I simply just place my dough in my banneton that’s lined with a cotton tea towel

As long as you are building surface tension in your dough, the dough doesn’t get sticky.

VIDEO TUTORIALS:

In this ☝️ video, I’m shaping my soft white sourdough —a LOW hydration dough (67%). It’s a stiff dough, but once fermented, it acts like a blob. It is one of the easiest doughs to shape —so it has always perplexed me why so many people shape this kind of dough with so much excess raw flour.

⭐️ COUNTRY SOURDOUGH ⭐️
In this ☝️ video, I’m shaping my country sourdough —a HIGH hydration dough (74%). It’s a wetter dough, so will be a bit sticky. No worry, the method is the same as in part 1.

All you need is your trusty metal bench scraper. Simply wet it down with some water and you’re good to go. Follow along with me in the video!

It also helps to wet your hands and work surface lightly before you dump the dough on your work surface.

⭐️ WHOLE WHEAT SOURDOUGH ⭐️
In this ☝️ video, I’m shaping my whole wheat sourdough —a VERY HIGH hydration dough (84%). It’s a much, MUCH wetter dough than the last two doughs so it can be very sticky. Not to worry, the method is the same as in part 1 and 2!

All you need is your trusty metal bench scraper. Simply wet it down with some water and you’re good to go. Follow along with me in the video!

It also helps to wet your hands and work surface lightly before you dump the dough on your work surface.

In this ☝️ video, you see the final reveal of each three of the sourdough breads in this shaping tutorial.

My opinion, conclusion:

The industry standard of using flour to dust your dough for shaping and proofing, is unnecessary –you’re only just introducing raw flour so late in the game. This is why some people get gassy and bloaty when eating sourdough –because all that excess raw flour is not fermented! So guess what’s fermenting it? YOU!

Is the type of flour I use important? And how does it affect my sourdough baking?

August 20, 2024 by admin Leave a Comment

Now let’s talk about flour

General Rules of Thumb

White / Light

means commercially sifted flour,
extracted to get most of the bran out of the flour
less protein than whole
Less bran = you need add less water
Less bran = gives you more ovenspring
Less bran = gives you lighter, bigger, fluffier bread
Gives you white bread

Whole / Dark

Still sifted but not as much as white,
Bran left in the flour, gritty
More protein than white
Bran = you need to add more water
Bran = gives you less ovenspring
Bran = gives you more dense bread, a meal within a slice
Gives you brown bread

Different Flours and what it means

White Bread Flour

Gold standard in bread baking
Gives you a really beautiful sourdough bread with a great ovenspring, great ear, great belly
It’s got high protein, high gluten and no bran to cut the gluten down
Hydration is capped at around 72%
But you can force it to accept more water through autolyse and bassinage

Whole Wheat Flour

The “whole” version of ANY wheat flour
Any flour that is not sifted, contains the bran of that flour
Whole wheat sourdough needs to be high hydration
At the minimum, 84% hydration

Attention:

To check what type of whole wheat flour you have, see the ingredients list.
HARD/WINTER wheat = high gluten (bread flour) and
SOFT/SPRING wheat = low gluten (AP flour)

All Purpose Flour

Low gluten flour = less water
Made for cookies, cakes, pies, muffins —anything that doesn’t need to be chewy
Can still make bread, but will be cake-like instead of bread-like, meaning
It gives you bread that is less chewy, more soft like cake

Ancient Grain Flour

Flours like Einkorn, Spelt, Rye, Kamut, etc.
They’re very nutritious and tasty
—but have LOW GLUTEN content and HIGH fiber
It will NOT behave like white bread flour
FLAVORFUL, but much, much denser
Will not have a great ovenspring unless you cut it with AP or Bread flour and/or
Add sweeteners to aid in taste and speeding up fermentation

