New World Sourdough

1. Embrace Instinct and Patience in Sourdough Baking

Make sure you balance your expectation for perfection with an appreciation of the processes, showing satisfaction with yourself and your bread every step of the way.

Baking is creative. The author views baking as a world of creativity and passion, deeply connected to his cultural roots in Honduras and New Orleans. He encourages bakers to approach the craft without judgment or expectation, finding satisfaction in the process itself rather than solely focusing on a perfect outcome. This mindset allows for greater appreciation and enjoyment of baking with your own hands.

Instinct and patience. The journey from home baker to professional involves cultivating craft and acquiring knowledge, which takes time and practice. The author emphasizes two core philosophies: being understanding that there are no strict rules and embracing instincts, and taking your time, cherishing moments of struggle and experimentation. Consistency and predictability come with patience and passion.

Variables are constant. Even seasoned bakers deal with daily fluctuations in variables like temperature and dough behavior. This means patience is always required to achieve baking goals. By sticking with the process and using passion to guide the craft, desired results will follow, even if the technique doesn't match exactly every time.

2. New World Sourdough: Beyond the Traditional Loaf

I perceive sourdough as simply a means to make different kinds of bread rise in a healthier and more natural way.

Sourdough is versatile. The author challenges the common perception that sourdough is only a crusty, sour "San Francisco" style loaf. He sees it primarily as a natural leavening agent that can be used to make a vast array of breads, including those traditionally unleavened or made with commercial yeast. This "New World" approach embraces creative flavors and simplified processes.

Cultural inspiration. Growing up in New Orleans with Honduran parents exposed the author to diverse bread traditions, like his mother's coconut milk tortillas and pan de coco. These experiences shaped his view that delicious, naturally fermented breads can take many forms, from dense, flavorful loaves like pan de coco to light, airy ones. The environment and emotional connection to roots influence the bread created.

Focus on flavor. The book aims to simplify bread making, celebrating creative flavor combinations while appreciating the quality of every loaf. It encourages bakers to lose expectations of what sourdough "should" be and explore different textures and tastes. The goal is to inspire creation and exploration, helping bakers understand themselves better through the process.

3. Essential Tools and Ingredients for Home Baking

Your scale will be your best friend while using this book.

Minimalist approach. Cultivating the craft of sourdough baking at home can be simple and minimalistic, without requiring specialized or expensive equipment. While some tools are encouraged for consistency, improvisation is often possible using common kitchen items. Weighing ingredients is crucial for reliable results.

Key tools include:

• Kitchen scale (digital preferred for accuracy)
• Bowls and jars (various sizes, with lids)
• Dough/bench scraper (or a knife/hands)
• Proofing vessels (bannetons, bowls with towels, couche, cutting board)
• Baking vessels (loaf tins, pizza stone, cast iron Dutch oven, sheet pans)

Staple ingredients. A well-stocked pantry with basic bread ingredients is essential for spontaneous baking urges. The author primarily uses a few types of flour, emphasizing the benefits of whole grains for flavor and starter health. Water temperature is noted as important, and salt is a key flavor enhancer.

Ingredient list highlights:

• Flours: All-Purpose, Bread/Strong, Gluten-Free (oat, rice, coconut), Rye, Spelt, Whole-Wheat
• Water (warm and room temperature)
• Salt (kosher, sea)
• Wild Yeast (from your starter)
• Enrichers (butter, coconut oil, olive oil, sugar, eggs, milk)

4. Mastering Your Sourdough Starter is Fundamental

Without a doubt, this is the most important technique you will need to master to make the recipes in this book.

Starter is the leaven. The sourdough starter, a mixture of flour and water that cultivates wild yeasts from the air, is the natural leavening agent used in all recipes. Creating and maintaining a healthy, active starter is the foundational skill for this type of baking. While it can feel stressful initially, it's presented as an easy process requiring only minutes a day, patience, and a warm spot.

Building the starter. The author recommends starting with 100% rye flour due to its nutrients, which can yield an active starter in 3-7 days depending on climate. The process involves daily feedings of equal parts flour and warm water (e.g., 100g starter, 100g rye, 100g water), discarding most of the old starter each day. Observing changes like bubbles, smell (from unpleasant to sweet/acidic), and volume increase indicates activity.

