Embracing Happy Detours

Embracing Happy Detours

Sourdough can be tricky, but once you get the hang of it, you realize how forgiving it actually is. You really don’t have to let your schedule revolve entirely around the dough.

This batch was definitely not part of my normal routine. We needed to test our mixer, so I threw together a big batch of flour and water just to see how the machine was running. Right after that, some appointments came up and I had to leave the house.

Instead of stressing over the clock, I just worked with what I had:

• Saturday, 11:00 AM: Mixed flour and water to test the mixer, then put the dough in the fridge at 4°C for an 8-hour cold autolyse while I was out.
• Saturday, 7:20 PM: Got home, added peak starter.
• Saturday, 12:00 AM (Midnight): The dough still needed more time, but it was late and I wanted to sleep. I put the bins in the fridge at 3°C overnight.
• Sunday, 8:15 AM: Took the dough out, let it warm up for about an hour and a half, then divided and shaped. For some loaves, I added inclusions - dark chocolate and dried strawberries.
• Sunday, 10:45 AM: Tucked the shaped dough into the fridge at 3°C for their cold proof.
• Monday, 10:30 AM: Baked them straight from the fridge after almost 24 hours of cold retard.

Despite all the stops and starts, the loaves had great oven spring, blistered crusts, and an open crumb.

A couple of takeaways from this experiment:
1. Use your fridge: Cold temps slow fermentation way down. If life gets busy or you need to sleep, chilling the dough buys you time without ruining the batch.
2. Watch the dough, not the clock: Look at volume, bubbles, and how the dough feels instead of sticking to strict timers.
3. Cold dough bakes better: Scoring cold dough is much easier and gives you a cleaner cut in the oven.

#sourdough #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #artisanbread #graceandgatherph