Home Milled / Fresh Milled Flour

Behaves like whole wheat flour –but even denser because even the whole wheat flour you find at stores is sifted a little
even if you sift it yourself at home, you will never, NEVER be able to extract all of the bran
I have tried with a medical-laboratory-grade mesh sieve of 180 microns and it is so tedious and impossible, it’s not worth the money and effort to do this
ALL Sourdough bread made with Fresh milled flour will ALWAYS behave like whole wheat
Needs to be high hydration (min 88%)
Faster fermentation because of the high hydration

Sourdough Bread Baking Cheatsheet

August 17, 2024 by admin 1 Comment

If you’re a sourdough beginner, or a baker with a few sourdough breads under their belt, this is a good reference tool to look at every once in a while,

I made this myself, carefully thought it through to be as simple and straight to the point.

Roselle’s Sourdough Bread Baking Infographic Slideshow

Roselle’s Sourdough Bread Baking Infographic Side 1

Roselle’s Sourdough Bread Baking Infographic Side 2

Condensing the sourdough process into 7 easy steps:

1. Sourdough Starter

Feed your sourdough starter.

When it peaks, it’s ready to mix with the rest of the ingredients.

👉(Typically 4-8hrs)

2. Mixing your Sourdough dough

As soon as the starter is mixed with the other ingredients, the fermentation clock begins

👉AKA “Bulk Fermentation” Typically 5-6hrs

3. Folding your Sourdough dough

Fold the dough as it rises during bulk fermentation to build a strong dough that will hold its shape.

4. Shaping your Sourdough dough

After bulk fermentation, around the 5-6hr mark for this Country Sourdough bread recipe, shape the dough, put it in your banneton (proofing basket) and get it in the fridge by hour 6.

5. Cold Proof your Sourdough dough

👉AKA “Cold Retard/Second Rise” Typically 12-16+ hrs, depending on the recipe

Cold proof the dough for min 12 hours, max 16 hours

6. Score your Sourdough dough

When the oven is done preheating at 485-500F, score your dough with your lame

7. Baking Sourdough Bread

Bake dough in your Dutch oven (lid on) for 20 min at 485-500F, lid off for 15 min at 450F

Attention:

Steps 2-6 is the ENTIRE fermentation timeline (bulk proofing PLUS cold proofing)

Cold proofing is optional –you can skip it entirely if you want to bake sourdough bread sooner rather than later.

All you have to do is:

After shaping your sourdough dough and putting into your banneton, simply leave it out at room temp for 2-3 hours then follow the rest of the steps.

The physical Sourdough Baking Cheatsheet infographic comes included (physically mailed to you) with all of my sourdough courses.

Want this infographic physically mailed to you?

This infographic plus 3 recipe cards from my sourdough bakery is included (physically mailed to you) when you buy the Sourdough For Beginners Course

Sourdough Starters Vs. Commercial Baker’s Yeast

August 14, 2024 by admin Leave a Comment

Who’s the winner?

Good, the bad, and the ugly…

Everyone is doing their best —and I think bread baking is a spectrum. Some people are used to yeast bread and some feel at home with sourdough baking.

So I think a better way to frame it is:

Good, better, best.

I always say that homemade bread is good, sourdough bread is better, and homemade sourdough bread is best.

Whichever you choose, I think we can all agree that the “ugly” is store-bought bread. —the common enemy!

Slideshow Comparison

Check out the Yeast Bread vs. Sourdough Bread slideshow I made that summarizes the difference between the two…

Difference in Flavor

When you take a bite of sourdough bread and then taste a bread made with commercial baker’s yeast, you’ll notice a big difference.

Sourdough bread is richer in flavor and also boasts health benefits!

This is especially true when you taste fresh, homemade sourdough bread.

Compare that to bread made with commercial yeast –which often has a single, sweet, beer-like aroma that stands out in breads like brioche or a classic white loaf.

Using a sourdough starter can highlight other flavors, such as the caramel and earthy notes of whole wheat or the gentle sweetness of dairy.

This enhanced flavor comes from the diversity of microbes in a sourdough starter, which is something you won’t find in commercial yeast.

