Sourdough : Rusch and Johnson's Classic Sourdough.

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400, North 2nd Street in Fairfield, Iowa, is the home of 'Breadtopia' an online thriving community for home bread bakers. 

Owned and run by Eric Rusch and family,  Breadtopia offers an outlet for all manner of bread-related goods. They also offer online tutorials and a useful support for inexperienced and expert bakers alike. 

Today, we're going to make the Classic Sourdough from Sourdough Cookbook by Eric Rusch and Melissa Johnson (ISBN 9781646118106). I'm adapting the recipe and approach slightly to allow for the order in which I like to do things...

The recipe calls for 70 gms of active sourdough starter (fed at 1:1:1), a total of 500 gms of flour, 380 gms of water and 10 gms of salt. 

Total Flour (gms) = 35 (50% of the starter) + 500 (flour) = 535 gms

Total Water (gms) = 35 (50% of the starter) + 380 (water) = 415 gms. 

This gives us a hydration of 78%. 

INGREDIENTS

350 gms of strong bread flour

150 gms of whole grain flour / wholemeal flour

70 gms active starter

380 gms filtered water (room temperature)

10 gms sea salt

METHOD

1. In a large bowl add the starter to the water and stir until mixed. 

2. Add the flour and mix thoroughly. 

3. Add the salt and mix thoroughly. 

Cover and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. 

4. (1st time) Wet your hands. Stretch and fold the dough, turning the bowl through 90⁰ before each set of stretches and folds. Stop when the dough feels tight. 

Cover and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes

5.  (Second time) Wet your hands. Stretch and fold the dough, turning the bowl through 90⁰ before each set of stretches and folds. Stop when the dough feels tight. 

Cover and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes

6. (Third time) Wet your hands. Stretch and fold the dough, turning the bowl through 90⁰ before each set of stretches and folds. Stop when the dough feels tight. 

Cover and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes

7.  (Fourth time) Wet your hands. Stretch and fold the dough, turning the bowl through 90⁰ before each set of stretches and folds. Stop when the dough feels tight. 

Cover and leave to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes

8. Leave the dough to rise to almost 100% of the original volume. If you can, use a container where you can fairly accurately judge the progress of the rise. The surface of the dough should be slightly domed and showing signs of bubbles and puffiness. (This will take several hours depending on the temperature of your room. If you're using the chart below, you are adding 14% of levain / starter, so if it was in my kitchen which is 20⁰C, I'd expect the fermentation to take 8 hrs and 40 minutes from the time I added the salt)

9. Gently scrape the dough out onto a well-floured surface (I use rice flour) and pre-shape it into a boule. 

10. Cover the boule and leave it for about 20 minutes. 

11. Flip the boule over and reform it into a smaller boule. Draw it towards you to help create surface tension and to tighten up the boule. 

12. Generously flour a banneton and place the dough in the banneton, seam side up. 

13. Place the covered banneton in the fridge for at least 8 - 12 hours and preferably overnight. 

14. Preheat your Dutch Oven or other baking container in the oven at 240⁰C. 

15. Transfer the boule to parchment paper or a silicone sling and lower into the hot baking pot. Replace the lid. Turn the heat down to 230⁰C. 

16. Bake for 20 minutes and then remove the lid and continue to bake for 25 - 30 minutes until the internal temperature is 97⁰C - 99⁰C. 

17. Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool for at least two hours on a wire rack. 

Happy baking....