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Everyday Sourdough Bread

20.09.18 By nick Leave a Comment

Easy Sourdough for Every Day

Sometimes in life, a good breakfast comes in handy.  And by sometimes, I mean every single day.  Breakfast is one of those means that I just can’t live without and make sure that my family has a good meal before they go about their busy days.

Our morning routine includes rousing the kids from their slumber, making sure they get dressed, and providing a health breakfast for them as they go about their day at school and beyond.  For us, that means making them something every day.  Either in the form of eggs and toast, oatmeal, or fresh fruit and milk, we make sure they have something we know is good for them before they head out the door.

… It’s not always easy, but we try!

Enter the Sourdough

Making bread at home is a lifesaver in the breakfast department.  Homemade bread is so much more nutritious than most of the store bought stuff.  It’s so much more flavorful too.  Whenever we run out of homemade bread the kids ask if I can make some real quick.  While I can’t just wiggle my nose and pull out a fresh loaf from the oven, I can plan ahead and have something made for next time. 

Note that all the equipment that I’ve used for this bread is listed at the bottom of this post!

That’s probably one of my favorite things about baking bread.  People often think that it’s difficult or that you have to be super precise but the truth is, baking bread is really a forgiving process and once you figure out all of the puzzle pieces, you can rearrange your baking cycle and come up with a schedule that really works well in your favor.

This bread was no exception. 

I started it on a Tuesday after the kids got on the bus.  I just mixed the ingredients and took the dog for a walk.


  • mixing
  • ready for autolyse

When making bread at home, one of the most impactful things you can do is let it rest.  “Autolyse” comes from the word “autolysis” which means “self digest”.  In other words, the dough starts to eat the nutrients in the ingredients and gluten starts to form and flavor starts to develop.  This autolyse period is often forgotten or skipped with great detriment to the overall result of your loaf in terms of crust, crumb, and flavor.

I let this dough autolyse for about half an hour before adding the salt and the diastatic malt powder, then I mixed it in the KitchenAid for about 10 minutes on first speed (the one past “mix”).

  • everyday sourdough
  • everyday sourdough

A brief word on diastatic malt powder.  I use it exclusively for sourdough breads.  The diastatic malt powder acts as a “slow burn” type of fuel for the bread.  It provides the bacteria in the bread the food that it needs to keep the bread going in the right direction over the period of a few days.  I don’t use much, usually just .5% (in this case it amounted to only 3 grams) but it’s enough to make a difference.

After mixing the dough I let it rest at room temperature while I left for work.  I normally come home around lunch time to take the dog for a walk so at lunchtime I put the dough in the fridge until I was ready to continue.

  • everyday sourdough
  • everyday sourdough
    covered and ready to chill

When I got home from work took it out of the fridge and let it acclimate to room temperature for about 2 or 3 hours.  Then I did a few rounds of stretch and folds spread about 45 minutes apart.

  • everyday sourdough

After the third stretch and fold I shaped it and put it in a floured proofing basket, covered it in plastic and put it in the fridge.

The next evening I finally was ready to bake, so I remove it from the fridge and preheated the oven to 450˚F for about 45 minutes.

everyday sourdough brad scored for baking

I carefully slid the bread on to the covered Emile Henry cloche and baked it with the lid for 28 minutes (let me real, it was half an hour!) and without the lid for another 15.

everyday sourdough

Once it was baked I removed it and put it on a cooling tray for about half an hour before tasting it.  It was worth the wait and made for a delicious breakfast this morning!

Everyday Sourdough Bread Recipe

Starter build
100g whole wheat
100ml water

Dough
150g whole wheat
300g AP flour
275ml water
14g salt
3g diastatic malt powder

  • Take all of the ingredients minus the salt and malt powder and combine.
  • Cover and let autolyse for 45 minutes.
  • Knead in the mixer or by hand until well developed.  This was about 10 minutes in the mixer at first speed (the one past the ‘mix’ speed).
  • Cover and begin bulk fermentation.
    • Do 3 stretch and folds at 45 minute intervals.
  • Cover and put in the fridge overnight or bulk ferment at room temperature for another 2-3 hours.
  • Place on to a slightly floured surface and pre-shape.
    • Cover with a clean towel and bench rest for half hour.
  • Shape and place in a proofing basket for 2-3 hours or overnight in the fridge.
  • Remove from the fridge and pre-heat the oven at 450˚F for 45 minutes with your baking vessel in place.
  • Flip bread on to parchment paper, score, and carefully load in the oven.
  • Bake with the lid on for half an hour and with the lid off for another 15 minutes.