Sourdough bread is also often easier to digest, offers more bioavailable nutrients, and is generally better tolerated by people who have sensitivities to commercial yeast, sugars, or other additives.

That’s not to say that homemade bread made with conventional yeast are bad —they definitely have their place in home baking.

But sourdough is in a league of its own, with so many unique qualities that make it truly special.

Cost Per Use

Yeast

When you compare the cost of using commercial baker’s yeast versus a sourdough starter, there are a few key factors to consider.

Commercial baker’s yeast is generally inexpensive and easy to find, usually sold in packets or jars that can last for several batches of bread.

And each packet contains a measured amount of yeast, making it simple to use with consistent results.

What’s the catch?

Well, over time, the cost of continually buying yeast really adds up, especially if you bake frequently.

Sourdough Starter

On the other hand, a sourdough starter has a higher initial investment in terms of time and effort rather than money.

Once you’ve got your sourdough starter going, though, it can last indefinitely with proper care, making it essentially a one-time cost.

You only need to feed it regularly with flour and water, which are relatively cheap, and that’s it!

The longer you maintain your sourdough starter, the more value you get out of it, and you won’t need to keep buying yeast for every batch of bread you bake.

In the long run, using a sourdough starter can be more cost-effective than relying on commercial yeast, especially for frequent bakers.

While there’s an initial learning curve and a bit of daily maintenance involved, the benefits —both in terms of cost savings and the unique flavors you get —can make it well worth the effort.

Plus, there’s something special about having a living, thriving sourdough starter in your kitchen, ready to be used whenever you’re in the mood to bake.

Modern vs Ancient Origins

Yeast

Commercial baker’s yeast has a relatively modern origin, developed for consistency and convenience in baking.

It was first produced on a large scale in the 19th century, when scientists isolated specific strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the yeast most commonly used in baking today.

This yeast was cultivated and mass-produced to provide bakers with a reliable and fast-acting leavening agent.

The goal was to create a yeast that would perform the same way every time, giving predictable results and reducing the time needed for bread to rise.

Sourdough Starter

Sourdough starters have ancient origins, dating back thousands of years.

Long before commercial yeast was available, bakers relied on naturally occurring wild yeast and bacteria in their environment to leaven bread.

A sourdough starter is essentially a mix of flour and water that captures these wild microbes from the air, flour, and even the baker’s hands.

Over time, this mixture ferments and develops a unique ecosystem of yeast and lactic acid bacteria, which not only leavens the bread but also gives it its rich and robust flavor.

Every sourdough starter is unique, influenced by its environment and the ingredients used, making it a true reflection of local traditions and conditions.

While commercial yeast was developed for uniformity and speed, sourdough starters carry with them a sense of history and place.

Each starter is a living link to the ancient methods of bread-making, offering a connection to the past and a deep, rich flavor that can’t be replicated by commercial yeast.

For many sourdough bakers, the process of cultivating and maintaining a sourdough starter is as rewarding as the bread it produces, making it a cherished part of their baking routine.

Are Hydration Ratios Important? And How Does It Affect My Sourdough Bread?

August 12, 2024 by admin 3 Comments

Look the picture above

This is a whole wheat sourdough dough that doesn’t have the correct hydration ratio. Because of that the dough easily tears and doesn’t behave well for you.

The trick to becoming a better baker, not just a better sourdough baker is knowing

Flour types (or more specifically, how much protein there is in the flour), and
The right hydration ratio for that flour type

☝️ These two go hand in hand and they are VERY important to the structural make up of your sourdough bread recipe

If you change the flour in a recipe WITHOUT also changing the hydration ratio to account for the change in flour, then you run into problems

The Reason Why:

Flours have a minimum and maximum threshold of water. In other words,

Flours need a minimum amount of water to become dough, and
Flours have a maximum amount of water until it becomes gravy

To get a dough that will behave for you, you need to find out the “Min and Max hydration” for your flour.

