So many people are intimidated by sourdough, and I think that the timing of it is why. Yes, it takes 1-2 days from start to finish to bake bread, but it’s really only 2 mins here, and 2 mins there of work, with hours of waiting in between. I always tell people: it’s like laundry. You have to be around that day to switch from the washer to the dryer, but you aren’t really doing laundry “all day”.
This is one of the reasons why sourdough is so appealing to homesteaders. Not only is it a traditional slow food, with many benefits over yeasted breads, but it’s easy to weave the timeline of it all throughout your day. It feels like you haven’t done much, and then all of a sudden, you have 2 loaves of bread cooling on your counter. (Woo hoo!)
Here’s a quick breakdown of my approximate timeline on baking days:
Day 1
• morning- remove my fed starter from the fridge and leave on counter to double or triple.
• evening- build levain, and leave on counter overnight.
Day 2
• 9am- build your dough
• 9:30- add salt
• 10:15, 11am, + 11:45- stretch and fold.
• 11:45- place in fridge for bulk fermentation
• Before dinner or while cooking- take out of the fridge (goal here is to warm the loaves enough to shape, but not necessarily bring to room temp)
• After dinner- shape loaves, place in bannetons, + back in the fridge overnight.
Day 3:
• Bake loaves in the morning.
• Enjoy!!
Hope this helps!
Natalie