Sourdough - The Perfect Blend of Art and Science

Everyone likes to be able to follow a specific set of instructions to replicate the specific item they're after. It seems to be a rare thing to find the person that likes to go through the process of trial and error to get what they want. I definitely am that second person. I like to spend the time figuring out why and how - and then create exactly what I want. There's a lot of errors, and there's a lot of failures. But in the end, it works and can be manipulated any number of different ways with consistent results.

Pretty much everywhere you look online, there are very specific instructions on how to handle your sourdough. Both the starter and the baking. But every place has a different set of specific instructions. Truthfully, almost none of them are wrong. If you follow any of those sets of instructions, you'll probably come out with a decent product, but it might not be exactly what you wanted. If you go through everything carefully though, the one common thread seems to be that you need your starter strong enough for a 1:10:10 ratio to be consumed in one day. That's 1 part starter, 10 parts flour, and 10 parts water mixed together will double or triple in size in 24 hours or less.

If we know we need the starter to be healthy enough to eat through that 1:10:10 in 24 hours, what happens if it's stronger? What happens if it's weaker? What happens if we are really good about keeping it perfectly happy and healthy right at that ratio? What happens if we forget to feed it for a day? Simply put, it'll survive just fine. What does change is how it'll affect your final flavor.

For the most part, the stronger and happier the starter is, the less flavor it's going to impart on the final product. And the longer it takes to ferment the dough, the more flavor is brought out. So, stronger starter will create a faster rise and bring less sourdough flavor to the bread. A weaker starter will create a slower rise and have more sourdough flavor. Easiest way to make it stronger is to feed it very consistently. Easiest way to weaken it slightly is to skip feeding it for a day here and there. You'll start to notice the smell of the starter change if you miss feeding it. It'll have a bit of a vinegar aroma. That's your sour in sourdough.

Another way to control the speed of fermentation and therefore flavor, is by temperature. If you keep everything at room temperature you'll have very consistent results on how long it takes to rise. A 60F degree room temperature will rise slower than an 80F room. If you use a proofing drawer in the 90F range, it'll take even less time. If you put it in the refrigerator, it'll stop altogether until it warms up again. It's a good way to keep your starter alive for an extended vacation, but not a great way to get your bread to rise.

If we're adjusting the flavor for the most part with the fermentation and proofing, how does the texture get adjusted? Hydration ratio. The hydration ratio is the ratio of water to flour in a recipe listed as a percentage. Depending on what you're making, you need a higher or lower ratio of water to flour. My baguettes and sandwich loaves are closer to 70% while my pizza and focaccia are closer to 80%. Sandwich bread tends to be a more closed structure and focaccia is a more open one. Typically, sandwich bread also has less of a chew than focaccia. One other note on hydration ratio is that the lower hydration ratio also tends to create a thicker crust on a bread.

My sourdough starter is named Jayne. There's a definite reason behind the name, but that's a different story for a different day. My personal favorite way to take care of Jayne

is right near the 1:10:10 ratio, skip feeding it at least once a week (more often twice), bulk ferment in the mid to low 70s, and proof overnight in a 44F wine cooler. This creates the best flavor for my personal taste, and plenty of other people seem to like it as well. One other trick that I use to bring out more flavor is that I use a 50/50 mix of whole wheat and all purpose flour in my starter. The whole wheat portion can be substituted for any number of different flours to provide those flavors. This allows the flavor of the specialty flours to come through while maintaining the same overall recipe using just all purpose flour. There's no added guess work on hydration ratio for a new type of flour. I just work the new flour into the starter for 2-3 days prior to baking.

I know there's a lot of information in here without really giving any specifics, but that's really my intent. There's science involved in knowing what's needed to keep a starter alive, and what hydration ratio will create a good bread. But playing around with those a bit is the art that really creates the best food.