Sourdough
This morning, I felt industrious. This is probably due to the extra hour from the Law of DST that shields me from the truth that my body is further into the morning than the clock shows. Because of my sense of industriousness, I aimed myself briefly at the task of baking a sourdough.
After 15 minutes of googling and youtube viewing, I realized I will not be baking a loaf today. This is not, as one might expect, due to a lack of starter (psh, I could EASILY acquire that from a stranger on Nextdoor). Rather the roadblock to yeasty Shangri-la is lack of time.
As I learned quite hastily, there are 5 stages to baking bread
| Stage | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Make Leaven and let sit (“Build”) | Make leaven from starter and let it sit for 6-24 hours (overnight recommended) |
| 2 | Mix, then Bulk Ferment | Mix in flour water salt and leaven. Put in a warm place (oven with light on). After 30 minutes, strengthen and fold corners. After 60 minutes, repeat. After 2 hours (3 hours total), move on. |
| 3 | Shaping, then Proof | Shape the dough, then place in a proofing basket, cover and let sit for 90 minutes. |
| 4 | Bake prep and baking | Place on cloth, make relief cuts on top with scissors, then bake at 485F for 18 minutes in dutch oven. Then remove lid, turn oven down to 465F and bake for 25 more minutes |
| 5 | Post-bake | Remove and place on cooling grate. Let cool for 30-40 minutes |
Reference: YOUR FIRST SOURDOUGH
Update
Cut to the year 2025 (2025-9-15T07:20:00-08:00 to be precise). I found this blog draft sitting here, unpublished. I find it funny because, as it turns out, I have been baking bread ever since. This draft marks the very beginning of my bread-making journey, and it tickles me.
Perhaps down the road I will document a bit of the bread journey I have been on, but for now, I will simply publish this bit of history here.