Handmade Sourdough: From Starter to Baked Loaf (DVD + Streaming)

Create and care for your starter so that you’re always ready to make fresh, flavorful bread. Learn alternative fermentation methods to speed up or slow down the process, making bread baking more realistic for your modern schedule. Master the classic French sourdough, pain au levain. Discover how versatile sourdough is by working your way through olive focaccia, rosemary and olive fougasses, whole-grain and tangy rye breads. You’ll learn the classic French method of mixing dough and kneading by hand, but also pick up tips on the proper way to make dough using a stand mixer. Make your best bread yet with these time-honored techniques.

NOTE: If you’d like to purchase only the DVD for this class, you may do so through this link. (Please note, any class PDF materials are not on the DVD itself. You must have streaming access to download those materials associated with the class.)

Making Pain au Levain (24:51)
Once you have a healthy starter, use it to create a preferment, or levain, the leavening agent that is the base of your sourdough. You’ll learn about the autolyse method, which holds back the salt in the early mixing of the dough to make strong gluten bonds. Richard demonstrates several ways to knead the dough, including the traditional French cutting method.

Baking Pain au Levain (27:43)
After your dough has rested, shape it into a long batard and a round boule, and then score their tops and bake them in the oven. Don’t have a cloche? No worries; Richard will show you several methods for covering and baking loaves using ordinary kitchen equipment, and easy ways to create steam in your home oven.

Pain au Levain Variations (13:56)
Now that you’ve mastered how to make a classic sourdough bread, expand your repertoire with three variations: olive focaccia, rosemary fougasse and olive fougasse. Learn how to keep the balance in the dough formula when adding other ingredients.

Goin’ Whole Grain (19:27)
Increase the healthy whole-grain content of your bread as you learn how to sprout whole wheatberries to add to your whole-wheat dough. Learn how whole grains affect hydration and how to vary your mixing and finishing techniques to create hearty loaves.

Something’s Gone A-Rye (24:15)
Embrace the dark side as you bake along with Richard to make rye bread and its Danish cousin, Rugbrød. Richard shows you how to incorporate a stand mixer into your bread making and demonstrates the different techniques that are necessary with the addition of rye flour.

Richard Miscovich is a baking instructor at King Arthur Flour’s Baking School and author of the cookbook “From The Wood-Fired Oven.” He specializes in artisan baking and wood-fired ovens, and currently teaches artisan bread-baking techniques at Johnson & Wales University. Richard is a two-time winner of the Baking & Pastry Service Award. In 2014 he received the Johnson & Wales Distinguished Scholarship Award and was inducted into the International Les Amis d’Escoffier Society.

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What is your return policy?
We want to be sure you’re satisfied. If you have trouble playing your DVD, if the content is not correctly presented on the DVD, or you are dissatisfied with the content of your class, we will work with you. Contact Craftsy customer service via email or phone. Upon your request, and upon your return of the DVD to us, we will refund your purchase price or send you another DVD to replace a damaged or incorrect DVD, whichever is your preference. If you do receive a full refund, your streaming video class will also be removed from your Craftsy account, so on-demand video access will no longer be available to you.