Mixing

The initial mixing of your dough in a sourdough recipe has two primary purposes:

• Combine all the wet and dry ingredients into a homogeneous mixture, and
• Being stretching the dough to align and strengthen the gluten strands. This step is also known as “gluten development.”

Some recipes call for very little up-front mixing.  They simply call for combining the ingredients and letting the dough rest.  This method results in minimal gluten development during the mixing steps and these recipes usually call for more handling in later steps (e.g., stretch and fold or coil folds).

Some recipes call for fairly heavy-handed mixing up front.  This process is known as front-end gluten development.  By handling the dough more aggressively in the initial mixing process, the dough does not require as much handling later in the process (e.g., stretch and folds in bulk fermentation).

It is possible to make sourdough bread with very little handling.  You can mix combine the ingredients, let the dough bulk ferment to the target rise, then shape it with no additional handling.  This approach is simpler, less time consuming and produces perfectly fine loaves.  However, loaves with less handling and consequently less gluten development will generally not have as tall loaf structure, or open crumb as a loaf with more gluten development and more structure building during bulk fermentation.  If you want a simple daily sourdough recipe, consider recipes with less handling.  If you are entering a sourdough photo contest, go for the recipes with more handling for the taller, airy loaves.  

You can also mix your dough using a stand mixer. Be careful. It is easy to overwork the dough in a stand mixer. 

Sourdough is a “high hydration” dough which is extremely sticky.  Traditional kneading methods are not very easy or effective with high hydration doughs.

The “slap and fold” method is a method of hand-mixing the dough.  It was popularized by Richard Bertinet.  The method is used instead of hand-mixing or machine mixing.  The benefits of slap and fold are: 1) it is a very efficient way to combine ingredients, 2) it starts building gluten during the initial mixing process, and 3) it begins to aerate the dough and accelerate fermentation.  I use this method when I want to quickly combine all ingredients and accelerate the process.  If you do something like slap and fold it can obviate the need for doing stretch and folds, or lots of dough handling in bulk fermentation.  

With all hand-mixing methods, it is important to incorporate rest times into the process to let the gluten relax and not get overworked.  I prefer to do 2-3 minutes of mixing, followed by at least 2-3 minutes of rest before resuming.

See Richard Bertinet’s video below for an example of “slap and fold.” 

This method should not be confused with “stretch and fold” which is a different technique used in bulk fermentation.” 

The Rubaud method is a popular method of hand mixing the dough.  The Rubaud method develops gluten strength up front in the process.  In the Rubuaud method, you gently lift and pull the dough in a bowl, mimicking the motion of a diving-arm mixer (or perhaps the diving arm-mixer is mimicking the Rubaud method!) 

By building gluten strength during the initial dough mixing, you can handle the dough much more gently during bulk fermentation.  Some bakers do a combination of Rubaud mixing and a few gentle coil folds in bulk fermentation. 

As with all hand mixing methods, the “rest” time is as important as the mixing time.  Try hand mixing for 5 minutes, then let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then repeat.  Your dough should slightly firm up during each rest.  This technique of mixing and resting makes the next round of hand mixing more productive. 

See video below for an example of the Rubaud method. 

Yes.  Many kitchen mixers are different speeds and different style mixing attachments.  Consult the manufacturer of your mixer for their recommendations on how best to use it for high-hydration sourdough.  

See video below from Simple Sourdough, for an example of using a stand mixer. 

Measurement errors happen from time to time.  Usually when you are mixing your dough you realize it feels too dry or too wet and cannot recall if you added the correct amount of the ingredients.  

If this happens, go back to your recipe and check the quantities of flour and water.  If the dough is too dry, for example, weight the dough.  It should equal the sum of the flour and water from the recipe.  If the dough weighs less than those two ingredients, you must have added too much flour or too little water.  In this case, if you cannot determine the exact error, add water in small quantities until the dough feels right.

If you are still in bulk fermentation, sprinkle the salt into the dough with a little extra water. If you’ve already shaped the loaves, you can sprinkle some salt on top (not the full amount), but at that point in the process all you can do us think about how to add salt with toppings, such as salted butter. 

It is possible to make sourdough with no salt. This is known as traditional Tuscan bread.  It works but doesn’t taste as good (in my opinion). 

If you’ve accidentally made an unsalted loaf, consider making herbed toast.  Slice your loaf, spray or brush it with olive oil, add salt and herb seasonings and lightly warm or toast the slices.  This is wonderful to serve with wine, cheese or appetizers.

The “bassinage” method is a mixing technique where all of the water is not added at the same time.  Some of the water is reserved and slowly added during the mixing process. 

Desired Dough Temperature is a calculation to determine the water temperature required to bring your overall mix of dough up to a desired dough temperature.  For example, if your ingredients are at room temperature, you can bring your overall dough temperature up to 80F/27C by using water at a temperature of 85F/29C. 

How is the calculation done?  There are a few common methods.  

Here is a article from King Arthur Baking that describes the  “standard” 3-factor and 4-factor methods in detail. 

How to Calculate Desired Dough Temperature, King Arthur Baking

I only find these methods to be reliable if your desired dough temperature is close to your room temperature.  The more your DDT deviates from room temperature, the less reliable this method is. 

In the following clip from the video, “Bulk Fermentation – Mastering Temperature and Time,” I describe the different methods of calculating Desired Dough Temperature and a new method I’ve developed called the “Gram-Weighted, Density Adjusted Method.” 

Here is a calculator that roughly approximates this more accurate method Rise — Smart DDT Calculator (madebywindmill.com)

During initial mixing, sticky dough can occur for a few reasons: 

1. Too high hydration – Every type of flour has a saturation point and certain flours can handle more or less water than others.  If your dough is very sticky, try reducing your hydration by 5% of the flour weight.  For example, reduce from 75% hydration to 70% hydration. 
2. Acidic Starter – If your starter is past peak and/or acidic, it can cause the dough to be very sticky.  Try using your starter close to peak.  
3. Flour Types – Certain types of flour are more sticky than others.  Rye flour in particular is very sticky to work with.