There hasn’t been as much fan-fare around Yohan Ferrant’s do-nothing method, and I couldn’t find an original posting from him, just a lot of chatter about it on baking blogs. So, I checked out his Instagram feed, and finally came across a reel of him demonstrating how to make it. I’m listing the ingredients, but not a lot of detailed instructions, because, well, there aren’t any! Just mix, rest and bake!
Place a bowl on your scale and add ingredients in the order listed below.
6g salt
255g water
90g sourdough starter (levain)
350g flour (I used 325g bread flour + 25g whole wheat flour)
Mix with the handle of a wooden spoon, scrape sides down, flatten with wet fingertips, then cover and let rest for 12 ~ 24 hours, or until doubled in size and bubbly on top. The temperature of the room makes a difference, if it is 70 degrees, or thereabouts, it should take about 14 hours.
I like to put the dough into a straight-sided container, because then it is easier to tell when it has doubled in size.
9:00 AM7:00 PM11:00 PM
Shape dough by lifting a side, stretching it out a bit and folding it over. Flip it, then round it into a ball. I let mine rest overnight in the fridge, because I was ready for bed.
.He puts his directly in the baking receptacle , then straight into a pre-heated oven. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes, then 20 more uncovered.
ITALY: Made with a focaccia dough, and not baked until it’s fully risen, this potato pizza is delicious anytime. It makes for a great snack, is a nice accompaniment to a dinner salad, or you can put a fried egg on top, and call it breakfast.
Step 1: Prepare the dough
 297ml water
30ml olive oilÂ
370g bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp sugar
1-1/4 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp dried Italian herbs
Mix the olive oil together with the water.
Measure the flour, yeast, salt, sugar and herbs into the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk to combine.
Place bowl in machine, add the water/oil mixture, and with the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until all the ingredients are mixed together. Remove paddle attachment, and et rest for 15 minutes. You can get the dough off of the paddle with wet fingers.
With the dough hook, mix on medium-low speed for 5 minutes, or until the dough starts to clear the sides of the bowl, and sticks to the dough hook in one piece. If it’s too runny, you can add some flour — just 1 tablespoon at a time though, and no more than 2!
Use a dough scraper to remove it from the mixing bowl and into a large oiled bowl. Cover and let proof overnight in the fridge.
STEP2: Shape dough
Next day, empty dough out into a well oiled 7″ x 9″ rectangle baking dish or 10″ cast iron skillet.
Press fingertips in dough then sprinkle with olive oil.
Let the dough rise at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, or until it fills the pan.
Preheat oven to 425, and prepare potatoes
STEP 3: Prepare potatoes
1 lb potatoes, sliced paper thin (preferable Yukon gold)
2 shallots, sliced paper thin
2 Tbsp dried Italian herbs
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 cup olive oil
Place potatoes and shallots in a medium bowl.
Add herbs and oil and mix well to combine.
STEP 4: Bake
Add potatoes and shallots to the dough.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until potatoes start to brown on the sides.
Making focaccia with sourdough and everything bagel seasoning gives it just a little more umph, both in texture and flavor. If you don’t have a starter on hand, check out Week 9: Focaccia and/or Week 33: Winemaker’s Foaccia made with grapes.
You’ll need to refresh your starter the night before, (or really early in the morning) and be forewarned that once you mix the dough, it will need to proof overnight in the fridge.
Here are the ingredients so you can have them at the ready and follow along to the video linked below. I am so pleased to have stumbled Mile Zero Kitchen’s video tutorials. They are as informative as they are relaxing, and I highly recommend them.
100g active Liquid Starter
320g Water
400g Bread Flour
15g Olive Oil
8g Salt
Tips:
Substitute the 8g salt with 6g salt + 2g everything bagel seasoning. And put cream cheese in some of the dents.
Sprinkle the fresh herbs (I use basil) on just after the focaccia comes out of the oven, to keep it from burning.
I line my baking pan with parchment so I can easily lift out the bread.
We made pitas with all purpose flour for Week 4: Pita. This time around we’ve used whole wheat flour and baked them in the oven, rather than the stove top. This would be fun to make with the kids; they’re sure to enjoy shaping the balls of dough, rolling them out, and then watching them puff up in the oven.
