The Last PRESHAPING SOURDOUGH Tutorial You Ever Need

In this full masterclass I am showing you how to divide and preshape your sourdough after bulk fermentation. I am showing you a few tricks how you will start mastering preshaping. You will be your dough's boss and not vice-versa.
Dividing is always done after bulk fermentation. That's why it is called bulk fermentation, you are fermenting many loaves of bread in bulk. Afterwards you divide the dough into smaller pieces each the size of the final bread that you want to bake.
Now by dividing you are damaging your dough slightly and you do not have the nice circular shape that you want to use as basis for final shaping. This is the reason why people are applying pre-shaping. You are turning the torn mass of dough into something that is smooth and round. You are killing two birds with one stone here:
1. One the one hand you are creating a solid base for your following shaping. This will allow you to shape a better bread.
2. You create additional tension in the dough that will create better oven spring.
I am showing you how to do this with 2 final loaves. But, you can do this with as many loaves as you like. My home oven only allows for 2 breads to be baked at the same time and thus I rarely have reason to bulk ferment more dough.
Flour I am using:
Blog article on different flours in Germany: thbrco.io/blog-flour
Drax Mühle Manitoba flour 14% protein: thbrco.io/drax-flour
For ze Germans - T550 at Rewe 11-12% protein: thbrco.io/rewe-aurora
Mulino Padano 15% protein: thbrco.io/mulino-flour
Strong whole wheat flour: thbrco.io/whole-wheat-flour
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Tools:
Banneton proofing basket (25cm length, 15cm width, 8.5cm height): thbrco.io/banneton
Cooling rack: thbrco.io/cooling-rack
Digital kitchen scale: thbrco.io/kitchen-scale
Dough scraper: thbrco.io/dough-scraper
Dutch oven for batards (Challenger Bread Pan): thbrco.io/dutch-oven-batards
Dutch oven round (Lodge): thbrco.io/dutch-oven-round
Dutch oven with glas lid (Brovn) - BREADCODE = 5% off: thbrco.io/dutch-oven-glas-lid
Infrared thermometer: thbrco.io/infared-meter
Loaf pan (30cm length x 12cm width x 9cm height): thbrco.io/loaf-pan-regular
Loaf pan with lid (34cm length, 13cm width, 12cm height): thbrco.io/loaf-pan-lid
No stick spray (vegetable based): thbrco.io/non-stick-spray
Oven gloves: thbrco.io/oven-gloves
pH meter to check acidity: thbrco.io/ph-meter
Weck starter jars: thbrco.io/weck-jars
Useful videos:
Debaked ep. 1 - Pizza journey to Napoli: thbrco.io/debaked-napoli
Debaked ep. 2 - Journey to a flour mill: thbrco.io/debaked-flour-mill
Discard starter bread: thbrco.io/discard-starter-bread
Fermentation time table: thbrco.io/fermentation-time-t...
Make a sourdough starter: thbrco.io/make-sourdough-starter
Make your starter more active: thbrco.io/more-active-starter
Recommend sourdough bread recipe: thbrco.io/sourdough-recipe
#sourdough #preshaping

[@beet4649]

Super helpful, thank you so much!

[@rafasmiech6691]

I'm novice. I've made about 8 breads. Different results. Not every next one is better than the previous. :-) However, just last 2 began to shape as beautiful as yours since I started using this technique. I noticed that plastic spatula is better than a stainless one. The metal one, I have the impression that dough is more sticky to it. Thank you very much for your movies. Helped me a lot. My mother-in-law cannot believe that a dough with such high hydration can be so compact and smooth.

[@artgamesforfun]

super helpful, thank you!!

[@vlad1972]

Thanks for rhe tips

[@JS-ne5pk]

This was a game changer! Thank you so much

[@tomanddonna984]

Best pre-shaping and shaping tutorials ever (and I've looked at a lot)! Thank-you!

[@the_bread_code]

Sank you very much! Cheers from Hamburg.

[@zebscircle]

Muy buena explicación. Muchas gracias.

[@the_bread_code]

My pleasure.

[@justanotherclaud]

Super helpful video!!!

[@the_bread_code]

Moin and Gluten Tag justanother cla, you are most welcome! Feel free to reach out with more questions! Happy baking.

[@PoppyAtlas]

Hi! I normally laminate then preshape but use a different method. Do you laminate or go straight to pre-shaping? Thank you!

[@albinjose7464]

Thanks. What do you do when one loaf is in different pieces? I mean if you did not cut it into exact 2 halves

[@myemail7136]

Great information, thank you. Can you tell me approximately what size or how many grams weight your start dough is before dividing it in two? I would love to make more than one 1 at time but am unsure if mine is large enough to divide. Thank you!

[@francinekeane2014]

Great video thanks for taking the time to teach us, other people should remember they are getting free lessons so keep their comments respectful. Seem to have trouble with mine (its not your recipe) could my dough be too wet? Using 100% wholemeal spelt flour

[@the_bread_code]

Moin Francine. Thanks for the comment! Oh that's okay :-). Not everyone likes my tutorials, plus some probably know way more than I do haha. I appreciate all comments and feedback so that I can become better myself. I have made a video on choosing the water amount for your flour. I am going to share it right here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWLKfpKgr86Lmas. Hope this helps!

