Step 1 – FEED STARTER/MAKE THE LEVAIN

• Take 120g of your sourdough starter and feed it 120g bread flour + 40g water + 20g sugar
• Wait for it to 3x in size –it will be ready when the top stops doming and starts to crater a little

Step 2 – MIXING

• In your stand mixer, mix ingredients (except the butter) just until you get a windowpane
• Then add in the butter. Mix until you get a windowpane (mixer at speed 2 for around 10-16 min)

Step 3 – BULK FERMENTATION/1st RISE

• Roughly shape the dough into a taut ball and put it in a greased bowl
• Bulk proof for 4hrs at 74F (gauge time if your room is cooler or warmer)

Step 4 – COLD PROOFING/2nd RISE

• Degas and cold proof in your fridge overnight (~8hrs)

Step 5 – SOURDOUGH SHAPING

• Divide and shape into balls
• Size of the buns depends on how big you want your burgers to be

For example:

• 75-85g – makes roughly 32 Sliders
• 95-100g – makes roughly 24 Medium burger buns
• 125-130g – makes roughly 18 Big burger buns 

Step 6 – FINAL PROOFING/3rd RISE

• After shaping, final proof (room temp) the dough on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, give each bun 2-3 inches to expand (dough can be touching if making sliders)
• With your palm, press down firmly on each bun so it’s more of a disc shape than a ball (skip if making sliders)
• Cover lightly because we don’t want it to dry out
• Final proof this for 4-6hrs at room temp (74F),

Step 7 – SOURDOUGH BAKING

• Time to bake when it’s risen and jiggly, *almost* doubled in size
• Egg-wash and bake in a pre-heated 375F oven for 20-35 min (meaning, check on it every 5-10 min at the 20 min mark)
• Baking times will depend on how big the buns are,
• the bigger the bun, the longer it will take to bake
• the important thing to remember is that each bun will have to be the same size or the buns wont bake evenly
• you as the baker will have to gauge how long to bake by checking on the oven around the 20 min mark
• depending on the size, baking times vary between 20 min to 50 min –it just depends on how big they are