This makes 6 pitas. They are best eaten fresh, so I only make what we can eat right away.
Step 1: Make dough
1-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2-1/4 tsp yeast (1 packet)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup warm water
Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl of a stand mixer and whisk to combine
Add the water and then the olive oil on top of the water
Place bowl in the stand mixer, and with the dough hook, mix on medium speed to combine, scraping sides with a rubber spatula to made sure verything’s incorporated. You might have to turn it off, and lift the hook up so you can get the dry bits from the bottom.
Once it’s mixed, lower to #2 and knead for 10 minutes, unitl it comes away from the bowl. If it’s still sticking to the sides, add 1 tablespoon of four, but no more.
Cover and let proof in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until doubled in size.
Step 2: Shape
Preheat oven to 550, or as high as it will go
Cut 3 sheets of parchment paper the size of your baking/cookie sheet.
Place cookie sheet in oven — without the parchment paper sheets.
Scrape dough out of the bowl onto a heavily floured countertop and divide into 6 pieces
Form into balls by stretching out the sides then folding them in towards the center. Turn over and shape into a ball. View “Shaping into a Ball” on the Video page.
Cover and let rest for about 45 minutes.
Dust the countertop with flour, and the tops of each ball, then roll out to about 5 inches diameter. If they spring back, let it rest, move on to another one, then go back to it.
Place 2 pitas on each sheet, and let rest 15 minutes.
Step 3: Bake
Put the pitas close to the oven.
Open the door, slide the rack out that has the cookie sheet, then carefully lift the parchment with one set of pitas and place them on the cookie sheet
Slide back in and close door.
Bake 2 minutes, then flip the pitas with tongs and bake another two minutes. Try to move fast, so the oven doesn’t loose too much heat.
Repeat two more times. Make sure to wrap the baked pitas so they don’t dry out as they cool.
You can add a little bit of whole grain flour to your baguette dough without sacrificing a tender, open crumb. I know there’s 100% whole wheat baguettes out there, but I’m not ready to tackle them just yet. They can be tricky to shape, but I found a great video from Noah Weston, and he’s making alot of them, so there’s opportunity to watch his process over and over again. New to me is the use of a “bread board” to help lift teh baguettes onto the baking sheet. I made one out of a flap of a cardboard box, covered in clear tap so the dough doesn’t stick.
This takes about 7 hours, so if you start at 10:00 AM, they’ll be ready to bake at around 5:30.
Step 1: Make poolish(4~16 hr rest)
150g flour
150g warm water (about 90 degrees)
1/8 tsp yeast (about .5g)
Let this ripen at room temperature for at least 4 hours. You can also make it before going to bed, and then letting it rest on the counter overnight for up to 16 hours.
Step 2: Make dough(30 minute rest)
280g water (90 degrees)
2g yeast (3/4 tsp)
Put the yeast in a medium bowl, add water and stir to combine
Empty the poolish into the yeast and water mixture.
350g flour
50g whole wheat flour (sifted, to remove the sharp germ)
10g salt
5g sugar
Add the flours, salt and sugar and mix well with the handle of a wooden spoon until it’s incorporated, and there’s no dry bits on the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Then start mixing with your hand, squeezing dough with one hand, and turning the bowl with the other. Do this for about 2 minutes to fully incorporate everything, lifting sides up and over as it starts to become elastic.
Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Step 3: Stregthen dough(30 min + 1 hr rest)
Wet fingertips and do about 8~10 stretch and folds in the bowl
Scoop and fold about 8 times. pick up, let one side drip down and fold under to lay dough on top
Rest 30 minutes
Repeat stretch adn fold and scoop and fold
Rest one hour (total rest time: 2 hours)
Step 4: Shape Dough(15 min + 15 min + 45 min rests)
Turn dough out onto a well floured surface
Cut into two halves
Watch video below for shaping and scoring. I am not as rough as he is!
