Chelsea's Sourdough Bread

To Feed Your Starter

1. Before feeding, let your starter come to room temperature. It will separate, so mix with your stir stick and then feed it. The consistency should be like a thick frosty. Once you feed it, it will bubble up. It can over or under ferment. 

2. Add a generous 1/4 cup of quite warm water to your starter.

3. Add a scant 1/2 cup of bread flour and give it a rough mix.

4. Let it rest, covered, for one hour.

Always keep an inch of starter at the bottom of your mason jar. It can stay on the counter for a few days, or in the fridge for up to two weeks before it needs to be fed again. 

Chelsea's Sourdough Bread

1. Begin with 1/2 cup of fed starter and add 1 1/2 cups of quite warm water.

2. Next add 2 1/2 cups of bread flour plus 1/8 cup whole wheat flour. 

3. Mix and let rest, covered, for an hour.

4. Add 1/2 Tbl of SALT - do not forget this step!

5. Do a stretch and fold then let rest for 30 minutes.

6. During second stretch and fold, put in the add-ins and let rest for 30 minutes. 

ADD-INS for one loaf: 

1/2 cup cranberries and 1/2 cup white chocolate

1/2 Tbl minced garlic and 2 Tbl fresh rosemary

1/4 cup jarred jalapeño and 1/2 cup chunked sharp cheddar

cinnamon and raisins (plus salt on top)

Pink Himalayan salt on top

7. Do two more stretch and folds with half hour rest periods. If making two loaves, split after all the stretch and folds. If doing different mix ins, split before. 

8. Shape your bread into a circle. 

9. Dust bread bowl with flour and let loaf rest there for 6-8 hours. (If you start at noon, put it in the fridge. When you take it out, wait two hours or until it comes to room temperature).

10. Shape loaf again and let it rise for 1-2 more hours. It should almost double in size.  Preheat oven with pot in it 30 minutes before you want to start baking.

11. Flip loaf over onto parchment paper without popping bubbles and score loaf. 

12. Lift paper into preheated pot and bake for 30 minutes with the lid, 10 minutes without the lid. Keep an eye on it for a browned top.

Two Loaves of Sourdough

Generous cup of starter

5 cups bread flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3 cups quite warm water

1 Tbl salt

If you want two loaves of bread for Sunday dinner, then: 

On Saturday take out your starter at 10am. Let it warm up until noon. Feed it and let it rest. Feed it again at midnight. 

On Sunday morning at 6:00 am, start it and let it rest one hour. 

Start stretch and folds at 7, 7:30, 8, and 8:30.  Shape it and let it rest until 2:30. Reshape it and let it rest for 1-2 hours.  At 4, preheat the oven to 450. At 4:30, bake for 30 minutes with lid on, 10 more with lid off. First loaf done at 5:10, second done around 6pm.