Recognizing maturity. Around day 5, the starter should show predictable rise and fall cycles, doubling in size at its peak. A ripe, mature starter (past its peak) has a strong acidic aroma and a soft, weblike texture. An active starter at peak smells slightly sweeter and is relatively strong when pulled. Monitoring the level after feeding helps track its cycle and determine readiness for baking.

5. Building and Maintaining Your Active Levain

When your starter reaches its peak and doubles in size after a feeding, it is ready to make bread rise, and is called a levain.

Levain is active starter. A levain is essentially a portion of your mature sourdough starter that has been fed with specific flours and water for a recipe and allowed to become active (doubled in size, at peak). This is the first step for most sourdough recipes, ensuring the dough has enough leavening power. Having extra mature starter is useful to keep the cycle going.

Maintenance methods. The book outlines several ways to maintain a starter and build levains. One method is daily feeding at ambient temperature, allowing familiarity with its readiness signs. Another is weekly feeding and refrigeration, taking it out to warm up and build a levain when ready to bake. The author's preferred method is to feed the main starter once or twice daily, building enough volume so that the portion needed for a recipe serves as the levain, and the remainder continues to mature as the starter.

Recipe-specific builds. Each recipe provides a specific levain build (different flour types and water quantities) tailored to that bread. Regardless of the maintenance method used, following the recipe's build ensures the correct leavening power and flavor profile for the final dough. The example build (100g starter, 200g bread flour, 180g water) yields 480g of levain, allowing for excess to become the maintained starter.

6. Mixing Dough: Getting Your Hands Dirty

When you are hand-mixing dough, the key is to accept that you might make a mess and have sticky hands.

Hand mixing focus. The book primarily focuses on hand-mixing techniques, encouraging bakers to get tactile with the dough to understand its feel at different stages. While stand mixers are mentioned for specific doughs like brioche, the core methods rely on manual manipulation. Making a mess is part of the learning process.

Rustic dough method. For non-enriched rustic breads (high hydration), the mixing involves gradually adding water. First, dissolve levain in most of the water, add flour, and squeeze to combine. Slowly add more water over 5-10 minutes, squeezing without tearing. After a 20-minute rest for gluten development, add salt and remaining water in stages, squeezing until smooth. This method builds strength gradually in wetter doughs.

Enriched/lower hydration method. For enriched doughs (containing fat, sugar, eggs, milk) and some lower hydration rustic doughs, all ingredients (except sometimes fat/enrichers added later) are combined at once. The dough is mixed by squeezing in a bowl, then turned onto a work surface and kneaded using the palm to push and fingers to pull back until smooth. This method is simpler for less wet doughs.

7. Shaping and Proofing for Structure and Rise

Proofing dough is necessary for your bread to get an additional rise after it has been shaped, but before it goes into the oven.

Shaping techniques. Shaping gives the dough its final form and builds tension, which is important for structure during proofing and baking. The author outlines several methods, noting that a floured surface helps with sticky dough. The choice of shaping method often depends on the desired final shape and proofing vessel.

Common shaping methods:

• Tension Roll: Pat dough into a rectangle, pull edges into center, push outward to create tension, roll tightly. Good for loaves/tins.
• Rounding: Fold corners into the middle, flip, use palms in a circular motion to tighten into a ball. Good for round loaves/bowls.
• Balling Up: Smaller version of rounding, folding corners into middle, then rolling with palm/fingers into small balls. Good for buns, rolls, pizza dough portions.

Proofing methods. Proofing allows the shaped dough to rise again before baking. Dough should be covered to prevent a dry skin. Proofed dough is bubbly, springy when poked, and jiggly. Overproofed dough loses structure and spring. Baking overproofed dough seam-side up can help.

Proofing vessels/methods:

• Bowl/Banneton/Basket: Lined with a towel, dusted with flour. Seam up for scoring, seam down for natural opening. Can be ambient or refrigerated.
• Cutting Board/Couche/Kitchen Towel: Dusted surface, dough placed seam-side down (on board) or side-by-side with folds (couche/towel).
• Loaf Tin/Sheet Pan: Oiled tin or parchment-lined pan. Dough proofed in its baking vessel or a similar shape. Covered with a plastic bag.

8. Baking Methods for Optimal Crust and Crumb

Adding steam is important for certain rustic breads that need to expand during the bake and then harden to form a nice, crispy crust.

