The BLBW Method
The Bakers Dozen - Artisan breads have 13 steps
We're making ARTISAN bread. What does that mean?
- Made with your literal hands
- Made with sourdough starter (or other preferment)
- No chemical additives or preservatives
- Traditional methods- see also: no machines; see also: 1.
It also means we add a step called an AUTOLYSE within your mixing step before you knead. An autolyse is designed to allow the flour to achieve full hydration which allows for a shortened mixing (kneading) time. This is why you'll notice that none of the recipes call for kneading longer than 5 minutes. There's no "knead until..." , simply knead for 5 minutes and be done.
Traditionally an autolyse is ONLY the flour and water in the recipe, mixed and let rest for 30 minutes or more. All other ingredients are added after, especially the yeast, salt and fat, as they are all scientifically counter-intuitive to the entire process. However, with a partially liquid sourdough starter and a liquid fat like the oil I use in these recipes, a traditional autolyse isn't possible as a portion of the liquid you need for full hydration is IN the starter and oil.
People often lament over how LONG it takes sourdough to rise. It can be the frustrating last straw that breaks a burdgoning baker into quitting. My overall goal in creating this process was to make sourdough artisan bread as functional and attainable as possible, therefore I also chose to use a two stage sponge mixing method.
This mixing method, in which a portion of the water and flour are combined with your starter to create a sponge, after which the remaining ingredients are added, is followed by the autolyse step before kneading. This was done to dramatically shorten the length of time waiting for your dough to rise during the fermentation, benching and proofing stages.
Using a sponge method has several additional advantages:
Scheduling flexibility
Although an ideal fermentation window is between 8-16 hrs, they can be as short as 1hr up to as long as 24hrs. The further you are from your ideal fermentation window, the longer your rise times will be during your bulk fermentation and final rise, so plan accordingly. Additionally, sponges can easily be held for as long as 3 days, well covered, in the fridge before use.
Better Flavor
Flavor is developed during the fermentation stage, the longer the fermentation the better the flavor. Try a recipe with an 8hr vs a 16hr sponge and see which one you prefer!
Stronger fermentation of rich doughs
A rich dough is a dough with a high content of sugars and fats, both of which inhibit yeast growth. When a sponge is used most of the fermentation is completed before the fat and sugar are incorporated.
A note about salt:
Speaking of yeast inhibitors, , salt is one of the biggest players in the game. Like many bakers I designed the process in this book to leave out the salt until the very end, as it is easily kneaded in during your final mixing step. However, Salt is critical for bread structure, controlling final fermentation and last but never least, flavor. With that in mind, I have made the salt in the recipes' "knead" step it's own bolded line item. Should you still find yourself continually forgetting the salt, toss it in during your second mixing step before the autolyse. It may slightly slow your rate of rise but you will still end up with lovely edible bread, much more so than if you were to forget the salt altogether, I promise.