Pre-Shape: Loose tri-fold and 15 minute rest
Shape and let rest 15 minutes: Fold top third down and press, then botton third up and press, then fold in half and press
Final shape: roll to full length
Place on couche seem side down, and rest 40 minutes
While dough is resting, preheat oven to 525. Boil water and fill two loaf pans (or one pan…whatever you have) and place on opposite sides of the bottom rack
Step : Bake
Score bread as instructed in the video. With wet dough like this, the blade can drag. You might find it easier to oil or wet it.
Use a potholder when you transfer the dough to the oven. A lot of steam will come out when you open the door.
Put in oven gently, shut door quickly
Turn down oven to 500
Bake 20~30 minutes. Check it often, so it doesn’t burn.
Remove from tray and let cool before slicing. If it’s humid in your kitchen, cool bread in the turned off oven with the door ajar
This is a hybrid sourdough, calling for both a wild yeast starter levain/sourdough) and commercial yeast. There’s a lot of shouting on bread forums whether or not using yeast in a sourdough loaf is sacrilege, or cheating, but I’ve come across recipes from Dan Lepard, Peter Reinhart and Ken Forkish (the three kings of bread), and if they can do it, then so can we. If you want to make a beautiful loaf, but don’t want to wait three days, then this is your answer.
The following is adapted from from Dan Lepard’s Mill Loaf. I wanted to share the minimalist kneading technique that he accidentally discovered when working in a very busy restaurant. He was constantly having to run between kneading doughs and prepping other dishes, and the time period in which the doughs were left to rest were often getting overextended. Much to his surprise, he found that this was a good thing. His book, The Handmade Loaf, is one of my favorites because it has easy to follow recipes that are beautifully photographed and unique.
You’ll need a Dutch oven, or any other pot with lid to bake the bread.
Step 1: Feed starter
You’ll need 250g of starter
My starter is a 1:1:1 ratio. i.e. 100g each of starter/water/flour.
The flour I use is a mix of 70g wheat + 30g rye
Step 2: Make dough (next day)
250g active white starter
275g water from the tap (about 68 degrees)
300g bread flour
150g whole wheat
50g rye
3/4 tsp salt
7g yeast
Measure water into a large bowl.
Add the starter and whisk to combine.
Measure out all the dry ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
Add dry flour mixture to the water/yeast liquid.
Mix with the handle of a wooden spoon, til no dry bits remain. If you prefer, or if it’s not coming together, go ahead and use one hand to squeeze the dough together and get it thoroughly mixed.
Cover and let rest 15 minutes in a warm place.
Step 3: Knead and proof
Now it’s time to do the stretch and fold method of kneading:
With wet fingertips, pull up a section of the dough, then fold it over itself. Do this 8 to 12 times, rotating the bowl as you go along. Don’t pull too much, and if it starts to tighten stop. Turn over, cover and rest 15 minutes.
Repeat this stretch and fold kneading/resting for 15 minutes two more times.
You’ll have done 3 stretch and fold cycles and 1 hour total resting period since mixing the dough together.
Place dough on an oiled countertop and gently press to flatten.
Pick up the sides, one at a time, pull out and gently flap up and down to stretch it out into a rectangular shape.
Now you will do the envelope fold of kneading:
Pick up the right hand side, stretch it out a bit, then fold the right side over, then fold the left side over on top of that. Then, fold the top portion down and the bottom portion over on top of that. Flip this over and return it to the bowl. Cover and rest 1 hour.
Repeat this envelope fold knead one more time, cover and rest for another hour.
You’ll have done 2 envelope kneading cycles and 2 more hours resting for a total of 3 hours.
Step 4: Shape
Remove dough from bowl onto a lightly floured surface.
I went straight to the source to learn how to make a San Francisco sourdough, Tartine’s iconic Country Loaf. This bread has only three ingredients: flour, water and salt, and although I’ve baked a loaf a week, for the last 86 weeks, it still amazes me how something so simple can taste so good. The recipe is published on their website here, and it’s a good place to start if you don’t already have a sourdough starter (levain) going.
I actually found the first couple of steps a little confusing, and only wanted to make one loaf. So, I simplified the method for starting off, cut the recipe in half, and am sharing some steps that helped me but weren’t in the original instructions. And maybe it’s sacrilege, but I used a stand mixer. Think about it: the bakers in Tartine are using large professional mixers, so why can’t we?