Baking completes the process. After proofing, the dough is baked using methods tailored to the desired bread characteristics. Temperature and steam play crucial roles, especially for rustic loaves. High heat is common for rustic breads, while enriched breads bake at lower temperatures.

Steam is key for rustic loaves. Steam prevents the crust from hardening too quickly, allowing the loaf to expand fully (oven spring). Removing steam later allows the crust to solidify and darken.

• Cast Iron Vessels: Preheat vessel at high temp (500°F), transfer dough, score (or seam down), bake covered (steam) then uncovered (crust). Temp often reduced after lid removal.
• Sheet Pan or Pizza Stone: Preheat pan/stone at high temp (500°F). Use a separate pan with ice in the oven to generate steam. Dough transferred to hot surface, scored, baked. Temp often reduced.

Baking without steam. Enriched breads and some rustic loaves baked in tins or on sheet pans without a separate steam source rely on the dough's moisture or added fats/sugars for crust development.

• Loaf Tin: Simple transfer of proofed dough in tin to oven. Scoring is optional.
• Sheet Pan: Dough proofed and baked on a lined sheet pan. Egg washes or oil/sugar toppings can influence crust color and texture.

9. Rustic Breads: Celebrating Savory Flavors and Texture

In the rustic breads chapter (chapter 2), I include breads baked at a high heat and that have a dark, crispy crust.

Defining rustic. Rustic breads in this book are typically baked at high temperatures to achieve a dark, crunchy exterior. While some may contain small amounts of enriching ingredients like olive oil, their overall texture and characteristics align with traditional, savory loaves. These breads are versatile, suitable for sandwiches, dipping, or eating plain.

Variety of rustic loaves. The chapter includes a range of breads showcasing different flours, hydration levels, and cultural influences. Examples highlight the diversity within the rustic category:

• Pan Rustico (Country Bread): A baseline loaf with flour, water, salt, and starter.
• Pan Integral (Whole-Wheat Bread): Higher whole-wheat content, requiring more water.
• Olive Oil and Sea Salt Tin Loaf: Rustic characteristics but baked in a tin with added fat.
• Birote: Mexican bread with beer and lime, meant for tortas ahogadas.
• Pan de Agua: Puerto Rican water bread baked in a cold oven with steam.
• Ciabatta: High hydration, irregular shape, baked with minimal handling.

Flavor and use. These breads often feature whole grains, seeds, olives, or cultural additions like plantains or coffee grounds (Pan de Café, though listed in enriched, has rustic characteristics). They are designed to complement savory dishes or stand alone with simple toppings like butter or oil. The focus is on robust flavor and satisfying texture.

10. Enriched Breads: Indulging in Softness and Sweetness

In the enriched breads chapter (chapter 3), I include doughs that have a larger percentage of milk, eggs, fat or oil (butter, olive oil, etc.), and some type of sugar (honey or brown sugar).

Defining enriched. Enriched breads are characterized by the addition of fats, sugars, eggs, or milk, resulting in a softer, more delicate interior and a lighter crust compared to rustic loaves. These doughs are often baked at lower temperatures. The author includes recipes that might surprise those who only associate sourdough with rustic loaves, demonstrating the starter's versatility.

Sweet and savory options. The enriched chapter features a mix of sweet and savory breads, often inspired by cultural traditions or creative experimentation. The starter provides natural leavening and a subtle tang that complements the richness.

• Choco Pan de Coco: A chocolate version of the traditional coconut bread.
• Bananas Foster Sourdough: Inspired by the classic dessert, with caramelized banana filling.
• Cinny Raisin Bagels: A high-quality take on a classic sweet bagel.
• Pecan Praline Monkey Bread: A pull-apart bread featuring New Orleans pecan pralines.
• Semitas de Yema: Honduran brioche-style bread with a crisp sugar topping.
• Whole-Grain Brioche Buns: A healthier version of buttery brioche, great for sandwiches.

Texture and appearance. These breads typically have a soft crumb, a less developed, lighter crust, and often incorporate fillings, glazes, or toppings that enhance their rich nature. They are perfect for breakfast, dessert, or as a base for flavorful sandwiches, showcasing that sourdough can indeed be soft, sweet, and indulgent.

Last updated: May 20, 2025