The Table Community Festival
Intro to Sourdough
with Zach Martinucci
“How All Bread Works:” The Bread Process
Sourdough Starter FAQs
Tips and Tricks for High-Altitude Baking
How All Bread Works
Why Sourdough?
It’s the way bread has always been made… all you need is flour, water, salt, and time.
A long fermentation allows enzymes in the dough to break down gluten strands, making the bread easier to digest.
The cultures in a starter produce lactic and acetic acids during fermentation. These acids give the bread its unique sour flavor, and act as a natural preservative to increase shelf life.
You and Your Starter
Your sourdough starter is a living organism, and must be fed every day* to keep it alive and healthy. Consistent feedings of the same measurements at roughly the same time each day will make for a strong, dependable starter that is always ready to make delicious bread.
PROCESS
Discard all of your existing starter except for 20g.
Place the 20g into a clean, plastic container, and mix with all other ingredients until well-incorporated. Cover and leave at room temperature to ferment.
If planning to bake with this batch, time your feeding to be 8-12 hours before mixing your dough.
If this is a maintenance feeding, then feed again at roughly the same time tomorrow.
* If not planning to bake for awhile, you may store the starter in the fridge immediately after feeding, then feed once per week while under refrigeration.
High-Altitude Baking Tips and Tricks
Always start with your sea level recipes, and if things aren’t working out…
Increase hydration by about 5% to start.
Denver is dry and your dough may need more liquid.
Decrease proofing times OR decrease the leavening agent.
Less pressure in our atmosphere means your dough rises (and also falls) more quickly than at sea level. Your prescribed leavening quantities and proofing times may need to be recalibrated.
Let’s be Bread Friends.
Follow along @rebelbreaddenver and share what you bake at home!
Join Zach for Camp Bread on Oct 12 -17: An online guided sourdough experience from starter to finish. Use code TABLE10 for $10 off camp registration.