Items used in this Everyday Sourdough bread

  • King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour
  • King Arthur All Purpose Flour
  • KitchenAid Mixer
  • Proofing Basket
  • Kitchen Scale
  • Bread Lame
  • Towels

Filed Under: Bread Tagged With: easy bread, easy sourdough, everyday sourdough bread, levito madre, sourdough, sourdough bread, table loaf

My First Attempt at Einkorn

6.09.18 By nick Leave a Comment

Baking with Ancient Grains

If you’re like me and love to read about bread and home baking, you probably read other blogs (c’mon, it’s ok to admit it!) and look at those amazing pictures on Instagram too.  After seeing a wave of bakers try their hand at Einkorn, I just had to see for myself what all the fuss was all about. 

So, naturally, my first instinct was to research what the heck Einkorn was.  After a cursory search I read that it is an ancient grain and after looking at some instagram posts I saw that it can be fairly hard to work with because gluten development doesn’t really happen in the way that it does with “modern” breads using bread or other commonly found off-the-shelf type flours for baking like whole wheat and all-purpose.

Digging a little further, I found an article on the website of the Plant Science archives of the Penn State University department of Agriculture.   That post told me that it’s a very ancient wheat, approximately 10,000 years old and is an ancestor to our modern wheat.  It is indeed an “ancient” wheat!  The article even mentions that it contains less toxins and could be better for folks with gluten sensitivities.  It also contained a lot of scientific data that I won’t pretend to really understand so I’ll leave that to you to go over there and check it out.

So, after reading about it and seeing delicious loaves of bread resulting from its use, I just had to try some!  So I ordered a bag of Einkorn online and a few days later it arrived.  In whole wheat form, which I knew was the case but knew that it added a layer of complexity to the project.

… so I put off making this bread for a few months. 🙂

Milling Einkorn at Home

If you have never milled any wheat at home, you’ll quickly realize two things:

  1. Milling is hard!
    and
  2. Milling is messy!

However, it’s very satisfying knowing that you can mill fresh wheat at home with simple tools.  It’s actually a very easy process if you think about it.  Break down the wheat in to usable flour and discard the rest.  Some folks use dedicated wheat mills for to make fresh flour at home, but I have used my old Capresso coffee grinder before and did it again for this bread with good results.  The thing to keep in mind is that wheat is VERY hard so you need something with some “oomph” to get the job done.  A standard blade grinder is not a great idea nor is a weak grinder with plastic parts because the wheat could break your machine.  Since we upgraded our coffee grinder a few years ago I have used the Capresso several times with pretty good results.

The first step is to put the whole grain in the hopper and set the grinder to it’s most coarse setting.  Run the grains through and you’ll end up with something that is not too dissimilar from oat meal.  It’ll look flaky and not at all like flour.  And that’s ok, it’s supposed to look like that at this point.

Milling Einkorn at Home
milling einkorn at home

After you go through this first step, put it all back in the hopper and run it through at a medium/coarse setting.  I’d say that if your coarse setting is 10 and your finest setting is 0, run it through a second time at a 7.  Repeat again at a 4 and then again at a 0.

Once you’ve milled it all the way through, put flour a little bit at a time in a fine mesh sieve and sift the flour on to a big bowl.  This will take a while and be dusty so be prepared to commit some time to this task.  Your end result will be one bowl of fresh flour and one bowl of the discarded chaff.

the chaff
Einkorn wheat after it’s been sifted
einkorn flour
Einkorn wheat after it’s been sifted, this is the finished product

Baking with Einkorn

Being aware that Einkorn doesn’t have/produce much gluten gives us a heads up that in this recipe, I may have used too much water so adjust your bakes accordingly!  Next time I make this bread I will either increase the quantity of whole wheat or decrease the hydration by 5% to see the difference.  The dough was a little slack and challenging to shape, but I’m happy with the result.  The bread itself was very tasty with a soft chew, so even if you struggle like I did you will end up with a very good tasting einkorn bread at the end.