[@francinekeane2014]

@@the_bread_code Thank you just watched the video will try it out next time

[@jshy5569]

Thank you from Hong Kong!

[@the_bread_code]

You are most welcome!

[@mrgreenbudz37]

No matter what my dough always looks sticky and never has that nice satin sheen and is DIFFICULT to shape or to keep it's shape. I have watched so many videos and just for the life of me can't see where I am going wrong. Just did a great loaf today. Probably one of my best bulk fermentation lots of bubbles on the side looking through the container and also a great rise. The initial bench rest was a sticky blob then that did not want to hold it's shape much. I was finally able to wrestle it into its Banneton but it was fighting me every second. Any tips?

[@marcosneme1]

How much time i should wait between preshape and shape?

[@sookmunng4288]

Thank you, this is so helpful. But why does my dough stick to my bench scraper?

[@the_bread_code]

Moin Sook. Thanks for the comment. Likely you are pushing the dough scraper in too deep. Try wetting it with a little bit water too. The one hand should rotate the dough, the other one should push the dough in over the surface.

[@sookmunng4288]

@@the_bread_code Amazing. I did this and it totally worked. Thank you!!

[@10minihaven]

Do you cover you dough after the preshaping while it rests? Or do you let it sit and dry a bit?

[@the_bread_code]

Let it sit. If it is very warm, use a wet kitchen towel so it doesn't dry out.

[@jonnywhite952]

When I do this, the dough often sticks to my bench scraper. I think I am over fermenting, is this likely?

[@the_bread_code]

Moin Jonny. Yep, very likely. That sounds reasonable.

[@levimust4479]

Very interesting. PLEASE omit the muzac. I had to turn the sound and watch CC to be able to follow.

[@the_bread_code]

Moin Levi. Sorry. Will do, definitely! Happy baking.

[@ValleyMermaid]

How do you keep it from sticking to your dough scraper?

[@the_bread_code]

Try wetting your dough scraper with cold water, it does the trick.

[@ihus9950]

👍🏻

[@aryaa3998]

I love you 😂😂😂😂😂

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you!

[@mknesbitt5943]

Please turn off the background music. I can't hear your comments

[@the_bread_code]

Moin Mona. Yes, sorry. Learned from my mistakes, no more in the new videos. Feel free to reach out with questions in case I should elaborate on something.

[@christina7160]

How long after pre shaping do you wait to shape the dough for proofing while using your “last sourdough bread recipe you ever need ?”

[@the_bread_code]

I typically only preshape whenever I am making multiple buns or breads at the same time. I also use the technique when I feel the dough is quite weak. I typically wait for around 10-25 minutes.

[@fattymcbastard6536]

I tried that & ended up shaving my cutting board, & had to pick out bits of wood from my dough.

[@pamelahoffman7058]

Hard to hear what you are saying over the music. Otherwise, thanks for the video.

[@polarpaw224]

I would greatly appreciate if the background music was quieter. It's really hard for my to listen to the words over the music. I know I'm not alone; we're a minority, but a sizable minority.

[@a.f.stevens]

From what I've seen, this is a common complaint on other people's channels as well, so it may not be a small minority. I've also noticed many people praising instructional videos specifically on containing no music, filler, ect. Just what I've observed as one person so who knows maybe my algorithm 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@LexLissauer]

Sorry to say, it’s not only too loud, but it is really annoying bad music. I put a like on the video nevertheless, because the instruction was very useful.

[@DebraMathis]

Hard to hear what you're saying, the music is too loud

[@drbleed]

Nice vid but damn, turn down the music (or better yet: turn it off)

[@the_bread_code]

Thanks for the feedback. Sorry - will do better next time!

[@mlboone3028]

The music makes very hard to hear you

[@chesedprather7246]

Music level too high. It's difficult to understand you.

[@the_bread_code]

Moin Chesed. Sorry, my bad. 🤓will do better next time. Still have so much to learn about editing videos.

[@certovababicka]

Why to divide it? The dough was great for 1 larger loaf..

[@MichaelStanwyck]

If you're making a single loaf out of your dough you don't need to preshape it. You can just shape it once and put it in your bowl or basket. it's also probably 1000g of flour which would make a pretty massive loaf. Most ppl probably won't have a basket that big, it likely wouldn't fit in a dutch oven, and the baking times would be off.

[@farawayquill3896]

Music is annoying makes it hard to hear you

[@pyroarch57]

Music really is not needed!

[@tracyweiss612]

You need to get rid of the music!

[@useyourbrain5261]

sorry. couldn't finish watching. the music is unnecessary (and bloody awful) and detracts immensely from what I expect would have been a great video.

[@the_bread_code]

My bad sorry. Done better on the newer videos. Not a professional video editor myself 😅.

[@the_bread_code]

My bad sorry. Done better on the newer videos. Not a professional video editor myself 😅.

[@useyourbrain5261]

@@the_bread_code Yes. I've been liking your later videos. Much more pleasant to watch. Nice work. Good luck to you.

[@georgetucker4734]

Agreed. Music drove me nuts. Probably best without but if you must use it, probably reduce the volume in relation to your voice since it was hard for me to hear what you were saying.

[@sophiaw9920]

Really really helpful, thank you!

[@the_bread_code]

You are welcome Sophia. Have a great day!