Have I DISCOVERED the Secret to Perfect Sourdough Bread?

With or Without Levain? Will this make my sourdough shine?
I’ve been mostly happy with the Kamut sourdough bread I’ve been baking.
But I want it to have more structure. More rise. Larger crumb.
If you’ve watched my videos on sourdough, you’ve seen that I gave myself an extra challenge in learning to bake this favored bread by using Kamut flour - a flour made from an ancient grain - rather than using bread flour, flour that has been processed so that it makes light and fluffy bread.
Shout out to my friend DJ. She sent me a link to @theperfectloaf and I discovered something called a levain.
So here we are - bread baking day at Sweet Herbin’ Livin’, and I decided to make bread using a levain. I also wanted to test and see the difference between using a levain and NOT using a levain.
You know me, I had to make my task even MORE CHALLENGING as I also decided to bake bread the way I had been doing it before DJ shared a link to The Perfect Loaf about how to stretch and fold your sourdough properly. I learned that and so much more.
I have been using a recipe for Kamut sourdough bread I found from @therosehomestead. And you know what? It’s been great. It tastes great and Mr. Sweet and I get to have bread regularly without gumming up our lymphatic system and making our joints hurt. A BIG WIN THERE!
With this experiment, I made THREE LOAVES OF BREAD.
I made one loaf using the recipe from @therosehomestead. NO LEVAIN
And I made two loaves (one recipe makes two loaves) from @theperfectloaf. WITH LEVAIN
The results? Stay tuned to the end as Mr. Sweet and I do a TASTE TEST at the end.
Levain, also known as a sourdough starter, is a mixture of flour and water that's fermented by natural yeasts and bacteria. How does it differ from a regular sourdough starter? And does it make a difference if you don’t use a levain?
According to @theperfectloaf, preferments such as sourdough starter have many names! You may have heard some of them: chef, lievito madre, mother dough, mum.
In his article, “What is a Levain and How is it Different from a Starter?”, Leo tells us that, “a preferment is essentially a mixture of flour, water, and a leavening agent (in our case, a sourdough starter) left to ferment before mixing everything into a final dough. Preferments help bring flavor, aroma, and keeping qualities to your bread.”
I learned from Leo that instead of putting my sourdough starter directly into the recipe along with the salt, I should create a levain first so that the salt in the recipe doesn’t inhibit the growth of the yeast and enzymes. As I want my Kamut sourdough loaves to have a stronger structure and better crumb, I decided to try his recipe and mixing methods.
Why I use Kamut: 🌟www.sweetherbi...
Here’s the link to the article from The Perfect Load: www.theperfect...
Here's the link to the Kamut Sourdough Recipe from The Rose Homestead: therosehomeste...
The fermentation process in the sourdough starter and the levain breaks down complex carbohydrates, making it easier to digest and unlocking essential nutrients. Plus, it helps to extend the shelf life of your bread.
And what I learned is that using a levain gives my dough better structure and a better rise! Since making this video, I’ve made two more batches of bread using the levain with BETTER RESULTS!
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Chapters
0:01 Good morning!
0:26 Using a Levain (from The Perfect Loaf)
3:30 The Rose Homestead Recipe (without the levain)
10:40 The Perfect Loaf Bread (with the levain)
15:00 Back to the RHL but shaping using the Perfect Loaf Method
19:12 Where I re-read TPL Recipe and discover by measuring oops!
21:20 First stretch & fold using TPL Recipe
22:22 The RH Loaf has risen! Preheat the oven
23:07 Time to stretch and fold again! TPL
24:24 RH loaf goes in the oven
25:40 TPL stretch & fold
26:50 RH out of the oven
28:05 TPL cut & preshape
36:35 The next day TPL out of the frig
43:00 Comparing RH & TPL
44:40 Mr. Sweet joins me for TASTE TESTING