I didn’t bake a purely 100% Einkorn bread – in fact, I merely dipped my toes in the Einkorn waters and made a roughly 25% Einkorn loaf, with the other parts being 50% AP Flour and 25% Whole Wheat.  Here’s the formula I used:

  • 800ml Water
  • 500g AP Flour
  • 250g Einkorn Flour
  • 250g Whole Wheat Flour
  • 23g Salt
  • 10g Yeast

Einkorn Bread Dough

  • Mix all the flours together and add all of the water
  • With your hands or a wooden spoon, mix the flour and water to get everything wet.  You’ll have a shaggy mass at this point but keep working it for just a minute.
  • Let it autolyse (a fancy way of saying leave it alone) for at least 45 minutes.
  • Add the salt and yeast and knead for 5 to 10 minutes.
  • In half hour increments, stretch and fold the dough on to itself to help develop strength in your gluten and to aerate the dough.
  • After about 4 or 5 half hour periods, move the dough to a floured work surface, split the dough in 2, and shape to your final shape.
  • Place the dough on to proofing baskets and pre-heat your oven to 500˚F.
  • After the oven is preheated, move the dough in to the oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes.

Note that I baked my loaves in two different vessels, one an Emile Henry ceramic dome and the other a cast iron pan.  Vessels with lids help to create an “oven inside your oven” and stabilizes the temperature at the bread level.  It also helps to trap steam in the chamber so that your crusts develop richer colors and an overall crunchier and artisan texture.


Please note that Makebread.net is an Amazon partner and if you buy products via links on this article we will receive a small fee for referring you.  This also helps to keep the blog going so don’t be shy! 🛍

Filed Under: Bread Tagged With: ancient grain breads, ancient grains, ancient wheat, einkorn, einkorn grain, home milling flour, homemade bread, homemade einkorn, milling einkorn, milling flour

Bread Cloche: Why you should get one NOW.

16.11.16 By nick Leave a Comment

Sourdough on a Cloche

I’ve been hacking around my kitchen for quite some time trying to figure out how to make my loaves look as good as they do at a bakery.  At one point, I broke one of our tea kettles on purpose and tried to inject steam in to the oven via high temperature plastic tube in to the oven during the baking process.  You can imagine how that went.  I also tried using an electric steamer to inject vapor in the oven and the bread.  I’ve tried lava rocks in pans, covered bricks, pizza stones, baking steels, baking on the grill, dumping water in the oven throughout baking, and several other hair brained attempts all with very little success.  Then one day I tried a bread cloche and was blown away.  “Why didn’t I try this before?!” I thought to myself.  That was the golden ticket.  An “oven inside an oven” where the bread’s own moisture would be used to create the perfect environment for a golden, crispy, crunch, bubbly loaf.




After baking with a cloche almost exclusively for a couple of years, I found the Emile Henry cloche while browsing through Amazon.  I decided to reach out to them and they sent me a demo unit that I used for this post.

Emile Henry Cloche

I’ve used other cloches in the past but this one is a little lighter and much more attractive than my old clay setup.  The Emile Henry cloche is made in France and seems to be very well made.  It’s “fire engine red” coating is nice to look at and the whole thing is much lighter than I expected.  When I first received the box I thought they hadn’t sent me the right thing since it was so light, but it punches way above its weight in the oven.

emile henry made in france

This would be the perfect gift for bakers!

I used my trusty 30% whole wheat sourdough loaf to put this cloche through its paces and made two loaves.

The recipe is as follows.  You need 200g of starter so prepare it the night before.  If you don’t want to use a starter but would rather use commercial yeast, add 100mL to the water you add and 100g to the AP flour weight.

[table id=15 /]

  • The night before you bake, feed your starter so it’s mature and ready to go on bake day.
    Mature Sourdough Starter
  • Mix your flours and gently stir to combine them, and add the starter to it.
  • Start incorporating your water and save about 150mL for now.
  • Mix the flour and water until you have a dry mass, and add just enough water so that everything comes together.  Cover for about 15 minutes and let things relax a bit then add the remainder of your water.
    Sourdough Bread
  • Knead until things start to come together and then cover again for about half hour to 45 minutes.
  • Knead again for just a minute and cover again for half hour.
  • Knead again for just a bit and cover again, this time let it remain undisturbed for about 3 hours.
    img_3701
  • When it has visibly grown in size and bubbles start to form, dump it out to a lightly floured surface and divide in two.
  • Gently pre-shape the dough and let it relax for 10 minutes.
    Sourdough Bread pre-shaped
  • Shape your dough to its final shape and place in covered proofing baskets for another 1-2 hours.
    whole wheat sourdough
  • In the meantime, place your cloche in the oven and pre-heat to 475˚F for 30-45 minutes.
  • Gently turn one loaf on to a parchment paper lined peel and score the loaf.
  • Carefully load it in to the cloche and cover for 15-20 minutes and bake the remaining 10-15 minutes without a lid.
  • Again, carefully remove your loaf from the oven and load up loaf number 2.  Repeat the baking process.
  • Let the loaves cool before cracking in and devouring!

