JennyBlogs

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

Using All-Purpose Flour vs. Bread Flour in Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Terminology

New Sourdough Series

Favorite Blueberry Muffins

Jenny's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

Testing a Flour’s Hydration Capacity

Measure out a small amount of desired flour into several small bowls. 20g is a good amount in each bowl, keeping it small and manageable, but still a decent enough chunk to work with. You can test different flours side by side. Keep all the bowls labeled or use different colors/styles, so the different flours don’t get mixed up.
Decide which hydration levels you’d like to test with the flour. Start with a hydration you feel the flour can hold comfortably, probably under 70%, then work your way up from there. Increments of 5% usually work nicely.
Calculate how much water to add, and mix into each bowl.
Thoroughly mix each bowl, kneading and working until a smooth dough has formed. If you don’t want to continue kneading a bunch of tiny pieces of dough, you can let them sit, covered, for several hours and check back.
Once the tiny bits of dough have had a chance for adequate gluten development, by kneading or by sitting, it’s time to check each one. You will probably have already noticed how each bowl of dough acts a little differently.

Now to Determine Which Hydration Levels the Flours Like

It’s easiest to start with lower hydration levels. The bit of dough should look smooth and feel elastic. It should pass the window pane test. If it doesn’t, the dough may need more time to sit or more kneading.

Work your way up the bowls, stretching, kneading, feeling as each bit of dough gets looser and stickier. You may notice as you work with the higher hydration bits that the dough will start to show some little tearing as you stretch it. Once the tearing becomes more noticeable, the dough doesn’t seem to be able to hold much shape, and the dough doesn’t pass the windowpane test, you have probably gone past the limit for that particular flour.

Two Flours Tested Side by Side

Here I tested out the hydration capacity of Kirkland Signature Organic All-Purpose Flour and King Arthur Bread Flour side by side.

I had five bowls for each kind of flour. Each bowl contained 20g of flour. I used a precision scale, but this isn’t necessary. The hydration levels were:

65% (20g flour, 13g water)
70% (20g flour, 14g water)
75% (20g flour, 15g water)
80% (20g flour, 16g water)
85% (20g flour, 17g water)

Each bowl was kneaded briefly, then left to sit for several hours. I inspected them after the initial kneading, later in the day, and again the next day. Each piece was stretched and shaped into a ball, and prodded plenty.

Conclusion:

Kirkland Organic All-Purpose Flour

This AP flour seemed to find its sweet spot around 75% hydration. The dough with 80% hydration tore easily and couldn’t quite seem to build up enough gluten to hold any kind of shape. Based on this, I would stay under 80%, maybe even under 75% for Kirkland Organic All-Purpose Flour.

Interestingly enough, shortly after I performed this experiment, a well-known sourdough master, Tom Cucuzza of The Sourdough Journey shared a post of a loaf he made. He said he used 90% Kirkland Organic All-Purpose Flour, and 10% whole wheat flour, and mentioned that he thought the Kirkland flour holds 80% hydration well. I found that highly interestingly, since in my own experience Kirkland flour is optimal at not much higher than 75%, as I found in this little test, beyond dozens of other loaves I have made with this flour. However, he also mentioned, and I have also seen others talk about, how Kirkland’s Organic All-Purpose Flour can yield inconsistent results. I can only guess, but perhaps being such a large chain with stores across the country, maybe they’re sourcing wheat from many different areas and fields, and thus, differing results. Their bags mention they are “mininum 11.5%” protein content, so presumably, some bags may contain higher protein and be able to hold those higher hydrations better, as some bakers have found.

King Arthur Bread Flour

The King Arthur Bread Flour did better at 80% hydration. It only started to lose its shape and show more signs of tearing at 85% hydration. Based on this, I would say the King Arthur Bread Flour can comfortably go up to 80%, perhaps a bit higher, but would need some high-protein flour mixed with it to go higher with good results, perhaps some King Arthur Sir Lancelot flour. I don’t normally prefer eating breads with hydration higher than 80% because of the larger holes.

Why Increase Sourdough Hydration?

Sourdough made with higher hydration is usually made for its open, lacey crumb. This particular structure is harder to achieve and thus one of the signs that “you’ve made it” in the sourdough world. While desirable aesthetically, many people (including myself) prefer a tighter crumb.

If you’re hoping for an open crumb or just want to play with a higher hydration for the fun of it, the method described in this post is a much easier way to test how much water your particular flour can hold rather than just making whole loaves and potentially having them not turn out, wasting time and ingredients.

Hydration Test Gone to Starter

Inadvertently, I left these bowls on the counter in nice summer weather for 2-3 days, trying to decide what to make with them. (I hate waste, I also don’t have a lot of free time between 3 small children.)

In the delay of deciding and formulating a recipe, these dough balls starting fermenting and turning into starter! I could’ve fed them and had 10 new bowls of starter, but one can have too much starter, you know! I turned these into some loaves of bread, instead.

I made some Honey Oat Sourdough Loaves, and they turned out great. They were super tangy from all the fermenting flours from the hydration test, a touch sweet from the honey, and a bit nutty from the oats. Honestly, to this day they might be one of my favorite loaves I’ve made.

Explore Italy: Livorno

October 30, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Livorno is a city on the coast of Tuscany with a large and impressive checkered seaside promenade. As luring as that may sound, Livorno is at the bottom of my list of favorite places I’ve visited. Now, it’s still Italy and charming, but in a country full of world class beauty and charm, this is one place I won’t be urging you to visit.

More Explore Italy posts:

Livorno in a nutshell

Location: Tuscany, Italy

Best known for: Its harbor, seafood, and seaside checkerboard-pattern promenade

Days needed to explore: 1+ - Livorno is small enough that a day trip is ample to explore this city.

What to see and do:

Terrazza Mascagni - the checkerboard promenade by the sea
Fortezza Vecchia - the old fortress standing at the edge of the Medici Port
Fortezza Nuova - the newer red brick fortress built during the Medici period to defend against pirate attacks
Quartiere Venezia - an area in the middle of the city made in the style of Venice, with canals, bridges, and such.
Il Mercato delle Vettovaglie - a large covered market with more than 200 booths of fish, fruit, vegetables and more to browse

Established: “Livorna” is first mentioned in 1071, and was inhabited by Etruscans, ruled by the Romans and Medici, and is now the capital city of the Province of Livorno.

Places to eat:

Da Gagarin di Chiappo Giuliano - for a typical Livornese snack, try the 5e5 “torta di ceci” or sandwich made with chickpeas
Il Frataio 1920 Antica Friggitoria - head to the friggitoria off of Piazza Cavalotti and follow your nose from there to get some fresh fried donuts

Typical foods to try:

Il Cacciucco - a very typical fish stew featuring inexpensive local fish varieties, cuttlefish, and octopus, to use up the “un-sellables” from the market.
Nettare di Capraia - a local amber colored honey
Torta di Ceci - the flat, savory chickpea cake typical to the region. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, it’s surprisingly satisfying!

Why I like Livorno

I like Livorno mostly because I don’t love Livorno. I know that makes no sense. Of all the places I’ve been to in Italy, I think Livorno would come the least recommended. And yet, I had such a good time here, and only good memories.

I originally wanted to see Livorno because I thought I had read another expat (Girl in Florence) writing about how well she liked Livorno, a good alternative to the ever busy Cinque Terre. I’m not sure if I mixed Livorno up with another town or I just completely missed her drift, but I found the two with very little in common aside from both being in Italy and both being on the coast.