When you work within this min and max hydration, you will get a sourdough dough that’s got a really nice texture, elasticity and pliability.

Because when you stay within the min and max hydration, you will ALWAYS pass the windowpane test.

It is within this hydration spectrum that you will find the windowpane sweet spot.

How to do it

So how do you find the min and max hydration for your flour?

IT’S REALLY EASY

Do test batches with your flour

For example:

Bowl 1 – 100g flour + 60g water (60% hydration)
Bowl 2 – 100g flour + 65g water (65% hydration)
Bowl 3 – 100g flour + 70g water (70% hydration)

And so on and so forth

See how the dough feels like to you, see if it passes the windowpane test.

The bowl with the lowest hydration that can pass the windowpane test is your MIN.

The bowl with the highest hydration that can pass the windowpane test WITHOUT tearing is your MAX.

How to swap the flour in a sourdough bread recipe

Simply find the correct hydration ratio for the flour you want to use instead. Test your flour and find the MIN and MAX hydration. Once you have that, you can find your windowpane sweet spot.

Use the correct hydration for the flour you’ll be using instead of the flour from the original recipe and keep in mind that now that you’ve changed hydration ratios, you have now also changed the speed of fermentation.

The more water/hydration you use, the faster the fermentation will be. The less water/hydration you use, the slower the fermentation will be.

How Do You Feed Your Sourdough Starter in Cold Winter Temperatures?

August 10, 2024 by admin Leave a Comment

Winter sourdough starter tricks

What to do to speed up your sourdough starter so you can bake sourdough bread ASAP👇

Feed it flour that it loves

There are some flours that the starter loves because it has high amounts of a protein called amylase that helps the starter break down carbohydrates.

These are: rye flour, sprouted barley flour, King Arthur white bread flour (includes the amylase enzyme and/or barley flour)

Add a little more water

The more hydration a starter/dough has, the faster it will ferment. And the less water it has, the slower it will ferment.

Increase the temp

The higher the temp = the faster the fermentation. So put your starter in a place where it will be super warm. Like 88-98F warm.

Increase the humidity

Humidity will also increase your fermentation —but especially high temp + high humidity combined.

Put it in a proofer

If you have a proofer like I do, that would be the way to go. You can control the temp and humidity at will.

Put it in the oven with the light on

The closer environment and heat source is enough to increase the temp to make your starter happy.

Leverage thermal mass

Here’s the absolute golden tip:

Boil water and put it in a big metal container —put this in small, enclosed area —your microwave/oven/closet and put your starter next to it. Not touching, just next to it.

Why? Because water is good thermal mass (the ability of a material to absorb, store and release heat)

Doing all of this ☝️ has turbocharged my starter regardless of any winter temp.

📣 That being said, if you’d like the starter feeding schedule that I use to bake all my sourdough bread that I sell in my sourdough bakery, go here:

Roselle’s sourdough starter feeding schedule

Baker’s Percentages Explained (with calculators)

August 2, 2024 by admin 11 Comments

What is Baker’s percentages?

Baker’s %s are most commonly used for bread baking.

It’s very easy –if you know how to ✖️ & ➗, you can do it.

It’s basically baker’s shorthand. It’s formulas that helps all bakers, not just sourdough bakers deduce ingredient amounts & hydration ratios –especially helpful for troubleshooting sourdough problems.

How to find percentages from ingredient amounts

There IS one very important switch you have to make in your head:

Baker’s %s is in relation to the FLOUR, not the sum.

The flour weight is always set to 100%.

For example, let’s look at this

Beginner sourdough bread recipe:

500g white bread flour
360g water
100g starter
10g salt

Here’s how that math looks:

white bread flour 500 = 100%

water = 360 ➗ 500 = 72%

starter = 100 ➗ 500 = 20%

salt = 10 ➗ 500 = 2%

Simply ➗ the other ingredients by the FLOUR amount. It’s that easy.

