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

Sourdough Tools, in alphabetical order:

Baking Shell

Not essential, but a lighter alternative to a dutch oven

A baking shell is meant to be placed over the shaped dough while baking in the oven. It helps keep in steam, recreating the ideal environment for sourdough bread to expand and bake well. It can be used instead of a dutch oven.

A baking shell is lighter and potentially easier to store. It costs about the same as a decent dutch oven so won’t save you any money, and different shaped loaves need different shaped baking shells, boule or batard.

Baking steel

Not essential, but could be useful, especially if you already have one

A baking steel is a large piece of food-grade steel designed to be placed in an oven and baked on directly, often used in place of a baking stone. Steel conducts heat more quickly into the product being baked on it, which can be beneficial or detrimental, depending on what is being baked. It preheats quicker than a stone, and is also more expensive.

You can read more about baking steels vs. baking stones on Serious Eats.

While you can bake bread on a baking steel, the quicker conductivity of heat can mean bottoms of bread getting darker quicker, which is not ideal since this is already a problem with sourdough bread loaves.

While making sourdough bread on a baking steel can certainly be done, it was not necessarily made with sourdough loaves in mind, and there may be a learning curve to using it. It also would mean open-baking loaves, unless you have a special loaf-covering lid, such as the Brod & Taylor Baking Shell (see below).

Baking stone

Not essential, useful for open baking

Baking stone, or pizza stones, are a very useful tool for open baking sourdough bread. A large one will allow you to bake 2 or more loaves at the same time.

Open baking on a baking stone can prove to be more challenging than baking in a dutch oven since it can be harder to get adequate steam.

Read “The 4 Best Pizza Stones” on Serious Eats.

Bannetons / Brotforms / Proofing Baskets

Essential

Bannetons are special baskets for proofing sourdough in its final shape. It helps the dough to keep its shape before being tipped out and scored just before baking. They’re often made of rattan, which is breathable and helps the dough to form a slight skin. This in turn helps the dough keep its shape and makes scoring easier.

Bannetons come in different sizes and shapes, primarily round and oval, depending on if you plan on making boules or batards. Bannetons can also come in different materials, such as silicone, pressed wood pulp, plastic, cotton rope, and beyond. A word to the wise, make sure you’re putting the correct amount of dough for the size of bannetons you have.

I prefer the rattan bannetons, as they’re made from natural materials, are easy to clean, and offer excellent results for proofing bread.

For a budget option, I have seen quite a few sourdough bakers use these wicker baskets. They’re much cheaper, but they also tend to come in larger packs. If you don’t plan on baking more than 1 or 2 loaves at a time, I’d go with the more ethically made, higher quality rattan baskets than getting a large number of cheaper baskets.

Basket liners

Not essential, but very convenient

Basket liners can be as simple as cotton or linen kitchen cloths, or elasticized to fit specific sizes and shapes of proofing baskets. Liners keep your baskets clean, and help prevent sticking. Especially with doughs with inclusions, liners keep clean up very easy.

Using a square or rectangular cloth is more versatile, can be used with varying size and shapes of bannetons, and if large enough, can be folded over the dough and be used as a liner and cover, all in one.

Elasticized covers are quick and easy if you don’t prefer to line the baskets. Elasticed covers come in cloth or plastic. I know several people who use disposable shower caps. A word of caution on those, as you would want to check that the shower caps are food grade plastic, or just spring for “shower caps” that are made with bread in mind, and thus made of food grade plastic. But again, why use plastic when you don’t have to? Reusable covers are easy to wash and easy to use.

Bench scraper

Not essential, but very handy

A bench scraper is an indispensable tool you will find in just about any bread bakery. It effortlessly cuts through sticky bread dough with minimal stickiness. Whether or not you choose to invest in one for your home might depend on how often you bake bread and how often you need to divide it. If you regularly bake just one loaf, a bench scraper might not be overly appreciated. If you make 2 or more loaves regularly, or bread rolls, bagels, or any recipe that divides the dough into many pieces, the bench scraper will be your new best friend.

Another big benefit to a bench scraper is that it helps to clean your counter. Dried dough bits, sticky dough bits, flour, all can be effortlessly scraped off in a few seconds rather than fighting them with a cloth or sponge.

Bowl scraper

Not essential, but handy

A bowl scraper is a thin, flexible piece of plastic used to help scrape dough cleanly out of bowls. It is quicker, more efficient, and easier to clean than other tools.