Let me start by saying that I went on a day trip here. During the off season. On a Sunday. When it was rainy. If you could combine all of the elements to make an Italian city seem closed, those would be it. Tada, I managed to experience Livorno in as close to a closed, vacated, uninhabited state as possible, pre-Covid. So really, if you have been or decide to visit Livorno, it’s almost certain you will at least have a somewhat better impression than I do. You see, off season is nice, but in smaller towns it doesn’t always feel as full or fun. On Sunday, most businesses are closed. Then you add rain on top of that and ciao, nobody’s out and about.

We had a great time walking around, circling and circling trying to find somewhere, anywhere to eat. Laughing because nowhere was open. Trying to find a grocery or small store, anything, open. Laughing because of course they’re all closed on Sunday. Walking around to see what shops might be open. None, because it’s Sunday and it’s raining. Laughing some more. And of course, being Italy, when small shops are closed they often have those metal garage doors they pull down so you can’t even see what’s there normally, just a street of locked metal pull-down doors. Giggling some more at the wet, abandoned streets. Seeing some big building, probably important. Closed, and what a lovely fence around it. Not. Laughing some more. My biggest regret was not being able to visit the Mercato delle Vettovaglie. I had heard it was a great market, not so dissimilar from the Mercato Centrale in Florence that I love so well.

Now, the promenade is truly lovely, but I was also struck by how random it feels. The aquarium is just off to one side, with a gravel area around it, and the promenade just kinda starts. It goes on in all its elegance, then ends. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme to it. It feels like it deserves some beautiful gardens or walkways that lead up to it, not gravel and randomness. Perhaps in the summer when it’s not raining they have events or gatherings there.

Terrazza Mascagni looking out towards the Porto di Livorno

La Dolce Vita:

What to Pack When Moving to Italy

Explore Italy: Livorno

Explore Italy: Viareggio

Living in Italy: Ingredient Substitutions

38 Diaper Comparison

Thoughtfully Selecting a Maternity Wardrobe

The Birth Story of Miriam

What I Miss About Italy

Finding "Premaman" Maternity Clothes in Italy

The Birth Story of Elyas

Explore Italy: Naples

Explore Italy: Pisa

October 25, 2024

Sweet and Salty Chocolate Chip Cookies

October 25, 2024/ Jenny Morris

October 22, 2024

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

October 22, 2024/ Jenny Morris

When it comes to the retard, or overnight slow ferment in the fridge for sourdough, you might be wondering what to put your loaves in and how to cover them.

The best practice is to put them in banneton baskets or other similar proofing baskets, but other bowls or such can be used in a pinch, as long as the dough can easily be gotten out the next morning for baking. The dough is in its final shape at this point and shouldn’t have to be pried from a container or it will lose its shape. If you have some clean linen cloths, you can line your bannetons or bowls with those.

Now what to cover them with? Plastic? That is the first guess, since you usually want food well covered to retain freshness, flavor, and moisture.

Perhaps you’ve seen some of the sourdough bakers around covering their bannetons with cloths, rather than plastic. Is there anything to it? Wouldn’t your dough dry out if you cover it with just a cloth?

More Sourdough Experiments:

The 5-Minute Score Method

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

Using All-Purpose Flour vs. Bread Flour in Sourdough Bread

Covering dough with plastic

Many, maybe even most bakers I know cover their dough for the retard with plastic. Whether it’s a large ziploc bag, a grocery bag, a shower cap, or a plastic cover made specifically for covering bread dough, there are many different ways to effectively cover your dough with plastic.

You’ll want to keep the plastic from touching the dough to avoid it sticking, but other than that use what plastic you wish. I would stick with food grade plastic since it is in such close proximity to food and runs the risk of coming in direct contact with food. For this reason I’m a little leery of shower caps since they’re made of cheap and sketchy plastic, although the ones I’ve linked are supposed to be food grade. I would also double check grocery store bags to see if they are indeed food grade.

Plastic will keep your dough moister and stickier as it keeps in all the moisture. Depending on your dough hydration level and inclusions added, this may be beneficial or detrimental to your bread.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that plastic keeps in heat better, so if your dough is very warm or is verging on over proofed, avoid using plastic so the dough can cool down quicker in the fridge. I’ve seen an instance where a baker was bulk fermenting her dough very well, but during the cold retard her loaves were still managing to over ferment. It came to her attention that her loaves were over fermenting because she was covering them with plastic in the fridge! Once she switched to a different covering, her loaves were fine.

Covering dough with cloth

Whether or not you line your bannetons with cloth, you can also choose to cover your dough with cloth. You can use an elastic linen covering, or if you line baskets with a larger square cloth, just fold it over your dough to cover.

That last option is what I do. I might be in the minority, but I find it preferable. It’s not plastic, it uses just one cloth for lining and covering the dough, and it keeps my bannetons clean all at the same time. I also don’t have to worry about retained heat and possible over-proofing. Does my dough dry out? It forms a light skin, but it doesn’t seem to affect the bake or oven spring at all. Sometimes the cloth can leave some imprints in the top of the dough as it slowly rises in the fridge, if anything is pressing down on it. As you can see in the photos below, the cloth helped to smooth out the dough where the plastic-covered dough retained signs of shaping and “clasping” more.

A big part of the success of the cloth covering will be what type of air circulation your fridge has. If the air circulation includes fans and rapid moving air, you may find your loaves dry out excessively, too much for using just cloth. I’ve seen others perform a similar experiment where their loaf that was covered in cloth turned quite stunted compared to the loaf covered in plastic.

A Side-by-Side Experiment

My fridge doesn’t seem to dry out my loaves much. I baked two loaves side-by-side, one having done its retard in plastic and the other in linen. The results were basically the same. If anything, the cloth covered loaf did a touch better, but see for yourself in the photos.

Both loaves are identical in recipe and method. The inclusions are green olives and feta. Both were shaped with the tri-fold caddy clasp method.

dough covered in linen, after 12+ hour retard

dough covered in plastic, after 12+ hour retard

plastic covered loaf on the L, linen-covered on the R

So much of baking sourdough comes down to your own environment. As usual, I would encourage you to experiment yourself. Either try a different way of covering than you normally do to see the results, or do it side-by-side as shown in this post.

More Sourdough Features:

The 5-Minute Score Method

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

https://jennyblogs.com/blog/2024/10/7/pasta-ai-quattro-formaggi-allamericana-four-cheese-pasta

Using All-Purpose Flour vs. Bread Flour in Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Terminology

New Sourdough Series

Favorite Blueberry Muffins

Jenny's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

October 19, 2024

Avoiding the Sourdough Dark Bottom Crust

October 19, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Olive and Feta Loaf using the cookie sheet method for a lighter bottom crust

Sourdough is often synonymous with tough, crusty bread, big air holes that let butter and jam drip through, and burnt bottoms.

While the first two can certainly be true of sourdough bread, it does not have to be that way, and is usually done so by preference of the baker. However, I can’t say I’ve ever met a baker or sourdough consumer who raves about the dark, sometimes downright burnt, bottoms.

The dark bottom is a part of the beast of baking sourdough bread, as the bottom of the bread is in direct contact with the baking vessel in ovens at rather high temperatures for long periods of time. Fear not! There are several simple solutions to avoid this, and no need to have dark bottoms. You probably have all 3 main solutions right in your kitchen.

