In May of 2020, @homebreadbaker wrote on the Breadtopia blog about a unique way to make sourdough bread in this article: Slow, Lazy Sourdough Bread. He used very little sourdough starter in the dough — a couple of grams, basically what might cover the tip of a small spoon dipped into starter. This aspect of his method was similar to the respectus panis protocol developed a few years earlier by the French baking association Les Ambassadeurs du Pain, but one of several differences was that @homebreadbaker’s starter came directly from his refrigerator supply, which is fed every month or two. With a small amount of neglected starter, the dough rises slowly, but with patience, turns out gorgeous, flavorful and mildly sour. To see a comparison test of two doughs, one with a tiny amount of cold unfed starter and one with a typical amount of ripe starter, check out this experiment: Challenging Sourdough Starter Convention. I tend to use this slow lazy method when I’m too busy to refresh my starter and/or need to mix a dough in the evening and not worry about it doubling in the middle of the night.
Like many sourdough bakers, @homebreadbaker continued experimenting since the slow lazy method was published, especially in the areas of gluten development and crust texture, and in 2024, he updated the original blog post to add strategies for a stronger dough and a more tender crust. He uses his stand mixer in two stages with a long rest in between, and he bakes the dough at both the high temp of 500°F and the relatively low temp of 375°F, with the lid on for the entire duration of the bake.
@homebreadbaker’s slow lazy method with updated mixing and baking techniques
Since the update last November, I’ve been wanting to try these mixing and baking methods in hopes of making a whole grain bread with similarly impressive oven spring and score bloom. My dreams came true! My bread had fantastic volume and a lovely ear, and this was even with 30% of the flour being Kamut, which tends to result in a dense (delicious) bread. Needing bread asap, I used a typical amount of sourdough starter in the dough, 80 grams for 500 grams of flour (16%). I suspect with even more fermentation time, the bread may have opened up even more.
Yecora Rojo and Kamut Sourdough Bread
Yecora rojo hard red and golden Kamut wheats make a nutty smooth 100% whole grain bread, and the unique mixing and baking approach outlined below encourages excellent oven spring and a tender crust.
Total Time
1 hour, 17 minutes
Instructions
- This dough had a 7-hour bulk fermentation (calculated from the initial mixing) at 78°F and a 13-hour refrigerated final proof. With different temperatures or more or less sourdough starter, you can modify this timing.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the water, sourdough starter and pinch of crushed vitamin C tablet.
- Add the flours and salt, and mix on low speed with the dough hook attachment for 1-2 minutes. The dough will be somewhat shaggy and sticky.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for one hour.
- Mix again, now on med-high speed, for 12 minutes. The dough will wrap around the hook and look silky by the end of the mixing.
- Transfer the dough to a straight-walled container if you have one. Cover and let it rise until it is between 1.5x and 2x the original size, an expansion of 50-100%.
- Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it to your preference (boule, batard, oblong loaf). Make sure you build tension on the surface of the dough and dust it with flour before placing it seam-side up in your proofing basket.
- Cover the basket and refrigerate it for 12+ hours.
- Preheat your oven and baking vessel to 500°F for 30 minutes.
- Directly from the refrigerator, flip the dough out of the proofing basket and onto a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone bread sling. Score and load into your baking vessel and oven.
- Bake for 12 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375°F. Bake for 45 minutes more or until the internal temperature of the bread is over 205°F. Keep the lid on the entire time. (You can remove the lid as needed to use a probe thermometer toward the end of the bake.)
- Let the bread cool for several hours before you slice it.