Need a calculator? Don’t worry, here it is…

[supsystic-tables id=1]

How to find ingredients amounts from percentages

There may also be times when you need to use baker’s %s to calculate the ingredient amounts.

Like when you see recipes like this:

100% white bread flour
72% water
20% starter
2% salt

This is how chefs & bakers talk to each other.

When I was in culinary school we’d use recipes written out as only %s!

How do you find out the bread ingredients amounts?

First decide how much flour you want to put in your recipe. A normal-sized sourdough bread is around 500g of flour.

When you have this number, simply ➗ the other ingredients by the FLOUR amount. Sound familiar? (see above)

I also made a calculator for this process for you to use if needed!

[supsystic-tables id=4]

FINAL HYDRATION OF DOUGH (don’t pay attention to this)

☝️ Not really that important, unless you really want to know OR you want to make your own sourdough bread recipes

When we talk about baker’s % –it’s always in relation to the FLOUR, not the sum.

This wont give you the final hydration of the dough, though.

That’s because your starter has water too.

Most sourdough starters are 100% hydration, meaning they are made up of equal amounts flour & water.

So when calculating your DOUGH hydration you will want to ➗ the amount of starter in your dough in half, & add that to the amounts of flour & water.

Then calculate the hydration the same way you calculate baker’s %s with the new totals for your flour & water.

In other words:

Final dough hydration formula

➗ the starter in half,

➕ that to the flour amount

➕ that to the water amount

Now, (water amount) ➗ (flour amount) = Final dough hydration

Again, finding the final dough hydration isn’t as important as knowing the hydration amount in relation to your flour.

Unless, of course, you are trying to match the final hydration of a recipe you are trying to convert into sourdough

I also made a calculator for this process for you to use if needed!

[supsystic-tables id=5]

Sourdough Starter Tools

August 17, 2023 by admin 7 Comments

Here are all the tools I’ve researched, tested and used to maintain my sourdough starter

1) Starter container

Here are preferred containers, in order of preference:

For small batches of starter…

Plastic quart container

Weck jars (no shoulders)

Ball jars (wide mouth)

For large batches of starter…

KitchenAid 8qt Commercial Mixer (for mixing large batches of starter & doughs)

4qt Plastic Container (to hold starter while coming to peak)

8qt Plastic Container (to hold starter while coming to peak)

19qt Plastic bins (to hold starter while coming to peak)

2) A utensil to stir the starter ingredients

Here are the preferred utensils, in order of preference:

For small batches of starter…

Small offset spatula

Silicone Scraper Spatula (angled tip)

For large batches of starter…

Plastic bench scrapers

3) A kitchen scale

Here are the preferred utensils, in order of preference:

22lb Food Scale, big

11lb Food Scale, small

We are going to be measuring our ingredients by weight so a food scale is going to be a staple in your kitchen. That being said, you might as well get a good one like this since you will be using it to weigh your dough, and if you are operating a cottage bakery, you’ll be making large batches of dough, weighing 10+lbs.

4) A room thermometer & hygrometer

(optional, but very useful)

Thermometer & Hygrometer

This is a very helpful tool that lets you know the temperature and humidity in the room.

5) Rubber bands or dry erase marker

(optional, but extremely useful)

Rubber bands

Dry Erase Markers

These are very very helpful for the baker, as this will enable you to mark the starting point of the starter and will let you know how much the starter has risen.

You will want good rubber bands, big enough to stretch around a 32oz jar. If you don’t want to use rubber bands, you can just use a dry erase marker to mark the starting point of the starter, but that can easily be wiped off.

6) Proofer or Temp Control

(to control and manipulate starter temperature)

Brod & Taylor Proofer (for big starters)

Brod & Taylor Sourdough Home (for small starters)

Kombucha Heating Belt

Dough Mat – use code ROSELLE10 for 10% OFF

If you buy through my link, I get a little commission. These are ingredients and tools I use daily in my own micro-bakery, so I can personally confirm that they are the best tools for the job.