I’ve tried all 3 of the following bottom-crust savers, and all three are valid. Each has their pros and cons. You may find you prefer one method over the other, but that may not be the same as the next sourdough baker. I’d encourage you to go ahead and try them all to see which you like!

Cookie Sheet

Perhaps the simplest method of the three, all you have to do is place a cookie sheet below your dutch oven or baking vessel in the oven. You can place the cookie sheet on the rack below your dutch oven; the dutch oven does not have to be directly on the cookie sheet.

The photo you see here features two of my “Italiano” loaves using the cookie sheet method. Despite the color difference, they were both baked at the same time for the same length of time. The darker one has parmesan cheese and herbs in it, while the lighter has only herbs. I can also tell you, something about the lighting of the photo made the darker loaf look extra dark, almost too dark. But looking at it in real life, it actually looked nicely golden, not dark at all. So, that’s important to note, as well as different kinds of loaves will still get a bit more color when using the cookie sheet method.

(I knew of the cookie sheet trick long before I tried it, because I erroneously thought the dutch ovens had to be ON the cookie sheet. That wouldn’t work for me since I usually work with two dutch ovens side by side and wouldn’t quite fit on a single cookie sheet, and two cookie sheets don’t fit side by side in my oven. Ha.)

Pros: The cookie sheet method is great because most everyone has a cookie sheet, cookie sheets are reusable, and it works with a consistent level of color on the bottom without being too dark.

Cons: The cookie sheet method is not as great because it can potentially make your cookie sheets dark and stained, and if it’s not centered under your dutch oven part of the bottom crust can still over bake . I’ve had loaves where half was dark and half wasn’t, just because I didn’t realize the cookie sheet wasn’t under the entirety of my dutch oven.

If you bake sourdough frequently and enjoy this method, you could consider delegating an old, already stained cookie sheet to be the sourdough cookie sheet, or just get another cheap one for such a purpose.

Tinfoil

This method simply involves crumpling up some tinfoil to cover the bottom of the dutch oven. There is a bit of a learning curve, as you learn how big a piece of tinfoil to use and how much to crumple up.

If too little a piece is used or not crumpled enough, the bottom will darken all the same. If the tinfoil is crumpled too much, the bottom of the loaf may not darken or even develop a crust at all!

Once, when I exaggerated how much I crumpled the tinfoil, the bottom came out practically still as pale as the dough. The rest of the loaf was golden and baked perfectly, but the bottom was pale and sad. So, the tinfoil method can be taken too far!

Pros: The tinfoil method is great because most everyone has tinfoil, the tinfoil can be reused many times, and its effect is adjustable.

Cons: The tinfoil is not infinitely reusable, and results can be inconsistent depending on how the tinfoil is crumpled.

Rice

Another household staple that can be easily used to avoid dark bottoms. Sprinkle the bottom of the dutch oven with a handful or two of rice before lowering your sourdough into the oven. You’ll want to be sure to use parchment paper under your sourdough for this method, rather than a reusable silicone bread sling. Otherwise rice may attach and bake itself onto any bit of bread that is hanging over the sling.

You only need a handful of rice to start seeing results, but if you still want lighter bottoms you can use a bit more rice, 2-3 handfuls or enough to almost cover the bottom of the dutch oven.

Pros: Rice is a household staple, and the bottom color of crust is slightly customizable depending on how much rice you use.

Cons: Rice can only be reused a few times before it eventually becomes too dark and burned and must be tossed out. Depending on the amount of rice used, and how often it needs to be changed out, it may be the most expensive method. Not as friendly to use with reusable silicone bread slings.

More Tips for Avoiding Dark Bottom Crusts:

Consider lowering oven temperature. If you bake above 450°F / 232°C, this could be contributing to dark or extra dark bottoms. Play around with lower oven temperatures. The Sourdough Journey recently did an experiment with baking identical loaves at different temperatures, one at 450°F / 232°C, the other at 500°F / 260°C. I was pleasantly surprised to find his results showed improved oven spring with the loaf baked at 450°F / 232°C rather than at 500°F / 260°C, since I bake at 450°F / 232°C but had been wondering if I should be baking or rather preheating oven to 500°F / 260°C.
Check the quality of your parchment paper. Cheaper, thinner, parchment may contribute to darker bottoms. Look for “Heavy Duty” or “Professional Grade” rather than always the cheapest option.
Use a lighter pan. If baking in dark cast iron or similar baking vessels, try out something lighter in color, if possible. I use navy blue Tramontina brand dutch ovens, with light insides, and with any of the methods above, can still get very nice bottom crusts. I prefer to use a dark color for my breads, since they tend to get so spattered and stained up and are difficult to clean thoroughly. While the inside is light and gets stained, at least the outside hides any stains!

More Baking and Sourdough:

Favorite Blueberry Muffins

Morris House Rolls (Parker House Rolls)

Jenny's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

Flax Bread

Whole Wheat Garlic Knots

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Overnight Bagels

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Buttermilk Bread

Whole Wheat Bread

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Muffins

Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Bread

October 16, 2024

Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies

October 16, 2024/ Jenny Morris

October 12, 2024

Sourdough Tools: The Essentials for Beginners

October 12, 2024/ Jenny Morris

What are the tools you need to get started making your own sourdough bread at home?

Not much, honestly! Part of the beauty of sourdough is its simplicity. It’s extremely simple to make, needing only flour, water, salt, and some sourdough starter (which itself is made from just water and flour). There are many, many factors that will affect your bread, which is where it can get complicated and scientific, but it is a beautiful and addicting process that I hope you embark on and enjoy!

If you’re brand new to sourdough, maybe you’ve never made a loaf before or not even entirely sure what it is, I’ll walk you through what you need to get started. As already stated above, you probably already have everything!

Sourdough Ingredients:

Flour - either all-purpose flour or bread flour. Small percentages of whole wheat and other types of flour can be added in, as desired. For the sake of simplicity, it’s nice to start out with 1 - 2 flours.
Water - sourdough likes spring water, filtered purified water, bottled water…it doesn’t do as well on distilled water, tap water that has been treated, or hard water.
Salt
Sourdough starter - you can purchase one, find a friend who will share with you, or start your own. Soon I’ll put up a little guide to starting your own starter. It’s very simple, but sometimes can require a little troubleshooting. You only need flour and water.

Sourdough Tools

Getting Started

To make a basic loaf of sourdough bread, you’ll need:

a bowl for mixing
a kitchen scale*
something to cover the bowl with (plastic wrap, beeswax wrap, clean towel, etc)
a small workspace
parchment paper
an oven
oven mitts
a sharp knife
Dutch oven or similar enclosed baking vessel*

Simple, right? With these things, you can make sourdough bread. It is more than possible, and a good place to start before investing in more tools. It may not be the perfect loaves you see in bakeries or in pictures, but even if you start with allll the tools, your first loaves probably wouldn’t be perfect anyway.

*It IS possible to make sourdough without a scale or Dutch oven. However, the vast majority of recipes are by weight, as this is key to understanding sourdough. So while there are a few kind souls out there who have shared sourdough recipes that include weight and cups/teaspoon measurements, it is really worth getting a scale. You can find inexpensive ones for less than $15. Same goes for a dutch oven. Starting without one may offer more discouraging results than encouraging. Yes, you definitely can bake sourdough straight on a pizza stone, baking steel, or even a cookie sheet, but it’s trickier to get the proper amount of steam for optimal bread when you open bake like this. Starting with a dutch oven eliminates one more variable you may have to work with.

