Simple sourdough baguettes
This summer I was in Paris for two months. Every day I got a fresh baguette for under €1. When I got back, I couldn’t eat store bought bread. It was terrible. And it cost $3. There’s no bakeries nearby, and the grocery store baguettes are crap and even more expensive.
So I decided to do it myself.
Bootstrapping — Starting a starter
Because I didn’t want to buy yeast all the time, I looked into sourdough. I knew making sourdough required maintaining a starter, which meant no buying yeast. Besides, I like sourdough. I found two ways to get a starter.
DIY
After a little Googleing, I found a couple of ways [1, 2] to start my own starter. Typical instructions are mix equal parts flour and water and let it sit loosely covered in a warm spot. However, I couldn’t seem to get it started with just the wild yeasts floating around my apartment. Maybe I’m too sterile.
So I opted for a shortcut. You’ll need:
- 1 packet of active yeast
- 1 cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (more or less) of water
- A little warm (115F – 120F) water.
Now then, instructions:
- Mix the yeast and warm water.
- Mix the flour and water until you have something the consistency of pancake batter.
- Mix in the yeast-water.
- Let sit, loosely covered, somewhere warm for a day. I set it atop my fridge, near the back.
- Remove a cup of starter, use it, and mix in 1/2 cup of flour and water. You don’t have to remove any if you have a large container.
- Repeat step 5 for 2 more days.
- Refrigerate your starter and repeat steps 4 and 5 weekly. Or however often you make bread.
According to the internet, the starter should keep in the refrigerator for a couple of months without feeding. If not refrigerated, you must feed the starter daily.
You can keep a starter with less water and more dough like consistency, i.e., a ‘stiff starter’ A stiff starter will apparently keep longer, but will likely take more time to warm up and eat.
Mail order
A friend of mine told me about this bakery [3] that send out free pieces of their stater that has been perfected over the last 150 years or so. All you need to do is send them a self-address envelope, apparently.
With starter in hand, skip to step 7 of the above instructions.
Your first baguette
This recipe is based “Berkeley sourdough baguette” [4]. The whole process will take 5 hours, plus time spent mixing. It will yield 2 medium size baguettes.
Supposing you have starter and ready to make bread, you will need:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup liquid starter
- 1/2 cup (more or less) of room temperature water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- A little olive oil
- 1 baking sheet
- 2 large bowls
If you’re using a stiff starter, you’ll need more water and less flour.
- Mix flour and salt
- Mix starter and flour-salt mixture.
- Gradually mix in water. You may need more or less water to get the right consistency. The dough should be springy and soft, but not sticky.
- Knead the dough for a few minutes.
- Spread a little oil around the second bowl.
- Place dough in oiled bowl and let rise for about 3 hours.
- Give the dough a good punch.
- Spread a little oil on the baking sheet.
- Separate dough into 2 halves.
- Shape each half into a baguette. I’ve found this can be accomplished by quickly rolling the ball of dough into a cylinder, although [5]. has a more sophisticated method.
- Cover, and let rise for about 90 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 450F.
- Lightly oil the tops of the baguettes.
- Bake for 25–30 minutes.
Advanced features
This recipe results in simple, tasty baguettes. But there are many ways to tweak this recipe.
Rise in refrigerator
Apparently, the bacteria responsible for making the sourdough sour are better at growing in the cold than yeast. By letting the dough rise in the refrigerator, you can achieve a sourer sourdough.
However, my attempts at this yielded flat, hard, pasty looking baguettes. So attempt at your own peril.
In the above instructions, replace:
- Place dough in oiled bowl and let rise for 3 hours.
with:
- Place dough in oiled bowl, and place bowl in the refrigerator for 12–15 hours.
Whey instead of water
I make yogurt, and strain it to get Greek yogurt [6]. This leaves me with a bunch of whey. Apparently, I can use this as a replacement for water when baking.
My attempts at this has yielded slightly sweeter, tastier baguettes. The whey also contains additional protein.
In the above recipe, replace:
- 1/2 cup (more or less) of room temperature water
with:
- 1/2 cup (more or less) whey
And in the above instructions, replace:
- Gradually mix in water. You may need more or less water to get the right consistency. The dough should be springy and soft, but not sticky.
with:
- Gradually mix in whey. You may need more or less whey to get the right consistency. The dough should be springy and soft, but not sticky.
Whole wheat flour
We all need more fiber and vitamins in our diet! However, whole wheat flour is less forgiving than all-purpose flour, and requires care. It also absorbs more liquid, so you need more water (or whey) in your recipe.
In the above recipe, replace:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (more or less) room temperature water
with:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup (more or less) room temperature water
And in the above instructions, replace:
- Mix flour and salt
with
- Mix all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and salt.