Once you have your ingredients and tools ready, it’s time to start making your starter.

How To Make A Sweet Stiff Sourdough Starter

December 17, 2022 by admin 8 Comments

The Sweet Stiff Sourdough Starter Recipe

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Ingredients

Ingredients / Starter Composition

	starter	flour	water	sugars
Feeding Ratio	1	1	30% – 50%	16% – 50%
	120g	120g	40g – 60g	20g – 60g

When you want to leaven something you really don’t want to be sour (like, let’s say, burger buns or croissants), you need to transform for regular starter it into a sweet starter.

Most of you are using a liquid starter –which is a starter that’s fed equal parts flour and water.

A sweet stiff starter is something different –you use less water to flour and add sugar as well.

This has many benefits, bigger ovenspring, longer fermentation –but really, we use a Sweet stiff sourdough starter because it results in a sourdough bread that isn’t sour.

Let’s make a Sweet Stiff Sourdough Starter

Let’s use a starter feeding ratio that has the minimal amount of sugar. Once you get the hang of this, you can increase your sugar ratio if you want. The more sugar you add, the stickier and tackier your stiff starter will be

	starter	flour	water	sugars
Feeding Ratio	1	3	.33	.16
	40g	120g	40g	20g

Here’s a beginner friendly sweet stiff starter

REMEMBER:

With baker’s percentages, we are not comparing the ingredients in relation to each other, we are comparing it to the FLOUR!!!

How To Make The Sweet Stiff Starter

Simply combine all the ingredients and wait for it to triple in size. This takes 8-12hrs for me at 77F –longer if you are feeding a very small amount of starter.

A totally different kind of gluten-network

👀 Wow, just look at the gluten-network of this sweet stiff starter.

It’s totally different from the sourdough starter you would normally use to leaven an artisanal sourdough bread.

The gluten network of a sweet stiff sourdough starter looks exactly like the gluten network of an enriched dough. Because, that’s exactly what it is.

Take a moment and think with me here…

Your dough is essentially one gigantic sourdough starter. When you make a sourdough dough –what do you do? You mix the ingredients together to make the dough right?

Well another way to think about it is, that you are taking those dough ingredients and feeding the sourdough starter with it.

And so your dough is really one gigantic feeding.

And when you think about it that way, that the sourdough dough IS a sourdough starter, then it’s easy to think that, duh, the starter has the same gluten network as the dough.

In this case, the sweet stiff starter is so webby, so sticky, JUST LIKE an enriched dough (ie. sourdough brioche)

Normal Sourdough Dough

Flour, Water, Salt

Enriched Sourdough Dough

Flour, Water, Salt PLUS

Fats (eggs, milk, butter, yogurt, oil, etc.), and
Sugars (sugar, honey, syrup, juice, etc.)

This is the gluten network that makes brioche so fluffy and pillowy.

It’s so webby and sticky and cool to play with.

Kind of a hassle to scrape out.

Best to work with wet hands and wet tools.

How to use a Sweet Stiff Sourdough Starter in recipes

Generally, we use a Sweet Stiff Sourdough Starter for enriched doughs

But you can use a Sweet Stiff Starter in ANY sourdough bread recipe,

You can swap the regular sourdough starter and use your sweet stiff starter instead.

Why would you want to do it?

IF you really didn’t want that bread to be sour, you’d use a sweet stiff starter.

However much regular starter that bread recipe calls for, you would need to use the same amount of sweet stiff starter

Important:

Since we are using a STIFF starter, the fermentation time will be different. Pay attention to your dough. Here are some recommended readings that talk more about that…

How to really master baking sourdough bread

Why Are Flour Type and Hydration Ratios Important? And What Does It Mean For Your Sourdough Bread?

How To Make Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread

December 16, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

Making Gluten-free sourdough is so easy, it’s crazy.

In fact, it’s actually following the “no-knead” or “overnight” method:

You mix everything together, shape, wait and then bake. Done.