Not to mention, with both a scale and dutch oven, they are multi-purpose. Even if you don’t continue with sourdough bread, scales offer more consistent results for baking, and dutch ovens are wonderful for cooking.

If using a scale doesn’t appeal to you, for sourdough or any baking, consider reading this article to understand the benefits to baking with a scale.

There is not much between you and your first loaves of sourdough bread. Honestly, sourdough baking may seem intimidating, but if you can take that first step and simply try it, a whole new world of fun will be open to you, not to mention fresh, homemade, healthier bread.

Other kinds of bread:

Favorite Blueberry Muffins

Morris House Rolls (Parker House Rolls)

Jenny's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

Flax Bread

Whole Wheat Garlic Knots

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Overnight Bagels

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Buttermilk Bread

Whole Wheat Bread

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Muffins

Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Bread

October 09, 2024

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi all'Americana - Four Cheese Pasta

October 09, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi is an Italian dish, luxuriously creamy yet deceptively simple to make. It simply requires boiling pasta, melting four different cheeses into some milk, then tossing the pasta in the cheesy sauce. Voila. Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi.

Italian version coming soon.

This is essentially the same dish, but Americanized. Instead of simply melting cheese into milk, this version takes the roux route. A few more ingredients, a touch more time, but more foolproof and able to be more inexpensive. Allow me to elaborate.

More flexibility on the cheeses

Because the Italian version melts cheese straight into milk, you have to be more mindful of which cheeses you’re using lest you end up with gummy chunks of cheese in the sauce. The cheeses used are often taleggio, Parmigiano reggiano, gorgonzola, and gruyère. Other alternatives include brie, pecorino, grana padano, fontina, emmental, Edam, stracchino or robiola.

Do you know what all of those cheeses have in common? They are all specialty cheeses, highly unlikely to be found in the cheese aisle at any grocery store. If you’re lucky, your grocery store might have a specialty cheese section where you can find all or some of these. Otherwise you’ll have to go to a specialty cheese place to find them. This makes this dish both expensive and elusive to make.

Enter, the Americanized version. When you make a cheese sauce with a roux, it’s more forgiving of which cheeses you add. Now, I still wouldn’t be reaching for fresh mozzarella, but it frees you up to use a combination of four different cheeses that might not normally work in the Italian version.

That said, two cheeses that seem to be classic in quattro formaggi, whether it’s the pasta or the pizza: Gorgonzola and Parmigiano. Sure, use the American made parmesan (just not the plastic-y pre shredded or grated kind though, ok?) rather than exclusively Parmigiano, but still use some kind of real parmesan. The other two cheeses you can be more flexible with. Sometimes I’ll use Asiago or mozzarella (low moisture, not fresh), Monterey, cream cheese, or other inexpensive yet decent melting cheeses.

Pasta, I Love Thee:

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi all'Americana - Four Cheese Pasta

Simple Sesame Noodles

Shrimp Scampi

Herbed Six Cheese Pasta

Crispy Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts

Broccoli Cheddar Pasta

Greek Pasta Salad

Butternut Squash and Sage Pasta

Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Pasta

Garlic, Oil, and Pepper Pasta - Aglio, Olio, e Peperoncino

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

Spaghetti with Tuna - Spaghetti al Tonno

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi all’Americana

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 lb / 500g short pasta of choice
2 Tbsp / 28g butter
2 Tbsp / 15g all-purpose flour
2 cups / 474g milk
2 oz / 57g low-moisture mozzarella, shredded
2 oz / 57g parmesan, shredded
2 oz / 57g Gorgonzola crumbles
2 oz / 57g cream cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, generously salt; cook pasta according to package directions, just 1-2 minutes less than stated cooking time.
In a medium-large pot over medium heat, melt better. Add flour, stirring for 1-2 minutes until flour is absorbed and lightly toasted. Add about 1/4 cup of milk, whisking briskly. When milk is mixed in and mixture has thickened, add in another 1/4 cup milk, whisking constantly. Continue adding in milk slowly, whisking all the while. Bring to a simmer.
Add in cheeses and stir until melted and smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.
Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup water. Add pasta to cheese sauce and mix to evenly coat pasta. Add some reserved pasta water as desired, to thin out and create an even creamier sauce, mixing for a couple more minutes until sauce coats and clings to pasta.

Jenny’s Notes:

The four cheeses can be swapped out, however to stay tastefully close to the Italian version, keep the Parmesan and Gorgonzola.

Yield 4-6

Author Jennyblogs

Prep time

5 Min

Cook time

25 Min

Total time

30 Min

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi all’Americana

Four Cheese Pasta inspired by the Italian classic "Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi" with an American twist: made with a roux and cheeses that can be interchanged more easily. This dish is luxurious and cheesy, and easy enough for quick weeknight meals.

Cook modePrevent screen from turning off

Ingredients

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, generously salt; cook pasta according to package directions, just 1-2 minutes less than stated cooking time.
In a medium-large pot over medium heat, melt better. Add flour, stirring for 1-2 minutes until flour is absorbed and lightly toasted. Add about 1/4 cup of milk, whisking briskly. When milk is mixed in and mixture has thickened, add in another 1/4 cup milk, whisking constantly. Continue adding in milk slowly, whisking all the while. Bring to a simmer.
Add in cheeses and stir until melted and smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.
Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup water. Add pasta to cheese sauce and mix to evenly coat pasta. Add some reserved pasta water as desired, to thin out and create an even creamier sauce, mixing for a couple more minutes until sauce coats and clings to pasta.

Notes

The four cheeses can be swapped out, however to stay tastefully close to the Italian version, keep the Parmesan and Gorgonzola.

Nutritional information is approximate. Based on 4 servings.

four cheese pasta, quick easy weeknight meal, dinner party pasta, Italian cheese pasta, pasta ai quattro formaggi

dinner, pasta

Italian, American

Did you make this recipe?

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October 05, 2024

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

October 05, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Last updated October 8, 2024

Sourdough bread is delicious, but once you start playing with flavors and inclusions, a whole new world opens up. From cheddar jalapeño, pesto, or rosemary garlic, to double chocolate, lemon lavender or pumpkin, the options are endless.

The three main questions when it comes to inclusions are how much to add in, when to add them in, and how to add them in.

Sourdough Tips:

The 5-Minute Score Method

Sourdough Terminology

How much to add?

There is a general rule of adding not more than 20% of your flour weight in inclusions.

This is a good place to start, but certainly not where you have to stay. There is also confusion on this rule, as some say it’s 20% of the flour weight while a few say it’s 20% of the total dough weight. I actually read the latter way when I first started adding inclusions, and I must say everything turned out fine, for adding more than I was “supposed” to. Really fine, actually.

The best way to find out how much you should add is to try it out in your dough and environment with the inclusions you have in mind. You can start with 20% of flour weight, and work form there. Too much really only exists when your loaf starts getting too flat (for your tastes) or the flavor is too strong.

I noticed from the moment I learned the 20% rule that what seemed like every. Single. Recipe for flavored sourdough included more than the 20% rule, and I was really wondering why have a rule at all if everyone is going to break it anyway?