San Francisco sourdough has a unique taste that we might not be able to replicate 100% outside of the region (turns out it’s because of local bug poop, not the local bacteria), but this is a close second.
Note: Many bakers, me inclued, prefer to use a square or rectangular container for dough resting. Most people use plastic, but I find that the light plastic lifts when you lift the dough, so I’ve switched to glass. For this amount of dough, an 8 x 8 square of 9 x 13 rectangle works.
Step 1: Feed your starter so it is ripe and ready to go. I always feed mine the night before and leave it out on the counter. If it’s really warm (over 72 degrees), it could over-ripen, so it might be better to feed it first thing in the morning so that you can monitor it.
Step 2: Make dough
350g warm water (about 90 degrees)
100grams active sourdough
Measure water into the bowl of a stand mixer. It’s important to use warm water, which helps to achieve a nice sour taste.
Add starter. If it floats in the water, it’s good! (If you mix your starter, so that it deflates, then it won’t float in the water. So, just spoon it out, and drop it in the water until you have 100g worth.)
Mix with a whisk to combine well.
450g bread flour
50g whole wheat flour
Add the flours to the water and mix on low speed (#1) for 2 minutes, scraping down sides with a rubber spatula to get the flour thoroughly incorporated.
Lift hook out, scrape dough bits off and add them to the bowl.
Cover with tea towel and let rest in a warm place for 45 minutes.
Rinse the dough hook off so it’s ready for the next step.
10g salt
25g warm water
Add the water and salt then mix on low (#1) speed for 2 minutes.
Stop to scrape the dough off the hook and the sides of the bowl to incorporate it all.
Up the speed to med-low (#4) and mix for 2 more minutes.
Step 3: Proofing/Kneading
Add a little oil to your container, enough to cover the bottom so the dough doesn’t stick.
Empty the dough into the container, scraping sides of the bowl to get it all.
The dough is going to rest/proof for 2 hours while you peridically give it a few stretches to strengthen the gluten. See Tip #3: Kneading while Proofing on the Video page for tips on the stretch and fold method of kneading.
Cover and rest for 30 minutes, then do a round of stretch and folds. You could do coil folds if you prefer, or 2 stretch and folds and 2 coil folds. I’m not very good at those.
Repeat this step 3 more times, for a total of 4 stretches and four 30-minute rests (2 hours resting time).
Cover and rest for 1 hour. It should be nice and swollen by the time it’s ready to shape.
Step 4: Shaping
Dust coutertop with flour.
Tip the container over to release the dough onto the floured countertop.
Shape (see video instruction below)
Lift the side closest to you, the bottom, and stretch it out and up, then fold it over on the dough.
Do the same with the right and left sides, pulling them out, then folding over onto the dough.
Then pull the top side up and out, and fold it down ontopof the ther folds.
Do a few “bakers stitching” down the middle.
Starting from the top, roll dough down to the end.
Leave as is for a batard, or shape into a boule.
Flip
Cup hands around dough and slide on countertop to make the surface even tighter.
Place in a flour lined bannetton, seam side up.
Cover and let proof in refridgerator overnight.
Rice flour
Step 5: Bake (next day)
About 30 minutes before baking, place a Dutch oven with lid (or any heat-proof container) in the oven and heat it to 500 degrees.
Once heated, remove dough from fridge, and cover with a parchment paper sling, then invert.
Lift basket off of the dough.
Dust tops with rice flour (stays white) and score with a sharp knife/razor blade.
Remove hot container from oven, and place dough inside. Cover, then place in oven and reduce temperature to 450 degrees.
Bake 20 minutes, then remove lid and bake for 20 more.
Remove from pot then place in turned off oven to cool with the door open.
Below is a video of Chad Robertson, owner of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, giving a class in Denmark. A little sourdough porn for ya.
I’ve been working on making 100% rye bread, but have yet to make one that I thought was any good. And then it occurred to me that maybe I just don’t like bread made with only rye flour. I decided to nix that goal, and make a rye/wheat version. This loaf is only 35% rye, but the addition of the caraway seeds and barley malt syrup gives it a great flavor and I’m really happy with it.