Gluten Free Sourdough Bread Recipe

For this GF Sourdough Bread tutorial, we’re going to use my GF Sourdough Bread Recipe Version 1.0 –it’s most similar to whole wheat sandwich bread.

Follow the steps below…

Ingredients / Dough Composition

Flours

Percentages	Ingredients	Measurements
19%	Rice	100g
28%	Millet	150g
19%	Buckwheat	100g

Starches

Percentages	Ingredients	Measurements
14%	Tapioca	75g
14%	Potato	75g

Other Dry Ingredients

Percentages	Ingredients	Measurements
2%	Salt	10g

Starter Gel Mixture

Percentages	Ingredients	Measurements
4%	Psyllium Husk	20g
2%	Ground Flax Seed	10g
37%	Gluten-free starter	200g
100%	Water	540g

Stage 1 – Preparation

Step 1 – Prepare your starter

Make sure you’re using a very active gluten-free starter, you might need to feed it 3x before using it.

Step 2 – Prepare your starter gel mixture

Mix all the ingredients very well.

It helps if you use a stick blender.

Work quickly, both psyllium husk and flaxseed gel pretty fast.

Do I need a stick blender?

You want to mix this as evenly as you can. That’s why I use a stick blender. A regular blender is good too.

When I didn’t use a blender, the starter gel came out sooooo clumpy. I gave up breaking up the clumps and proceeded anyway. It’ll still work, but you wont get the best outcome.

The blender (stick or regular) also adds air into the starter gel mixture, so that’s always a good thing with anything gluten-free.

Step 3 – Prepare your dry ingredients

Mix all of your dry ingredients together.

Watch out for the starches, they tend to clump together and jump out of their containers, so be careful dumping them into your bowl.

Also, remember the salt!

Stage 2 – Bulk Fermentation

Step 1 – Mix your dry ingredients into your wet

Combine everything, making sure there are no dry clumps of flour.

I mix in a big stainless steel bowl, using a plastic bench scraper to “chop in” the dry flour into hydrated dough.

Step 2 – Knead the dough

There will come a time where it wont mix together comfortably in your bowl anymore, so flip the whole thing out on your counter.

Knead the dough by folding it into itself a few times.

Then, leave it alone for 30 min.

Step 3 – Shape your dough, oil your pan

Shape the dough into a log by folding it into itself a few times.

It will be incredibly sticky —it’s a 100% hydration dough, after-all, so you want to work fast.

And it’s helpful if you wet your hands while you’re doing this.

Just follow what I’m doing in the video. Let me know in the comments below if you I should upload a video of me doing it in real time.

Step 4 – Proof your dough ~4 hrs

Gluten-free sourdough ferments rapidly.

You’re not looking for double the volume. You only want a slight increase in size. In a 70F room, this takes me around 4-5hrs —this is a ballpark time frame!

If it’s colder, it’ll take longer. Shorter if warmer.

Take note of the pictures and captions below…

Stage 3 – Baking Time

Okay, it’s baking time!

Notice what I’m doing here in this video.

Everything about the baking process is intentional.

I’m baking in a dutch oven because I need a great conductor of heat and I need to trap in steam.

The steam stops the crust from cooking, hardening and burning before the dough can cook thoroughly.

Steam helps the dough cook more evenly.

I’m putting my loaf pan on a rack inside my dutch oven because I don’t want to burn the bottom. The dutch oven is a mini oven, rack and all.

I’m spraying the surface of the dough with water and adding ice cubes on the bottom of my dutch oven because I want to increase steam.

Steam, steam, steam.

Bake this at 425F for roughly 45-50 minutes.

I helps if the dutch oven is screaming hot, so if you have time, pre-heat your oven with your dutch oven inside, for at least 1hr.

NOTE: It’s best to let this dry out for at least 2hrs if not more, out on your counter or in your oven. If you cut into this too soon, then your bread might be a little dense.