Cheddar Jalapeño with different percentage inclusions

I’ve played around with different percentages and found that I like 30% of flour weight. Anything above 30%, and my loaves start to get flatter than I prefer. Lower than 30%, and I don’t get enough of the inclusions. I like to use Kirkland’s (Costco) all-purpose flour (protein 11.5%) because it is organic, but I could probably push the inclusion percentage a bit more if I were to use King Arthur’s Bread Flour (protein content 12.7%). Stronger flours and lower hydrations can help hold more inclusions.

As with anything sourdough, there are many variables that go into this conclusion, so you’re welcome to try out 30% but also don’t be surprised if that’s not your favorite. It depends on what the inclusions are, how strong your flour is, how well the loaves are fermented, etc.

For some visuals, I baked off 4 different loaves, all cheddar jalapeño, but each with a different percentage of inclusions. First I went all out and did 48% and 36%, then another batch with 35% and 30%. I love lots of cheese in my bread, so didn’t prefer to go below 30%.

First batch with 48% and 36%:

Second batch with 35% and 30%:

Scoring to help differentiate between loaves: a wheat stalk with 3 spikes on each side and one with five on each side, for 35%. The 30% loaf had just one wheat stalk with three spikes.

It’s fairly easy to see the dough with the most inclusions is the flattest, while the dough with the least is the highest.

When to add in inclusions?

Inclusions can be added at 3 points, really. Which one you choose depends largely on what you are adding.

They can be mixed in right when you mix your dough.
This is best for smaller amounts or lighter inclusions, such as citrus zest, extracts, sugar, cocoa powder, etc. Heavier inclusions such as cheese chunks or even spices like cinnamon can have a negative effect on the bulk fermentation and it’s best to wait.
They can be added during bulk fermentation (during stretch and folds or coil folds)
I often do 4 sets of stretch and folds and find the sweet spot for adding in inclusions is the 2nd or 3rd set. This gives them time to get decently incorporated while still giving the dough a leg up in bulk fermentation. When I have too many things going and don’t get the inclusions added in until the 4th stretch and fold, the inclusions don’t get dispersed quite as well.
They can be added in during the shaping.
If you do a pre-shape, you can add them in then. If not, then you can add them in while you fold and roll your dough into its final shape, before placing it in its banneton.

For a small example of what it looks like to add inclusions in at different times and how that affects the final loaf, here are two loaves of pesto bread.

One has mixed the pesto in right at the beginning, with all the other ingredients.

The other, the pesto is laminated in instead of doing a 4th set of stretch and folds.

Lamination created a bit of a swirl effect, but it was harder to work with. Any time the oily pesto would pop through during shaping, the dough wouldn’t want to hold its shape, and it was difficult to shape it with the proper surface tension. You can see that I had difficulty shaping it by it’s slightly flatter profile, compared to the other loaf.

Mixing pesto in at the beginning creates a loaf with pesto evenly distributed, and was much easier to work with. In fact, the oil in the pesto getting mixed straight in even made the crumb a bit more tender, and was really lovely.

Taste overall was very similar, but for ease of making and the extra tender crumb, I would definitely just mix pesto straight in at the beginning rather than laminating.

While this is certainly not indicative of all inclusions, it’s a small insight into when and how you add inclusions can affect the final loaf.

How to Incorporate Inclusions?

How you incorporate inclusions depends on when you add them.

If making a chocolate espresso loaf, for example, you’d just mix in cocoa powder and espresso at the same time you’re kneading everything else together for your dough.

Otherwise, for chunkier things like cheese, fruit, etc, you can add them in during stretch and folds/coil folds as mentioned above or you can laminate them in.

To add during stretch and folds:

Start by sprinkling about a 1/4 of the inclusions over your dough in the bowl, then performing one stretch and fold/coil fold, stretching dough over inclusions and gently pressing dough into dough in other side to seal it shut. Sprinkle another 1/4 of inclusions on top and repeat a stretch and fold. Continue two more times until all inclusions have been added and each side has been stretched and folded.

If performing coil folds, it’s a similar idea, adding a little at a time while you pick up and coil your dough down, doing your best to get the inclusions evenly dispersed.

To add during lamination:

Lamination is a technique used in sourdough to strengthen the dough and is a great time to add in inclusions.

Spreading pesto over dough before folding back up

Start by lightly misting a clean workspace, then stretching the dough in as large and thin a rectangle as you can, being careful not to tear the dough. Evenly sprinkle inclusions over dough, then fold dough several times to get a tight and neat little ball again.

Lamination is my favorite way to get evenly distributed inclusions. I enjoy the lamination process, but it does take a bit extra work to clean a work space before and after rather than just adding the inclusions straight into the bowl with the dough for a stretch and fold. Lamination also isn’t as friendly when working with large batches of dough.

Tips for success when adding inclusions:

Play around with the percentage you like. It might not be the same for all inclusions!
If your loaf is going flat, you might have exaggerated with the amount of inclusions. Otherwise, rule out any other factors such as a weak starter, under or over fermented dough, lack of proper gluten development, lack of proper shaping, etc.
Using a stronger flour (higher protein content) can help to hold inclusions better.
Keep in mind that some inclusions will add moisture to your dough. You may want to lower dough hydration accordingly. I find great success with lowering hydration to under 70% when working with heavier and wetter inclusions such as cheese and fruit.
Some inclusions will affect the fermentation. Fruit and sugar will cause dough to ferment faster, so start checking your dough earlier than you normally would.
Try to keep inclusion chunks away from the outside of the dough when it bakes, otherwise they can burn. This is especially true of sugary things like fruit, dried fruit, chocolate chips, etc. You can help this by simply sticking any outside pieces back under and into the dough when doing the pre and/or final shape.
I would recommend against using silicone bread slings for sourdough with any kind of messy inclusions, and stick with parchment paper. The slings are designed to just barely cover the bottom of loaves, avoiding leaving any kind of indentations on the bread. However, the edges of the loaf then often come into contact with the dutch oven, which can bake cheese, fruit juices, etc. right onto your dutch oven. Not fun to clean. Using parchment paper will skip the mess and keep your dutch ovens cleaner.

If you've read this far:

The 5-Minute Score Method

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

Using All-Purpose Flour vs. Bread Flour in Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Terminology

New Sourdough Series

Favorite Blueberry Muffins

Jenny's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

October 02, 2024

Explore Italy: Viareggio

October 02, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Last updated November 3, 2024

Viareggio is an active town on the coast of Tuscany synonymous with beaches and Carnevale. This is the place to go for one of the largest Carnevale celebrations in Italy and beyond.

More Explore Italy posts:

Viareggio in a nutshell

Location: Tuscany

Best known for: Seaside access and beaches, Carnevale

Days needed to explore: 1+ Most people go to Viareggio for the beach or Carnevale, not so much the town. If you do explore the city, a day is plenty, but then again, one beach day might not be enough. In that case Viareggio is always an option to stay and take day trips from.

What to see and do: Viareggio is a very popular destination or seaside “escape” from the cities during the summer. In the late winter Viareggio hosts one of the largest and most lavish Carnevale celebrations in Italy.

Established: Viareggio is first mentioned by name in the 12th century, regarding a wooden tower built along the sea as a means of defense. It sprung up in importance when it became the sole sea port of for the Republic of Lucca in the 16th century. It was during this time that the Lucchesi built the still-present Torre Matilde to help defend against pirates.

Viareggio’s history is speckled with hardships, from originally being very marshy with mosquitos and malaria running rampant, battles and pillages, and the pestilence, to a large part of the city burning down in 1917, to being bombed during World War II. Despite all of this, Viareggio has always rallied and is today well known for its lavish Carnevale festivities as well as its beautiful beaches.

