The weather is warming up here in the Northern Hemisphere. If you don’t have a sourdough starter, now would be a great time to start one from scratch. Flour, water, and patience are the only ingredients. You could be baking up a few loaves of Norwich Sourdough in as little as one week from now!
Gorgeous loaves Susan =)
Looking so fresh and healthy! Need to cook something like that 🙂
These loaves look so beautiful I am going to try them this weekend, but I am not sure what 125% or 100% hydration means. Could you please give me (a novice sourdough person) a quick explanation or this term.
Thanks Susie
Susie, the hydration percentage refers to the amount of water in the starter relative to the amount of flour. 100% hydration means equal parts of each. My instructions for raising a starter produce one that is 100% hydration.
Thank you so much for your clear recipes and supporting photos. I have raised my own starter and am now baking my own breads. Every batch gets even better. I have learned so much from your blog!
These loaves look so delicious! I’ve never had much luck with making breads, but you’ve inspired me to try again!
Am going to try these as they look delicous, although with the humidity in Bangkok, sometimes things don’t always come out as well as they would if I made them in the US. Worth a try though 🙂
Thanks!
Completely beautiful!
Been making bread from scratch here lately and I have to say, it’s been fun and actually edible (I am a machinist, NOT a baker). I have watched dozens of Youtube videos and one thing iv’e noticed is on everyone’s final proof, they seem to be able to handle them kind of aggressively when they put them on the baking dish or on the cookie sheet and they seem to hold their shape very well. Mine are so not like that! Seems like if I look at my proofed dough funny, it goes flat. Whats up with that? Is it because I use APF instead of bread flour? What am I doing wrong? Any help would be great. Thanks.
Your loaves could be overproofed; this stretches the gluten too much and it doesn’t retain its elasticity. It could also be that the gluten was insufficiently developed to begin with, or that the loaves need to be shaped a little more tightly.
I’ve always wanted to try a sourdough, but have been put off because it looks so difficult. That being said, your loaves are so tempting! Did you use a baking sheet or a baking stone to make the outer edges so crispy?
My most recent bread-attempt was Challah, which I posted on my blog – livingtoat.com
I always recommend a baking stone!
Hi there, I had a nice starter going, and then I made one decent loaf with it. The starter was mixed white and whole wheat flour with water and no store-bought yeast. The next time I fed it, I made dough again and have been rising it all day. I added salt and honey this time.
Well, I keep checking the dough and while it is slowly rising, it is warm to the touch – quite warm – despite just sitting on the counter. The starter sitting next to it is cold to the touch, so that should give you an idea how strange this seems. There’s no discoloration.
Thoughts?
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Thank you Susan for the in depth recipe . I have Jeffrey Hammelman’s book and have tried many of his recipes. Your modification with increased sourdough starter in the formula and all purpose flour turned out great! I’ll be making it again! I live in British Columbia but I basically followed the same timelines. As soon as I took it out of my mixer I could tell I would love working with the dough. I love doing the folds they really help. My instagram is merciyudjf. I dont blog but I put a lot of baking pictures up there. Come visit if you have time. Thanks again for your help.