I found this on the Foodgeek’s YouTube channel. He is one of my favorite bakers, and I highly recommend checking out his channel if you’re serious about learning how to bake good bread. He’s also got two great tutorials on scoring, so I’ve linked those as well.
I’ve listed the amounts of all the ingredients so you can have them at the ready and follow along with him in while watching the video that’s linked below. He makes two loaves; I’ve listed what you need for one and two. Because you need to activate your sourdough the night before, and the loaves have a final rest overnight in the fridge, this takes 3 days total.
1 Loaf
Ingredients
2 Loaves
260g
Bread Flour
520g
180g
White Rye Flour
360g
40g
Dark Rye Flour
80g
268g
Water
536g
80g
Starter
160g
10g
Malt Syrup
20g
8g
Salt
16g
5g
Caraway Seeds
10g
Tips:
I only had white rye, so used whole wheat in place of the dark rye.
I did not have bread flour, so measured out all purpose flour, took away 2 tablespoons and then added 2 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten.
I used my stand mixer with the paddle attachment to mix the dough.
I lightly oiled my countertop before shaping the dough. He doesn’t use flour to keep his dough from sticking, but I think his countertop is made from a material that is more of a non-stick surface. Mine is wood, so it needs flour, oil, or water. I didn’t want to be adding flour to the dough, so I used oil.
I did 4 stretch and folds (with 30 minute rests after each one) just like he does. But then I did 2 coil folds after that, so my total rest period was an hour longer. See Video page for links to both methods.
20 grams of malt syrup is about 1 tablespoon, as is 10g caraway seeds.
I mixed seame seeds in with the caraways seeds, mostly for looks.
I forgot to add the seeds before placing the shaped dough in the proffing basket. If you need to add them after the dough’s been proofed, lightly spray the loaf with water, then add seeds, then score.
These versatile rolls are a nice alternative to squishy dinner rolls, are great for sandwiches, and are also good for breakfast with butter and jam. Another fine recipe from one of my favorite bakers, John Kirkwood.
Below are the ingredients. Measure them all out beforehand, and then you can bake along with him. I suggest watching the video all the way through before you get started. This makes 6 rolls.
This is a very, very wet dough, so use it whenever you’re making pizza bianca, pizza without sauce. It’s tricky to make, but also a fun, and a great addition to your pizza repertoire! There are a few versions of it online, and most seem to be inspired by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery, but the methods are kind of complicated, so my version is below, with photos. My favorite topping is potatoes and I’ve included instructions for that; another great topping would be caramelized onions, blue cheese and figs.
130g bread flour (1-1/2 cups)
130g all purpose flour (1-1/2 cups)
1/4 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
285g room temp water (1-1/4 cups)
olive oil
Combine flours, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
On low speed, slowly pour in the water, mixing until ingredients are combined
Increase to medium high, and mix for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and cleanly pulls away from the sides of the mixing bowl. It’s very wet, but it’ll start to come together.
Scrape down sides of bowl to combine all the bits. Cover, and let rise 2 to 4 hours, until bubbly and doubled in size. (Rise time depends on temperature of your kitchen
2 Yukon gold (or red new) potatoes, thinly sliced (use a mandolin if you’ve got one)
1 small onion, halved, then sliced and separated
1~2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Salt, pepper, chili flakes
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Meanwhile, prep the potatoes and onion: Once sliced, combine potatoes, onions, slat and pepper (and crushed red chili flakes) with1 tablespoon olive oil, and mix to coat.
After an hour, go ahead an preheat the oven to 440 degrees.
Once the dough has risen sufficiently, pour it into a very lightly greased baking sheet. Too much oil, and it’ll just slip and slide.
Spread the dough out with your hands (don’t pull the sides, just push it around). If it springs back, just give it a rest for awhile and try again.
Evenly layer potatoes over the surface of the dough up to the very edge, and decorate with rosemary sprigs. or about 1 inch from the edge if you desire a crust on your pizza.
Do a final dusting of salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.
Bake about 30 minutes, until sides and bottom is golden brown.
Breademic 