Typical foods to try:

Tordelli - derivative of tortelli, which are very, very similar to ravioli. Fillings can vary but the sauce is always a meat sauce
Scarpaccia - a zucchini cake that is so named for resembling an old shoe. There are two varieties, sweet and savory, but it is the sweet or “dolce” version that is purely Viareggina
Cacciucco alla Viareggina - a very typical fish stew featuring inexpensive local fish varieties, cuttlefish, and octopus
Pasta alla Trabaccolara - a poor man’s dish using more of those inexpensive fish varieties: Red mullet, scorpion fish, European Hake, and others.
Spaghetti con le Arselle / Spaghetti con i Nichi - spaghetti with wedge shells (small clams)

Why I like Viareggio

Viareggio reminds me of sunburns and crowded beachs, a little mini adventure/escape from the hot cement city to the salty seaside.

I grew up in Michigan, just a few minutes drive from Lake Michigan where the water is as many shades of blue as the Mediterranean, so I am no stranger to beautiful water and beaches. Ironically, I’ve never been much of a beach person, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like my key beach days each summer. Florence has no beach, and while there are lakes just a short drive away, not having a car meant the quickest way to get to the beach was taking the 45 minute train to Viareggio. This is close enough to make it feel attainable, yet far enough that it usually happens just once or twice a summer, realistically.

Viareggio is mostly private beach, meaning you have to pay to get in. The public sections are mostly a part of the National Park. Most go for the private anyway, and if you want to experience the beach like the Italians, you should try the pay-for-beach at least once. It’s usually somewhere around 30euro per umbrella, which comes with two beach chairs. If you have more than 2-3 people in your party, plan to pay for multiple umbrellas. Rate is for the whole day, however long you plan to stay. Note the picture above, as you may not be all that close to the beach. A boardwalk will take you down to the sea, often with a little faucet where you can rinse sand off before heading back to your umbrella. There are designated areas for changing. It’s still hard for me to pay for a spot on the beach, but Viareggio is a very Italian experience that feels like an adventure.

More than half the beaches in Vaireggio are private, but there are some free public beaches. One such free beach, is Spiaggia alla Lecciona inside the natural reserve. I’ve read there is a path, stroller friendly, through the pine forest to the beach. However, getting there requires a car, so not an option if you take the train from say, Florence. I believe there are some other free beaches, but they’re often overcrowded or not as easy to get to, so even for someone like me who loathes paying for water access,it becomes inevitable to pay to keep a beach day as relaxing as possible.

Overall, while I in no way dislike Viareggio, it is not amongst my favorites. I’ve been a couple times during the summer, and I think it would be interesting to go during Carnevale. Other than that, it’s checked off my list and there are many other places in Italy that I enjoy more than Viareggio and many, many others I would still like to see.

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September 28, 2024

Is an Autolysis Necessary for Sourdough Bread?

September 28, 2024/ Jenny Morris

When I first started making sourdough loaves at home, I wanted to have as much success as possible right from the get go, so I started by using as many techniques and tricks as I could, rather than starting with a basic recipe and adding in techniques as needed. Spoiler alert, my bread wasn’t perfect, and I ended up working in the opposite direction. Rather than adding in more things to make my bread better, I started taking out certain steps and techniques one by one, to see if they were really serving their purpose, or just wasting my time.

One such technique was the autolyse method. Some of the people I respect most in the sourdough world use an autolysis. So I did, too. It wasn’t until one day, reading another respected sourdough person who went off on a bit of a rant, that they claimed that autolyse isn’t necessary, and in fact they do not recommend it. As they said, autolysis is a process developed and intended for breads made with commercial yeast, whose rise time is shorter and would benefit from an autolysis. Since sourdough bread has much longer fermentation times, autolysis isn’t as beneficial, or so this person was saying. I haven’t been able to locate any one reliable source that states anything as clearly as “autolysis was developed for commercial bread products and yeast, not so much sourdough”, but let’s run with it for the purpose of this mini experiment.

This intrigued me, and in a way, relieved me. I’ve heard many a baker explain and laud the praises of an autolysis, and yet, I secretly did not enjoy the autolysis process. It just felt…cumbersome. Adding on more time. Harder to mix the dough. More on that later.

King Arthur has an interesting article on using an autolysis, including experiments with both sourdough and instant yeast. Their article tends to give confirmation toward an autolysis being the most beneficial for commerical yeast over sourdough.

On the other hand, Maurizio of The Perfect Loaf does a similar experiment, but with his loaves showing a marked difference with autolyse. He also really gets more into the science of autolysis and explains it very well.

What is an autolysis?

Autolysis (noun) - Autolyse (verb)

Simply, an autolysis is simply mixing flour and water together and letting them sit for a period of time. The water helps to activate some of the enzymes in the flour, developing gluten, before adding other ingredients which can have an effect on gluten. Adding salt “tightens” the dough, and adding the starter commences fermentation. When just flour and water are combined, they are free to act in a way they otherwise wouldn’t when salt and starter are present.

While I had already been wanting to experiment and see what the difference might be between a loaf that got an autolysis and one that didn’t, I felt spurred into action when that knowledgeable sourdough person said they don’t recommend autolysis. Now I knew that, should I decide to not always faithfully autolyse, I wouldn’t be alone in that camp.

I’ve now done this experiment two separate times. In my first experiment the result didn’t feel overly conclusive to me, as there were several other factors going on that affected the fermentation and bake. It didn’t feel safe to say one way or another if the autolysis was the reason for the differing outcomes, but now that I’ve done this experiment twice, I feel a little safer in sharing my results.

Before we finally get into my little mini experiment, a couple of things to note:

Sourdough is highly dependent on environment, ingredients, etc. so while I hope you find the results below interesting and informative, I would encourage you to do your own experiments for your own kitchen environment!
The results below are tested solely on unbleached white flours. One of the benefits of autolysis is that it can help break down bran, so may show more benefits in breads that use some percentage of whole grain flours.

Autolyse vs No Autolyse #1

Method:

Both loaves were made with 100% Kirkland organic all-purpose flour, 71% hydration, 1.6% salt, 20% starter.
For the autolyse loaf, water and flour were mixed together and let rest for 1 hour before adding in salt and starter.
For the No-autolyse loaf, all ingredients were mixed together.
Both loaves got 3 sets of stretch & folds
Autolyse loaf temped at 74°F, while No-autolyse loaf was at 77°F after the 1st set of stretch & fold and 75°F by the end of all stretch & folds.
Both loaves bulk fermented for 8 hours, pre-shaped for 35 minutes, then final shape for 35 minutes before into fridge for cold retard overnight.
Both loaves were baked in dutch ovens in oven preheated to 450°F for 35 minutes with lid on.

Observations:

Mixing the Flour and Water for the autolysis is not my favorite. I don’t enjoy using the autolysis technique when making bread for this reason. Unless working with high hydration doughs, which I don’t often go higher than 75%, it takes a few minutes to adequately mix the flour and water. Usually a bit of water is reserved from the autolysis to help mix in the salt after the autolysis is done. This means you’re mixing the dough without it having its full hydration, thus a stiffer dough. Then after autolyse, trying to mix just salt, a bit of water, and starter into an already formed and fairly stiff dough is not easy and may not get mixed in as well.

