Bread Notes

FLOUR WATER SALT YEAST

The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza
Ken Forkish
ISBN 978-1-60774-273-9

 

 

Basic Bread Recipe

Basic Bread Percentages

Flour	1000 grams
Water	680 grams
Salt	20 grams
Fresh Yeast	20 grams (7 grams instant yeast)

Note: 3 grams fresh yeast = 1 gram instant yeast

Autolyse 20 minutes

Final mix temperature: 75F

Ferment: 1.5 hours

Proof: 1 hour

 

White Sourdough Starter

Stage 1

Equipment: 1 Qt clear plastic or glass container with high sides.

Ingredients	Grams	Ounces	Volume
Organic Grapes, rinsed	40	1.41	1/4 cup
Cool water (75 to 78F)	113	4.00	1/2 cup
Organic unbleached AP flour	72	2.54	1/2 cup

 

Put the grapes in the container and press them a little with a fork or your fingers to break the skins. Add the water and flour and stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is moistened. Take the temperature of the starter. For best results it should be between 75 & 80F. cover with plastic wrap and a rubber band to hold the plastic in place. Mark the height of the starter on a piece of tape on the side of the container so you can see how much it rises. Also write down the time you stirred it together, and keep simple notes on the starter’s activityand the time you refresh it each day. Let it sit at room temperature (75 to 80F) until it starts to bubble.  This will take 12 to 24 hours, longer if the room is cool.

 

First Refreshment

Ingredients	Grams	Ounces	Volume
Cool water (75 to 78F)	113	4.00	1/2 cup
Organic unbleached AP flour	72	2.54	1/2 cup

 

If the starter is bubbly and active and smells slightly fermented, about 24 hours after you first mixed it together, add the water and flour and stir it vigorously with a wooden spoon to combine.  Take note of the time and condition of your starter,  Cover it again with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.  If the starter does not look active, refresh it anyway but use slightly warmer water (80F) and let it rise for 12 to 24 hours.

 

Second Refreshment

Ingredients	Grams	Ounces	Volume
Organic unbleached AP flour	36	1.27	1/4 cup

 

If the starter is bubbly and active within 12 to 24 hours after you refreshed it, stir it together well and scoop the grapes and a little of the starter out of your container and discard them.  Add the flour and stir vigorously with a wood spoon to combine.  Take note of the time and the condition of your starter.  Cover again with plastic wrap and let it rise for 12 to 24 hours.

Third Refreshment

Ingredients	Grams	Ounces	Volume
Cool water (75 to 78F)	113	4.00	1/2 cup
Organic unbleached AP flour	72	2.54	1/2 cup

 

About 24 hours after you refreshed it the second time, the started should be bubbly and active and smell a little sour and fermented.  Stir it well.  Discard about half the starter. Add the water and flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to combine.  Take note of the time and condition of your starter. Cover again with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.

Making the Final Starter

Twelve to twenty four hours after the third refreshment, if the starter is active and bubbly and smells sour and fruity it is ready to be made into a specific starter to use in your dough.  Follow the instructions for creating the starter that is used for different recipes in this book.  Just follow the instructions for maintaining your base starter and keep a little of the starter in your refrigerator for months, if not years, giving it a feeding every one or two weeks,

Maintaining your starter for the future after it is active

After your starter is active and you’re ready to make it into one of the starters for a specific recipe, you can save a little of your basic started in a container, and continue to refresh and maintain it for future baking.   Never use up all of your sour dough starter.  If you don’t bake often, you can store the starter in the refrigerator and refresh it once every week or two.

Stir together the starter, discard all but 1/2 cup of it and feed the remaining starter with 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup water.  Stir it, cover it,and put it back in the frig.