Emile Henry Bread Cloche

Thanks to the Emile Henry Cloche, this loaf came out crusty and hitting all the right notes.  The cloche took approximately half an hour to heat up before I slid the bread in to it.

I’ve made several breads on this cloche and have not yet been disappointed.  It traps the steam in the cooking chamber and helps your bread stay moist during the first half of the bake, which aids in oven spring and crust development.

While they sent me this demo unit to review, I’ll be keeping in my regular lineup from here on out!

Filed Under: Bread, Bread Baking Supplies Tagged With: artisan bread, artisan bread accessories, bread cloche, emile henry, emile henry bread cloche, emile henry cloche, learn how to make artisan bread, make artisan bread at home today, sourdough bread

Josey Baker’s Lesson 1 Bread

6.05.16 By nick Leave a Comment

Josey Baker Bread Lesson 1 Tutorial

It wasn’t until the very recent past that I heard about Josey Baker. Josey, who happens to have a bakery (he swears that’s his real name!), is a baker by almost accident. He says that one day a friend of his stopped by his apartment in San Francisco, where he used to be a teacher, and left him some sourdough starter as a thanks for having him over for a few days. His friend also left behind a set of simple instructions that Josey studied for several days before trying to bake.

[Read more…] about Josey Baker’s Lesson 1 Bread

Filed Under: Bread, Bread Tutorials Tagged With: bread in a bread pan, easy bread, josey baker, josey baker bread, josey baker bread tutorial, josey bakery, straight dough bread, white bread, yeasted bread

Reminder: Don’t Underproof Your Loaves!

29.04.16 By nick Leave a Comment

failed tartine bread

One of the things I want to do on this site is to share with you the (many) mistakes that I make as a home baker. Not all breads are beautiful, not all loaves are perfect. For one reason or another, I often mess up and want to use this space to share with you pitfalls you will likely face when baking in your own kitchen.

[Read more…] about Reminder: Don’t Underproof Your Loaves!

Filed Under: Bread, Bread Tutorials Tagged With: baking, bread, bread fail, bread tutorial, failed tartine, failure, homemade bread, sourdough, tartine country bread, wild yeast

Blueberry Bagels, NY Style

12.04.16 By nick Leave a Comment

Blueberry Bagels

Fresh bagels with a little schmear on it are hard to beat. Hard to beat unless you add blueberries to the mix, that is. That’s exactly what these are, delicious New York Style Blueberry Bagels.

So what makes a bagel NY Style? I looked this up and found that there are predominantly two types of bagels in North America. The Montreal Style and the New York style. The difference between the two types of bagels are subtle but notable. While the Montreal bagel is made with malt, sugar, no salt, and is boiled in honey-sweetened water before being baked in a wood-fired oven, the New York Style bagel contains salt in addition to the malt and sugar, is boiled in plain water and is baked in a standard oven.



[Read more…] about Blueberry Bagels, NY Style

Filed Under: Bagels, Bread, Bread Tutorials Tagged With: bagel boiling, bagel tutorial, bagels, Blueberry bagels, boiling bagels, home made bagels, homemade bagels, how to make bagels, montreal bagel, ny style bagel, yeasted bagel

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My name is Nick, an amateur bread baker living in Pennsylvania. I have been making bread since my neighbor in grad school showed me that you could make great bread at home and have fun doing it. Since then I've been hooked and am always looking for ways to improve my baking. Find out more about me and let's get baking together!

Recent Breads

  • Classic French Bread Recipe: Pain Ordinaire Careme
  • Cinnamon Morning Buns with Cardamom
  • Review: Emile Henry Baguette Baker
  • Cinnamon Roll Challah Bread aka ChanniyumRoll
  • Greek Feta Pull Apart Bread – Step By Step
  • Hokkaido Milk Bread
  • Bread with Yeasted Water
  • Everyday Sourdough Bread
  • My First Attempt at Einkorn
  • How to revive a dead sourdough starter

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  • Classic French Bread Recipe: Pain Ordinaire Careme
  • Cinnamon Morning Buns with Cardamom
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  • Cinnamon Roll Challah Bread aka ChanniyumRoll
  • Greek Feta Pull Apart Bread – Step By Step

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