Bread Proofing Mat

Not essential, but can be handy

Bread heating pads can help starter or dough to rise quicker. This can be nice in colder environments where fermentation slows down greatly and you don’t have a proofing setting on your oven. Mats often have a temperature range of 70°-120°F.

If you find yourself unable to settle into a schedule that works for you with longer fermentation, the bread proofing mat could be a good option.

Bread Knife

Essential

A good bread knife with a serrated edge will make your life so much easier when it comes to slicing bread, especially sourdough loaves with their hardy crust. It doesn’t have to be any of those fancier knives that some sourdough bakers use, although it could be. A classic quality bread knife will do the trick.

Bread Slicer

Not Essential

A bread slicer is a contraption similar to a deli slicer, but intended for bread.

It would be very handy for someone slicing large amounts of bread, but I just don’t slice enough bread to justify even thinking of getting this tool. I know of some who are just enthralled with theirs, but it honestly feels a bit silly to me. Maybe I’ll warm up to the idea.

Bread Sling

Not essential, but can be handy

Bread slings are nice to bake your breads on because they reduce waste and ensure parchment paper doesn’t crunch up around the loaf, leaving an imprint as it bakes.

Bread slings are not as nice for breads with inclusions (inclusions can leak out and stick to Dutch oven or baking vessel), if you prefer to use rice under your loaves to prevent sticking (rice can then stick to the edges of your loaf), or if the loaves end up over proofed or poorly shaped (will spread too much to easily transfer to Dutch oven.)

Bread slings were one of those tools I thought I would like more than I do. It’s not that they’re bad, but I love breads with inclusions and I don’t want to have to soak and scrub my Dutch ovens each time I use a bread sling. I much prefer to use a rectangle of parchment paper to easily keep any leakage contained, and easily thrown away.

Cloche

Not essential, but some prefer over a Dutch oven

A cloche is a cast iron baking vessel that can be used for baking sourdough bread. It can also be called an inverted Dutch oven. The Challenger cloche is a commonly used brand and frequently referred to as simply a “Challenger” rather than a cloche.

Cloches can bake bread, pizza, chicken, and more. They are very similar in idea to Dutch ovens. If you already have one, no need to get the other. If you’re deciding between them, Dutch ovens offer more versatility since they can cook soups, risotto, pasta and so much more. On the other hand, baking bread in hot ovens can be hard on the baking vessel, so it’s not a bad idea to have a bread-designated baking vessel (a separate Dutch oven or cloche) so as not to stain, say, your nice Le Creuset.

Danish Dough Whisk

Not essential, but useful

A Danish whisk is specially designed for easily incorporating doughs and batters. It’s not ideal for all mixtures, but it is inexpensive and can help make sourdough baking easier. It can also be ideal for any batter that shouldn’t be over-mixed (muffins, pancakes, etc.), pie fillings, even granola.

Doap

Not essential, but can be useful

A simple piece of food grade silicone in the shape of a bar of soap with bumps is an effective tool for getting that sticky, stubborn sourdough off of hands and dishes. It can help save your sponges and dishcloths from sourdough ruin.

This a tool that seems less talked about in sourdough spheres, at least that I’ve noticed, but because of this, it can make a great gift for sourdough friends. The downside is that it feels a bit pricey for what it is, $25, but the bright side is you’re supporting a made-in-America product and not another cheap Chinese-made something from Amazon.

Dutch oven

Essential, unless you’re already a pro at open baking or have another similar baking vessel (cloche, baking stone + baking shell, etc.)

A Dutch oven keeps bread in a smaller, enclosed area, trapping in steam for optimal oven spring, crust, and ear. It is invaluable for sourdough bakers, as this environment can be much trickier to recreate in an open home oven.

When I first started baking sourdough loaves at home, I wasn’t initially using a Dutch oven, and open baking wasn’t treating me well. Once I switched to a Dutch oven I started to see dramatically better results, despite not having perfect bulk ferment times.

Fiddle Bow Bread Knife

Not essential, can be nice

The blade of a bow bread knife is attached on both ends, giving it more stability and thus allowing the blade to be thinner. It can slice bread easier, and the space between the blade and the wooden bow part makes cutting even slices easier than ever.

With a bow knife you can only cut slices, and won’t be able to slice your loaf in half for that crumb shot. It can also only be used by certain-handed people, meaning, a bow knife used by a right-handed person wouldn’t be able to be used by a left-handed person.

Instant Read Thermometer

Essential for honing the sourdough process

An instant read thermometer can ascertain the temperature of your dough at various stages and while baking, all crucial components to understanding and honing in the sourdough process for beautiful and consistent results.

