Thread by @JeremyKonyndyk

[BREAD THREAD] Ok folks. I'm probably not the only one who needs a mental health break after today. So I'm going to bake a loaf with you.

This is step 1 (optional but encouraged).

Next step: make the levain.

(Now is a good time to recommend that you buy a decent kitchen scale. Bread baking is all about weight, not volume. Took me a while to figure that out.)

Take your sourdough starter and measure 50g into a jar.

Don't have starter in your fridge already? No one's perfect. Get some from a friend and follow the upcoming levain-making steps to refresh it, then store in the fridge and use/refresh periodically.

Starter and levain have two simple ingredients: flour & water.

To make the levain, add 100g of lukewarm water and 100g of flour (half white, half whole wheat) to the 50g of starter.

(If refreshing your starter, use same proportions in whatever volume you want to keep on hand)

Works best to use bread flour as the white flour, but plain white flour will do in a pinch. Can substitute rye, spelt, or other flours for the whole wheat if you're feeling fancy.

Mix it all up until it turns into a thick paste that looks like this.

And now....you just wait.

Pre-bedtime is a good time to make your levain, because it needs about 8 hours at room temp to rise.

In the meantime, it's useful to mark the starting volume on your jar with a dry-erase, as your baseline.

Baseline is important because you want to wait until the levain has at least doubled in volume, and is bubbling on the surface (pics tomorrow).

For now, cover it and wait.

If you're in a rush, you can save a few hours by popping the jar in the oven at 105 F.

Now, refill your glass and relax until the levain has proofed.

Bread baking is wonderful because the actual effort doesn't take much time. Mostly just takes patience while fermentation does its thing.

See you all in the morning. (Fair warning that you'll need a Dutch oven)

Good morning!

By now your levain will have doubled in volume and should have air bubbles slowly popping on the surface.

Scrape/pour the levain into a large mixing bowl. It should be very gooey.

Add 240g of slightly warm water and stir it all through.

Add 400g of flour.

(I like 340g white bread flour and 60g of whole wheat or other for flavor.

You can play with these ratios - basically the more white flour you use, the springier and lighter the bread will be. More whole wheat = denser and more flavorful.)

Finally, add ~12g of non-iodized salt.

I like to cheat a little by adding about 5g of gluten powder - helps with dough consistency.

And throw in whatever special additions you'd like. I find pumpkin seeds and rosemary work nicely (tho I'm out of rosemary today).

Now - mix it all together until it coheres into a shaggy lump. Don't knead it yet. Cover the bowl (I find a cheap shower cap works well). You can let it rest like this for 20-30 mins to let the flour absorb the moisture.

Time to stretch and fold! Take the dough from the bowl and use a scraper to make sure you don't leave any bits behind. It will be pretty sticky.

Grab both ends of the dough and stretch it out.

Now roll it up, grab the other ends, and stretch it out again.

Repeat this about 10 times; the dough will become a little stiffer and tougher to stretch each cycle.

Now put it back into the bowl and cover again. The dough should be noticeably smoother.

You'll repeat this process twice more, spaced about 10-15 minutes apart.

After two more rounds of stretching and folding, you'll have nicely smooth dough shaped into a tight ball. You may feel a small bit of air in the dough already. Now, cover it and let it rise for ~2 hours at room temp.

Now the magic happens. Bacteria from the starter are feeding on the flour, and producing CO2, creating bubbles. In other words, bread rises because bacteria are farting inside the dough. :) ideas.ted.com/inside-the-fas…

The dough is now rising and it's time to transfer to the proofing basket. I use a simple wicker basket for this; the coils of wicker leave a nice pattern on the loaf. Put a liberal amount of white flour in the basket so the dough won't stick as it rises.

With a scraper or spatula, *gently* lift dough out of the mixing bowl. It should feel nice and puffy.

Take care not to squeeze; this will pop the air bubbles.

Gently fold (but don't stretch) the dough 1-2 times so it gets back into a ballish shape, and place in basket.

Now cover the basket and let it rise for a few more hours, until it has about doubled in volume.

It's showtime.

Pop your Dutch oven into the oven and preheat to 475.

The dough should now be big and full of air.

Gently flip the dough onto some parchment paper. Be careful not to squeeze the air out.

Lift the dough and paper into the (now super hot) dutch oven and score the top with a razor blade (use oven gloves!!).

Place the cover on the dutch oven and bake in the oven for 30 mins.

After 30 minutes, remove the cover from the dutch oven and bake for another 9 minutes.

The loaf should now be a rich brown color. Internal temp should be 195 F. Let it cool, and enjoy!