The Autolyse Loaf gets an advantage in gluten development. Because of the thorough mixing just mentioned above in order to incorporate all ingredients after the autolysis, the dough gets a leg up in gluten development. The No-autolyse loaf dough comes together easily and thus doesn’t require the same amount of mixing. During the stretch & folds this was quite apparent, with the Autolyse dough already showing good gluten-development and the No-autolyse loaf still being quite loose and elastic. By the end of the third stretch & fold set, however, the doughs felt quite similar; the No-autolyse loaf had mostly caught up.

Despite Bulk Fermentation starting at the same time for both doughs, they were not the same temperature. The reason for this is simple, and I really should’ve taken this into account for this experiment. I was using water that was slightly warmer than room temperature. When the bulk of the water is added for an autolysis, the time the dough is resting allows the water to cool to room temp, so by the time you add the starter and bulk ferment starts, everything is nicely at room temperature. Without doing an autolysis, the warmer water is added right in with the starter and all other ingredients, so the dough and bulk ferment temperature starts a bit warmer, although it will inevitably cool to room temperature over time. Because of this, my doughs had differing temperatures and thus different projected bulk ferment times.

Both loaves slightly over-fermented. Using the wisdom and work of Tom Cucuzza from the Sourdough Journey, I usually reference his chart for bulk fermentation times and rise %, although my starter does tend to ferment slightly faster than said chart. Despite my (even written down) projected bulk ferment times for each dough and times to start checking them, time got away from me and my three young children were needing me. By the time I was able to get to the dough it was already almost 2 hours after when I had originally planned to start checking the dough, and 1 hour after the realistic time of when it probably would have been ready. I pre-shaped both doughs at the same time since they were both already slightly over, with the No-autolyse being a little more over-fermented than the Autolyse dough.

Conclusion:

Despite some of the above noted variables, I loosely concluded that including an autolysis did not provide a noticeable difference in end product due to over-fermenting the dough. I decided to repeat this experiment, and specifically to get the doughs fermenting at the same temperature with a better targeted bulk ferment so it might be more obvious the effect of autolyse on the crumb rather than fermentation problems.

Autolyse vs. No-Autolyse Experiment #2

Method:

Both loaves were made with 100% Kirkland organic all-purpose flour, 71% hydration, 1.6% salt, 20% starter.
For the autolyse loaf, water and flour were mixed together and let rest for 1 hour before adding in salt and starter.
For the No-autolyse loaf, all ingredients were mixed together.
Both loaves received 2 sets of stretch & folds.
Autolyse Loaf temped at 77°F at beginning of bulk ferment, 75°F by end of second set of stretch & folds, then 76°F again at end of bulk ferment.
No-Autolyse Loaf temped at 76°F at beginning of bulk ferment, 75°F by end of second set of stretch & folds, then 78°F by end of bulk ferment.
Both loaves bulk fermented for a total of 6 hours 10 minutes. Autolyse loaf had a rise of approximately 70% while the Autolyse loaf rose approximately 45-50%. (Very much eyeballing that, so take that with a grain of salt.)
Both loaves were pre-shaped and rested for 20 minutes, then final shape into bannetons, rested 10 minutes, and into fridge for cold retard overnight.
Both loaves were baked in dutch ovens in oven preheated to 450°F for 35 minutes with lid on.

Autolyse Loaf (wheat design to mimic an "A" for Autolyse, if you will

No-Autolyse Loaf, wheat design mimicking an "n"

Observations:

Intersetingly, temperatures varied quite a bit between the 2 loaves. Despite being very careful this time around to use all ingredients at room temperature, the temperature varied not only between the two loaves but also at different times. Sure, it’s late summer so my kitchen ends up a few degrees warmer by mid and end of day, but the two loaves did not reflect this consistently. This leaves me with more questions unanswered than answered.

Why did the Autolyse Loaf end up 1 degree warmer still at start of bulk ferment? You would think, if perhaps the water from the measuring cup I was using was 1 degree warmer, the 1 hour that the dough sits to autolyse would be more than enough to bring the dough to room temperature. And IF the water was 1 degree warmer, the No-Autolyse Loaf would have ended up the 1 degree warmer since it gets all of its water at the beginning of bulk ferment. Not to mention, I used a large measuring cup of water, measured out for the Autolyse Loaf, and that water also sat out on the counter for an hour. It doesn’t get any more room temperature than that!

Moreso, why did the No-Autolyse Loaf end up a few degrees warmer by end of bulk ferment? The two bowls were side by side, no drafts or sun or any other factor that I am aware of would have heated up or cooled down one dough over the other. The Autolyse Loaf maintained temperature at 76°F while the No-Autolyse Loaf increased temperature by 3 degrees during bulk ferment. Fascinating. Its rise clearly reflected the warmer temperature, as it was significantly puffier than the Autolyse Loaf.

Despite the difference in rise % between the two loaves, I ended bulk ferment at the same time. I was trying to maintain absolute consistency between these loaves in method, rather than guessing different bulk ferments, pulling them at different times based on rise, temperature, and time. The bulk ferments were intended to be identical after all, as the doughs were made identically save autolyse, but the temperature fluctuations threw me for a loop!

The crumb ended up quite similar. Noting the difference in rise % and temperature between the two doughs, they still ended up with a very similar crumb. Reading the crumb and trying to ignore that information, I would not have guessed that.

Crumbshot, No-Autolyse Loaf on left, Autolyse loaf on Right

The Autolyse Loaf ended up with a slightly wonky shape. While overall I don’t think it has too much bearing on this experiment, it still bears noting. As you can see in the overhead shot of the Autolyse Loaf both before and after baking, its shape is not symmetrical. This is possibly due to shaping error, or also likely, the linen lining the banneton was pressing into the dough on one side and left an impression. I tend to think this caused the rise during the cold retard to more easily expand on the side where the linen wasn’t holding it down.

Conclusion:

Four loaves of bread is hardly conclusive. Again, and always with sourdough, there are variabilities. My home kitchen is not temperature controlled, sometimes life and children pull me away, among so many other nuances. However, I still enjoyed this experiment and thought you might find it interesting as well, so I thought it still worth sharing.

Overall, I think I will find myself skipping autolysis more often now, but will still include it in some instances.

Happy baking, friends!

You've read this far? Impressive! You might also like these:

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https://jennyblogs.com/blog/2024/9/20/homemade-buttermilk-ranch-dressing

Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi all'Americana - Four Cheese Pasta

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

September 25, 2024

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

September 25, 2024/ Jenny Morris

Last Updated September 28, 2024

Ranch. The quintessential American dressing and dip. It’s white and creamy, tangy, and flavorful from the herbs and garlic.

Many Americans use Ranch on everything from their pizza and chicken tenders to their vegetables and salads. Some feel very strongly about it, they must have it to eat certain foods. In Italy, I had some American friends who would always request big jugs of Ranch if anyone was coming over to visit them.

Once when I was in Austria in a supermarket, I saw some bottles of salad dressing, one of which was named “American.” Why of course, if in America we have Italian dressing, French dressing, then other countries would have an American dressing. And yes, it was white and creamy so I can only surmise that it was some version of Ranch.

I like Ranch, but have never really understood the hype around it. I’d rather eat my pizza and taste pizza rather than eat pizza and taste Ranch, you know? Especially when you look at the ingredients in a bottle of Ranch or even Ranch packets that you make at home, the ingredients are not the best.

