Spring, such a wonderful time of year, when nature wakes up, the days are longer, the darkness of winter fades away and it’s a wonderful time of year if you’re a sourdough baker. Let me elaborate…
The most important factor for success in your sourdough baking is understanding the role that the weather, and therefore your room temperature, plays in it. As with all things yeast based, sourdough is very susceptible to changes in temperature, and because the dough is proofed for so much longer than a dough made with commercial yeast, sourdough making can be affected far more than a standard bread dough, because it sits on the kitchen counter for so much longer. For example, if a standard bread dough made with commercial yeast takes one to two hours to proof fully; as a comparison, dough made with a wild yeast sourdough starter, can take up to 12 to 14 hours to proof fully, all depending on your recipe, including the amount of starter that you are using, and the room temperature.
This is more easily explained by example: in my master recipe, I use 50 grams of starter with 500 grams of flour and 350 grams of water, plus salt. When I use this small amount of starter, the dough will take a long time to reach the point when it is completely proofed, and it is by taking this long time that the dough develops the flavor and the texture that we want for our sourdough loaves.
If, while the dough is proofing, the room temperature remains between 64-68F/18-20°C, my master recipe dough made using 50 grams of starter will take eight to 10 hours to proof fully.
If the room temperature drops below 64F/18°C, the dough will take longer to proof fully, but if the room temperature moves above 68F/20°C, the dough will take less time to proof.
This means that, in the deep depth of a cold winter, dough can take a lot longer to proof completely; I have had dough sitting on my counter for up to 20 hours when the room temperature has dropped down to 57F/14C for it to be proofed completely. Personally, I have no issue with this, I’m happy for the dough to take as long as it needs to, because it all adds to the taste and texture of the baked outcome. I think part of the joy of making sourdough is this long slow process and letting things happen naturally. But the aim of this article is to celebrate the arrival of spring, and that as the temperatures start to lift, spring brings us into a perfect time of year for making sourdough and being able to proof dough exactly as the recipe states. It isn’t not too hot, and it isn’t not too cold, and we don’t need to make any amendments or allowances to my standard master recipe to have proofed dough without the challenges or fears of under or over proofing it.
So in springtime, enjoy this time and enjoy making sourdough safe in the knowledge that it’s a great time of year for sourdough making. And if you’ve always wanted to give it a go, but have been putting it off, now is a great time of year to make your first, or a new, sourdough starter. The springtime temperatures are just as conducive for sourdough starters as they are for dough. Starters grow after feeding at an even rate and make it easier for us to plan the timing for making our dough. For more about this, check out my book, The Sourdough Whisperer.
And happy spring baking!
If you want to know how to make a starter, you can find my full video here:
https://youtu.be/o9R79a4s-BI?si=Qq0eK9V9-O1v7nmj
Or feel free to contact me for any assistance: [email protected]
(This article appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)
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