Standard Preferment

There are so many different recipes linked to different techniques that one can become overwhelmed. The basics of a sourdough recipe requires that a portion of the dough flour and water be pre-fermented so that the sourdough culture can be introduced into the dough. The quantity and consistency of this starter or preferment is what makes recipes so varied.

To simplify life, the Hope Rising recipes are all based on this Standard Preferment recipe so that you can master the foundation of all the recipes shared here.

Sourdough Baking Foundation

Starter Semantics

We've noticed that many people refer to their sourdough culture as a "starter" with most recipes calling for "x cups of active starter" or something similar. Many bakers also feed their "starter" daily and keep a substantial quantity going (note that this also means a lot of "discard" is also generated).

In our recipes and descriptions the "starter" is the portion of fermented dough that cycles from batch to batch. We try to keep this as small as possible and also keep it refrigerated so that it doesn't require constant feeding. Consequently, before we bake, we generally use a refresh cycle (see the page on Starter Care).

When we refer to a "preferment", this is the portion of the dough that has been mixed with the starter and fermented before the main dough to generate flavour and activity. This dough does not cycle to the next batch although sometimes we may remove a small portion as a starter for another batch if required.

Standard Pre-ferment Recipe

Note that this is already demonstrated in The Basics but this is more detailed as some still seem uncertain of how this works

Peak Activity

Before we even get going, one of the things that is hard to explain (which is why I've got photos and video here) is that the fermentation times vary massively with ambient temperature. A good idea is to use the starter activation to get an idea of how long the dough takes to reach "peak activity". Another key thing is to watch the dough and become familiar with how it looks at different points in the mixing/ fermentation

I use the following rules of thumb for time to peak activity (the timing of the recipes on this webiste are for temperatures in the 22-25 deg range):

15-18 deg = 12 hr
18-22 deg = 10 hr
22-25 deg = 8 hr
25-27 deg = 6 hr
27-30 deg = 5 hr

Recipe Steps

Note that this recipe was made during a cold snap and so ambient temperatures were in the 15-18 deg range. Thus the timings are unusually long.

9:00 - Mixing

1. Activate Starter

Use approximately 3 tablespoons of active starter to kick off this fermentation. I keep this container in my fridge with about 1/2 tsp of starter. When I want to bake, I take this out and "refresh" it with about 2 tablespoons of white bread flour and 1 tablespoon of water. Fermentation extent is to "peak activity" (see Starter Care)

2. Tip Starter into Mixing Bowl

Tip out as much of the starter as will come out without rinsing or scraping the container. After I've tipped the starter out I usually run my index finger along the inside surfaces of the container and then scrape the starter residue into the bottom of the container. I find that if I leave a think film it sometimes attracts mold but as a clump it lasts longer (I think this is because mold is aerobic and sourdough cultures are anaerobic).

3. Add Flour and Water

On top of the starter add:

2 cups white bread flour
1 cup water

I use stoneground, unbleached flour and regular tap water

4. Mix Until Homogeneous

Nothing complicated here - just mix until there is no dry flour and the dough looks the same all over. Scrape all the dry smears off the side as much as possible

5. Leave to Ferment

Because we're not trying to develop gluten strength, there is no need to stretch and fold or knead as one might do with the main dough.

We leave this to go for the full time to peak activity.

Note that if you want to autolyse your main dough, mix this about 3 hours before you expect the preferment to be ready

12:00 - 25% of Peak Activity

6. Check Activity of Preferment

I generally check on my preferment every 3 hours initially and then at shorter intervals as I approach peak activity

At this stage you can see only a few sparse bubbles

15:00 - 50% of Peak Activity

7. Don't Get Tempted Yet

Although there are significantly more bubbles, this preferment is still not ready for mixing with the main dough

Maybe start mixing your main dough to autolyse or wait a bit longer...

21:00 - 100% of Peak Activity

8. Ready to Go

As you can see there are "bubbles on bubbles". If you refer to the page on Starter Care you'll see that this corresponds to the starter at 17:30 where there is plenty of activity BUT the bubbles aren't breaking through the surface. If I left this any longer, the gluten would begin to degrade and I'd run the risk of causing the same in my main dough.

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