That’s where homemade Ranch comes into play. Not only is it super simple to make, but you know exactly what ingredients are going into your dressing, and it tastes fresher and better. After making this, you may never go back to store-bought again!

Use Ranch on salads, as a dip for vegetables, and yes, even on your pizza or however you like it best! I just made a quart of this the other day and mixed some with Frank’s Hot Sauce as a dressing for some buffalo pasta salad, yum!

Recipe from my mama

More make-ables:

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Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

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Ingredient Substitutions

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch

Makes about 1 quart

2 cups mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp finely chopped fresh dill

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a quart jar or container with a lid and shake well to combine.
Serve or refrigerate.

Yield 24

Author Jennyblogs

Prep time

10 Min

Total time

10 Min

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch

Creamy, tangy, homemade Ranch is healthier than its store-bought counterpart and as simple as mixing together 7 ingredients.

Cook modePrevent screen from turning off

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a quart jar or container with a lid and shake well to combine.
Serve or refrigerate.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

133.34

Fat

14.29 g

Sat. Fat

2.37 g

Carbs

0.64 g

Fiber

0.01 g

Net carbs

0.62 g

Sugar

0.6 g

Protein

0.51 g

Sodium

226.03 mg

Cholesterol

8.94 mg

Nutritional information is approximate. Based on 24 servings of approximately 2 Tbsp each.

homemade buttermilk ranch dressing, ranch veggie dip, creamy American dressing, tangy vegetable dip

snack, condiment

American

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September 22, 2024

Using All-Purpose Flour vs. Bread Flour in Sourdough Bread

September 22, 2024/ Jenny Morris

When it comes to making sourdough bread, does it matter if you’re using all-purpose flour or bread flour?

Simple answer: yes.

Longer answer. It depends.

It comes down to the protein content in bread, how much gluten can be developed, and how much hydration it can handle. Not all flours that parade under the name “all-purpose” are equal, nor are all flours that parade under the name “bread flour” equal.

It also depends on what you want out of your bread. Different flours will yield different results, but that doesn’t necessarily make them “bad.”

If any of the terms in this article feel foreign or you’ve just forgotten what they mean, check out this article on Sourdough Terminology, in alphabetical order.

Bread Recipes:

Favorite Blueberry Muffins

Morris House Rolls (Parker House Rolls)

Jenny's Favorite Cinnamon Rolls

Flax Bread

Whole Wheat Garlic Knots

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Overnight Bagels

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Buttermilk Bread

Whole Wheat Bread

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Muffins

Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Protein content in flour

The main difference between flours of different names is their protein content. The higher the protein content, the stronger the flour, and usually the better for making bread. In the US we have basically five different categories of flour, as far as protein content goes:

Cake flour is the most delicate flour, usually with a protein content of 5-9%. It is made with soft red or white wheat of a fine grind.
Pastry flour is another more delicate flour with a lower protein content, 8-10%. This flour will give you flaky and tender pie crusts, cakes, etc. It is made from soft red or white wheat with a fine grind.
All-purpose flour is more middle of the road with a moderate protein content, anywhere from 8-12%. Can be used for the widest range of baked goods while still yielding good results, if not always the most tender crusts or highest rising breads. All-purpose is made from hard red wheat or a blend of hard and soft wheats.
Bread flour has a higher protein content, 11-13% and suitable for breads where you want higher rises and higher hydration levels. It is milled usually from hard spring wheat.
High-protein bread flour is bread flour with the highest protein contents, 13 or 14% or higher, best for pushing the limits for high hydration breads and open crumbs. It is milled from hard spring wheat.

There doesn’t seem to be an industry standard for flours, at least here in the States, as you can see with the percentage range for each kind of flour.

Even when using the same kind of flour from the same brand there can be noticeable discrepancies when baking bread with different bags of flour.

While variabilities exist across some brands, others are just as good at maintaining consistency. A good example of this would be King Arthur. Their protein content is proudly labeled on each bag of flour, tested, and trusted by consumers, myself included.

There is also an overlap with all-purpose and bread flour. Some all-purpose flours have a higher protein content than bread flour. At the end of the day, it’s more important to know what the protein content of the flour you’re using is than if it’s labeled as all-purpose or bread flour.

Another thing to consider is where in the world you are. For example, I’ve heard from some Canadians that their all-purpose flour is consistently around 13% or even higher in protein. That’s better than most bread flours here in the US! Let’s not even get into trying to buy flour in certain other countries, where they sell flour more by variety and grind than labeling it for its purpose. That’s how flour is sold in Italy, and I had a lot to learn about flour when I first moved there! I couldn’t even bake off a simple batch of chocolate chip cookies without first learning about soft and hard wheat and grind 00, etc…and in another language. If you find yourself in a similar situation, I wrote a couple articles on that to decipher the flours in Italy, and honestly, it’s not bad information to know if you’re really going to get into bread making and understanding how flours work beyond labels. This one will walk you down the flours that are sold in Italy, while this one walks you through the kinds of wheat grown.

Which to Use for Making Sourdough?

If you’ve been making sourdough bread and are happy with your results, then it probably doesn’t matter so much which one you’re using.

However, if you’re looking for a higher oven spring, a rounder belly, a stronger dough to hold inclusions, or wanting to play with higher hydration doughs, you should consider trying a flour with a higher protein content.

Loaf made with Bread Flour (L) and Loaf made with AP Flour (R)

The Side by side comparison

For a visual, I made two loaves of sourdough side by side, identical in every way, except for one uses all-purpose flour and the other uses bread flour.

The process went like this:

One loaf used exclusively Kirkland Signature Organic all-purpose flour (Costco brand, 11.5% protein content). The other loaf used King Arthur Bread Flour (12.7% protein content.)
72% hydration, 20% starter, 1.6% salt
All ingredients were mixed well together for each loaf.
30 minute rest, then 4 sets of stretch and folds every 30 minutes.
Bulk ferment lasted a total of 7 hours 20 minutes with dough temperature starting at 75°F / 24°C at the beginning and trending downwards at 73°F / 23°C by the end of stretch and folds.
Pre-shape for 20 minutes, then final shape before placing into fridge for retard overnight.
Next morning, baked loaves in oven preheated to 450°F / 232°C with dutch ovens for 35 minutes with lids on and steam.

As you can see in the photos, the end result immediately gives away that the bread flour loaf got a better oven spring, a bigger and smoother belly.

The AP loaf, while not ugly, is a little lower, a little flatter. If you look at the belly, you can see signs where the dough tore, spreading more sideways than fully upwards. The gluten just couldn’t be built up quite strong enough to get the same rise as the bread flour.

As far as working with the dough, I could see similar tearing happening even from the beginning. While doing stretch and folds, the bread flour dough came together smoothly and beautifully. The AP dough, while still smooth, would show signs of micro tears as I was working with it. It’s possible the Kirkland organic AP would do better with a slightly lower hydration, but these loaves aren’t high hydration by any means, 72%.

The crumb is curiously different, with the bread flour loaf having a few larger bubbles. I liked the evenness of the AP crumb.

As far as these two loaves go in this mini experiment, the bottom line is they were both delicious loaves of homemade bread. It would be up to you to decide if you prefer the more aesthetic, higher rise of the bread flour, or if you put more importance on eating organic flour, for about the same price.

More Sourdough Stuff:

The 5-Minute Score Method

Cold Retard: Does It Matter How the Dough Is Covered?

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread