re: Baking Bread 101: Beginning a sourdough starter (pics)

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Should I let it bench rest after the first shaping?

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Yes. You should divide and do a preshape before allowing the loaves to bench rest for 30 minutes. Then you do your final shaping before putting into your proofing baskets.

I agree with you on both accounts. I usually bulk ferment in my oven with the light on so the temp hovers around 85 degrees and my dough ends up around 78-80 when bulk is finished. This past weekend I was using my oven and had to bulk at room temp which is about 68-70 and my final dough temp was 74 or 75. Bulk lasted an hour longer than usual and the sourness in my bread was much more pronounced due to the colder bulk ferment.

I bench rested them, reshaped them, and now they're proofing in two bowls. I dont have bannetons yet.

I need a nice 12 qt round container with lid, and bannetons. I have everything else Forkish recommends. I was trying to fold in a 12 qt Cambro that's square and it was awkward.


I'll take a photo of the baked bread and a crumb shot no matter what it looks like.

Just opened the lid to let it get its crust and it actually looks like a boule of bread

I was expecting a pancake.

I didn't score it, and it didn't really open up like I thought it would.

Forkish doesn't score. I think I will on the second one.

r/breadit has some crazy scores on it.

Just out of the oven

Oooh, you cut it too soon! Let a loaf like that sit at least an hour before you cut it. The cooling is part of the cooking, the starches in the crumb will continue to set until the loaf is room temp. You probably noticed that the crumb is a bit sticky and tears rather than slices neatly.

Overall appearance is good; scoring will "dress it up" a bit more. The Forkish style loaves take nicely to mix-ins. 90-120 grams of stuff (coarsely broken pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped olives, 2 T herbes de provence, grated zest of a couple of lemons & some chopped rosemary, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, dried cherries & dark chocolate chips, etc) will flavor a loaf without overwhelming it. Do the initial autolyse, add yeast/salt, and stretch & fold at least once before adding the stuff. Plop it on top, then fold it in just the way you'd do the salt/yeast.

I don't use a bread knife on fat rustic boules. Use a sharp chef's knife. Cut the whole round in half, turn the half cut face down on a cutting board. Then cut slices as needed. Those slices will fit into a standard toaster, and the half you're not slicing will stay fresh longer if stored cut face down on a board, wrapped in a cloth.

Here's the 2nd loaf from my first batch. I scored it with a too dull of knife.




Definitely getting bannetons and double edged razor blades soon. And maybe a lodge combo cooker to do two at once.

Anyone baking today? Four loaves of sunflower, four loaves of walnut, eight loaves of challah all on the shaped rise right now.