Sourdough is possible without an instant read thermometer, but without knowing the temperature of ingredients and dough throughout the day, the ever-important bulk ferment will need a more watchful and attuned eye, and troubleshooting will be more guesswork.

You can find instant read thermometers for as little as $15 on Amazon, or get higher quality ones, such as from Thermapen, for closer to $90 or more. I know of several bakers who use and are happy with the more budget options. I have no personal experience with them, as I was fortunately gifted a Thermapen classic many years ago. It’s reliable and still going strong!

Kitchen scale

Essential

A kitchen scale enables the precision necessary for making successful sourdough. It may be possible to make sourdough using cups and spoons, but it is not advisable.

Once you get used to using a scale and comfortable with baker’s math, you will start to understand recipes more, especially the simpler sourdough recipes that utilize as little as 4 ingredients. And once you’re used to using a scale with sourdough, you can use the scale for all your other recipes, upping your baking game and seeing more consistent results, all while actually making baking and cleanup simpler.

For more reasons why you should use a baking scale for all of your baking, read here.

For help converting ingredients from cups to grams, check out this conversion list.

Linen/Cotton Towels

Not essential, can be useful

Linen or cotton kitchen towels are versatile little things that can be used for lining and/or covering proofing baskets, aside from their common uses as kitchen towels or lining serving baskets or bowls.

As covered above under “basket liners”, lining proofing baskets is very useful in keeping them clean, especially when loaves have inclusions that may leak out. It is much easier to wash a few hand towels than it is to wash bannetons. They also help to keep dough from sticking to the basket.

My preferred method is to line and cover each loaf with the same linen cloth. It’s natural, breathable, and easy to clean up.

Loaf slicer

Not essential

A loaf slicer is similar in idea to the the deli slicers used for slicing deli meat, cheese, and such, except it is intended for bread. It cuts large, perfect slices every time, which can be especially handy for those who like to slice bread before freezing.

While I know of at least one baker who is very excited to own this piece of equipment, it is a large, expensive piece of equipment with a sharp blade that is a one-trick pony.

Loaf pans

Not essential, but offers another way to bake bread that is most likely already in your kitchen

Loaf pans may be more reminiscent of baking instant-yeast loaves, but they can also be used just as easily for sourdough bread.

In fact, loaf pans can be used in place of Dutch ovens or any of the other fancy equipment simply by baking the sourdough loaf in a loaf pan with a second loaf pan inverted on top of it, to recreate the enclosed, steamy environment. Some prefer the loaf shape for its ease of cutting.

Baking in loaf pans can also allow more loaves to be baked at once, 5 or 6 or more. It also allows a bit more flexibility with fermentation time and rise since the sides of the pan help support the loaf as it bakes.

Loaf pans come in various sizes, giving you the option to make standard loaves, or even mini or extra large.

Loaf pans also come in nonstick and uncoated varieties. Nonstick provides the easiest cleanup, but also means the dough is coming into direct contact with chemicals. Uncoated does not have the same chemical coating and cleanup can be a breeze if you simply use parchment paper.

Mason jars

Not essential, handy for feeding starter

Mason jars are clear, vertical, and already in many kitchens which makes them an easy choice for storing and feeding starters. They’re dishwasher friendly and come in different sizes for scaling up and down with starter amounts, as needed.

Wide mouth are the most convenient for feeding starter and cleaning jars.

Parchment paper

Essential

Parchment paper is a baking staple, and sourdough is no exception. Even if you use silicone bread slings, you probably use parchment paper for other uses in baking. And if you already have it on hand, you might as well use it for sourdough with inclusions (especially if it’s cheese!!) to keep from having to soak and scrub your Dutch oven.

If you are one of the rare bakers that manages to use only reusable products in your kitchen, silicone for lining all your baking sheets and silicone bread slings and such, kudos to you!

PH reader

Not essential

A PH reader can help you read the alkalinity of your starter to determine its health as well as to determine readiness of starter and dough for baking.

A healthy starter is one that is fed enough and regularly. If a starter is not fed frequently enough or not fed a high enough ratio at feedings, it can become weak and acidic. This can cause problems, including strange crumbs and less oven spring. Knowing the exact PH of starter can help eliminate any doubt with your starter, but isn’t strictly necessary since there is some simple troubleshooting you can do without necessarily needing a fancy tool.

Proofer

Not essential, but a fancy tool used for consistency.

A proofer is a container with controlled temperature to obtain consistent and reliable results every time. It’s similar in idea to an oven’s proof setting or the bread proofing mat. Temperature range is often 70°F-120°F. It can be used for starter, dough, and more.

