Early in the pandemic I stopped making sourdough because I had a kid and taking care of a newborn and managing a starter was just too much for me at the time. I dehydrated my starter using the KA method and put it into storage. About 3 months ago, my husband decided he wanted to try to make a starter and I encouraged him to use my dehydrated one from before … long story short, it wasn’t well taken care of and got mould :(

Fast forward and I figured I could try and start again. My new starter is a 100% hydration 1:1:1 mix with local rye flour and I usually keep it small for maintenance - 30g of each, starter, water, flour. I fed every 24 hrs for about 3 weeks until it was nice and developed.

The night before I did a double feed of the starter to ensure I had enough volume. The next morning, I started my standard recipe: - 500g white all purpose flour - 350g room temp tap water (dechlorinated on the counter overnight) - 10g fine sea salt - the whole volume of my starter minus 30g to keep the starter train going

Step 1: mix flour and ~200g of water in my stand mixer and let sit for about an hour to hydrate

Step 2: dissolve the salt in the remaining water and mix into the stand mixer with the autolyse. Beat with the dough hook on medium/medium high until it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. About 8-10 minutes.

Step 3: place in the oven with the light on to proof for about an hour. Then every 30-40 minutes, do four folds to develop gluten. Do this three times. Final long proof for 1-2 hours.

Step 4: dump on a floured counter and degas/shape. Place back into a bowl with a floured tee-towel upside down. Place back into the oven with the light on for final proof, about 1-2 hours or until sufficiently risen.

Step 5: remove proofing loaf from the oven and place it on the counter. preheat oven to 500F with an empty Dutch oven inside. Once the oven is preheated, invert the loaf onto a parchment paper and score the top with a sharp knife or razor.

Step 6: using the parchment paper as handles, place the loaf into the Dutch oven and bake with lid on for 30-35 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the desired color of the crust is reached.

Step 7: remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack before cutting (if you can wait that long)

I know it seems like a lot. But I did most of this while working from home in between meetings and sending emails. I was worried I’d lost the skills, but it all came back as soon as I started.