Workday Sourdough

This is our head baker Chris Holister’s overnight country sourdough recipe, adapted with timings to fit around a working day to help you bake midweek.

Something that we sometimes hear is that people find it difficult to work out how to fit baking sourdough around a working day, or feel it needs to be confined to the weekend when you might have more time.

We thought we’d create a recipe designed specifically to fit around a working day, to help anyone who would like to bake midweek. Of course everyone’s working days are different, you need to adapt this recipe to make it fit with your own personal timings. The timings have some flexibility to them, they don’t need to be super precise, so if things aren’t going to plan be aware the dough may be a bit forgiving.

Learn how to read the dough as you go as well, as temperature plays a big part in how fast dough proves.

If you need to make a sourdough starter, you can find our instructions for that here.

We hope this helps some of you integrate baking sourdough into the rhythm of daily life.

Makes one sourdough loaf

INGREDIENTS

• 100g sourdough starter
• 400g organic number 4 white flour
• 100g wholemeal flour
• 375g water at 35-40C temp
• 10g salt

METHOD

BEFORE WORK

In the morning before work, feed your starter then leave it out (loosely covered) at room temperature. If your starter has been in the fridge for a week or more feed it the night before as well so it is nice and active.

AFTER WORK

When you get home from work weigh all the ingredients into a bowl, combine and bring together.

Turn out and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and the gluten has formed well. The slap and fold technique works well for this.

Place back in the bowl, cover and prove for 1 hour in a warm place.

Next fold the dough. To do this imagine 4 sides. Fold the right side to the left, left to right, top to bottom, bottom to top. You should be left with a tighter ball in the middle of the bowl.

Rest for another hour. Then repeat the folding step.

Prove for another hour.

Once ready gently tip your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape for your proving basket.

Leave the dough out for 30 minutes to 1 hour, then place it in the fridge overnight. 

BEFORE OR AFTER WORK THE NEXT DAY 

The next day (this can be in the morning before work or once you get back from work) preheat your oven to 250C then load your loaf, steam and turn down the oven to 230C. Bake for 30mins – 50 minutes for a dark bake. 

Dutch oven method: you can also bake your loaf in a Dutch oven/ casserole pot, preheat it along with your oven then load your loaf and back for 20 minutes with the lid on and then 10-20 minutes with the lid off.

Once cooked, leave it to cool on a wire rack.

Example timings

Day One

8:00 am – feed your starter before work (e.g. 50g water, 50g flour). You want to make sure you have enough starter for your recipe, while saving at least a couple of tablespoons minimum of it to feed up again and keep your starter going for the next bake.

6:30 pm – combine the ingredients, make the dough, knead for 10 minutes. Cover and prove for an hour back in the bowl.

7:45pm – fold the dough, so you’re left with a tighter ball. Rest for another hour.

8:45pm – fold the dough a second time. Prove for another hour.

9:45pm – shape the dough, and place it in lightly floured proving basket. Leave it out for 30 minutes.

10:15pm – place in the fridge overnight for a cold prove.

Day Two

7:00am preheat oven.

7:15am bake bread for 30-50 minutes, depending on desired crust.

Circa 8:00am – leave bread to cool on a wire rack.

OR

Bake on return home from work, if that is easier for you. The cold prove will extend that long so if you prefer to do it in the evening that also works well.