The Brod & Taylor Proofer as pictured here can also be used as a slow cooker with your own dutch oven or pot, and suitable for making yogurt, sous vide, and other fermented foods. It has optional humidity and folds for easy storage.

Proofing containers

Proofing containers can really pertain to any container that can hold dough during bulk ferment. However, often when bakers refer to proofing containers, they mean the square, food-safe plastic bins of varying sizes with measurements written on the side. These are often used in commercial kitchens for many different things, and are especially handy for bulk ferment since you can easily see how much the dough is rising.

Unlike bread that is made using commercial yeast, sourdough doesn’t always wait until the dough is doubled in size. The rise of the dough depends on dough temperature, and is talked about in percentages. Tom Cucuzza from The Sourdough Journey has really nailed down bulk ferment times based on temperature and how much rise % you want to see. Using a square proofing container allows you to precisely mark a target line or track what percentage your dough has risen. Proofing in a bowl can be much harder to gauge.

If you’re someone who tries to stay away from plastic and would like to find a non-plastic container for fermenting larger quantities of dough, check out these large metal bowls from Webstaurant. They have varying sizes all the way up to 30qt which I believe can easily hold enough dough to make 12-16 loaves of sourdough.

“Proofing” is a bit of a misnomer since these containers hold dough during bulk ferment, not the final proof. Remember that bulk ferment is the first rising of the dough, when it is all together in bulk. When the dough is separated and shaped into its final shape, this second shape is called the final proof, or simply “proof”. For sourdough, the final proof is often done in banneton baskets.

Razor Blade Replacements

Essential

One of the first tools a sourdough baker will want to invest in is a good bread lame. There are a few different styles, but they can be a game changer. A select few bakers might have success using a sharp knife for scoring, but it is not ideal.

Once you have a bread lame, you will need to replace the razor blades periodically to keep your scoring easy and clean. How often depends on how frequently you are making bread as well as personal preference. Some bakers replace their razor blades every 8-10 loaves or so, others only every few months or less.

I have both a stick lame and a UFO lame, and I probably only change the blades every 50? loaves or so. Sometimes I use both lames to score, sometimes just one or the other. Other times I use the stick lame two times for the same loaf, utilizing the 5 minute score method. This method, while wonderful for getting an ear, can be hard on razor blades since the very doughy, partially baked bread gets stuck on there. Cleaning razor blades dulls them, and no one wants sliced fingers trying to get the dough off! I find that I can very carefully rotate the blade, so the clean side scores the bread before hand, then rotate and use the dirtier side to do the second score. Double sided razor blades can also be flipped and rotated in general so that all four corners are being used before being tossed.

Rice flour

Essential for some

Rice flour works well for keeping sticky sourdough from sticking to surfaces, especially bannetons during the overnight retard. If all-purpose or bread flour just aren’t doing the trick, try some rice flour.

Depending on dough and environment, some find using rice flour to coat their bannetons is all but essential to get their dough turned out easily. Others, myself included, find that rice flour is nice, but not essential.

Rice flour is also used for dusting on top of loaves to get that white contrast for scoring more intricate designs.

Shower caps / Plastic bowl covers

Not essential

Shower caps can be used for covering bowls, bread once it’s in bannetons, and more. They’re quick and convenient, and fairly cheap.

That said, I’d encourage you to look into other options. Using linen cloths to line and cover bannetons is a great way to stay away from single-use plastic, and much more aesthetic, no? It also doesn’t support buying super cheap plastic shower caps from Chinese companies on Amazon. If linen dries out your dough too much in the fridge, why not use the plastic grocery bags from the grocery store? Grocery store bags are usually a good bet that they’re made from food-safe plastic, and in many places, are free. Not all shower caps are food grade plastic, so something else to check into if you do decide to go that route.

Sieve, Sifter or Ball sifter

Not essential

Lightly dusting sourdough before it goes into the oven is completely optional, and mostly done for aesthetic purposes such as decorative scoring.

If you choose to lightly dust your loaves, this can be done a couple of different ways.

Fine Sieve: You can use a fine sieve to dust flour over loaves. Many people already have a sieve in their kitchen, which means purchasing an extra tool isn’t necessary. I even got away with using a small metal ball tea infuser in place of a sieve when I didn’t have a sieve for awhile there! The con of using a sieve is that you have to fill and empty it each time you use it, and if you set it down, flour comes out.

Can Sifter: If you plan on doing a lot of sifting, then a ball or can sifter can save time and make the job a little easier. They’re also inexpensive, usually $10 or under. Can sifters often come with a cover so you can keep the flour in the can, and keep the flour from getting all over when not in use.

Ball Sifter: Similar in idea to the can sifter, just a bit smaller and round. Ball sifters sometimes have a rotating feature so they can also be covered, keeping flour contained, or at least one side without holes so it can be set down without spilling flour.

Silicone Oven Mitts

Not essential, but advisable

If you bake enough bread, sooner or later you’ll end up with some burns. While short, cloth oven mitts are fine, long, elbow length heat proof gloves can save you some burns as well as making handling the hot Dutch ovens/baking vessels much easier.

The silicone hot and cold baking gloves are all the rage right now, offering either wrist or up to full forearm protection and extended temperature ranges from in the negative Fahrenheit up to 480°F / 249°C or higher.

Small Kitchen Scissors

Not Essential

Small, sharp scissors can be used to make little cuts in dough for more intricate decorative scoring.

A lame will get most bakers as far as they need in getting fancy with the scores, but for those that want specific and intricate cuts a lame can’t do, then a small pair of sharp scissors might be your next trick. Surgical scissors can be used with great success, along with embroidery or any scissors with small enough and sharp enough blades to cleanly cut dough.

Sourdough Home

Not essential

A sourdough home is a container that looks a bit like a tiny refrigerator. You put a jar of starter inside to be kept at a precise temperature. A sourdough home can heat when it’s too cold, or cool when it’s too hot. This enables consistency in feeding a starter and thus baking times, and with the precision even allows you to adjust the flavor of your starter.

Spray bottle

Not essential, but can be very handy for more intricate scoring or getting more steam into the oven while baking

A spray bottle is certainly not essential for making a wonderful loaf of bread, but for those wishing to score more intricate designs on bread that can be easily seen, then a spray bottle and flour are good tools to have. Lightly spraying the loaf after it has been tipped out of the banneton, then sprinkling with flour, helps the flour to stay on better.

Another good use for a spray bottle is to spray loaves and the inside walls of your oven just before putting in the bread. This is one way to get more steam into a bake.

Spurtle

Not essential, but very handy for stirring

Any spoon or long utensil can be used to stir starter or dough, but a spurtle is designed to have less surface contact thus making it easier to stir and having less to clean. If you know what it is to clean sourdough dishes, then you know that this is a great thing.

Beyond sourdough, spurtles are useful for stirring many things. They were originally designed for porridge and soups and such. A spurtle is really just an unusual wooden spoon, and can be used just about anywhere a wooden spoon can. They’re also inexpensive and a little thing that makes a great gift or a great addition to your kitchen.

Stick Lame

Essential

A stick lame is used for easily and properly scoring bread, allowing bread to rise in a controlled manner, rather than splitting at random as it rises. A sharp knife could be used, it’s true, but if you plan on making sourdough more than just once in a blue moon, than a lame is one of the first tools you should invest in.

UFO Lame

Not essential, but the tool to invest in for more intricate scoring

A UFO lame differs from a stick lame in that the razor blade is usually sticking out of a small wooden circle, or “UFO” shape, rather than attached to a small rod with a handle.

The smaller circular shape allows the baker to get closer to the loaf while scoring, giving greater control and precision in scoring. The UFO lame is usually the blade of choice for performing the more intricate and artistic bread scoring. The UFO lame is a more recent invention by Wire Monkey, my favorite USA small business lame maker!

Weck Jars

Not essential, but very convenient for maintaining starter easily.

Weck jars are another brand of glass jars designed for canning and preserving, much like Mason and Ball, that are very useful for storing and maintaining sourdough starter. The main difference is that Weck jars usually have wide mouths and straighter sides, making stirring in the jar and cleaning much easier.

Featured

Sourdough Tools: The Essentials and the Non-Essentials

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

The 5-Minute Score Method

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

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

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

Sourdough Terminology

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:

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

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

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:

Sourdough Tools: The Essentials and the Non-Essentials

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:

Sourdough Tools: The Essentials and the Non-Essentials

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

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

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:

Sourdough Tools: The Essentials and the Non-Essentials

Explore Italy: Assisi

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

What to Pack When Moving to Italy

The 5-Minute Score Method

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Explore Italy: Livorno

Sweet and Salty Chocolate Chip Cookies

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

Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies

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:

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

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

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:

Sourdough Tools: The Essentials and the Non-Essentials

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

The 5-Minute Score Method

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

Adding Inclusions to Sourdough Bread