New York Sourdough

Adapted from Jandre Food Films’ Recreating Ceres (Patreon), a home-oven take on the Ceres slice from New York’s Lower East Side.

Starter to levain

The levain is a fresh feed of your sourdough starter, made just for this dough and used at its peak. This batch needs [[group:Levain]].

1. Wake up the starter. If it’s been in the fridge or hasn’t been fed in a while, feed it once or twice at room temperature first: 25g starter, 25g flour and 25g water (about 80°F), stirred well, in a pint jar with the lid resting loosely on top. Put a rubber band at the level. Stop when it doubles within 6–12 hours of a feed. Mine doubles in about 6 hours at room temperature.
2. Build the levain (6–12 hours before mixing). Feed 15g starter, 30g flour and 30g water. Use Sir Lancelot with a spoonful of the hard white wheat. That makes about 75g, a little more than you need. For a bigger batch, keep the same 1:2:2 ratio (starter : flour : water).
   • Timing: warm water (about 80°F) gets it there in about 6 hours. Room-temperature water slows it to about 8, which suits an overnight build.
3. Use it at its peak. Stop when it has doubled, is domed and bubbly, and smells tangy and yeasty. Weigh out [[group:Levain]] for the dough. If the top has started to sink and the jar shows streaks above it, it has peaked. It still works, but next time use more food or cooler water to slow it down.
4. Keep the rest. The leftover levain is your starter now. Keep it in the fridge in a loosely covered jar and feed it about once a week.

Mix

Mixer speeds: low = 15% (~90 RPM), medium-low = 20% (~105 RPM), medium = 25–30% (~120–135 RPM) of the mixer’s top speed. On other mixers, start from the slowest kneading speed and step up from there, and go by the signs in each step more than the clock.

1. Dissolve the levain (low, ~1 minute). Add the [[water]] water and the [[group:Levain]] levain to the mixer bowl. Mix on low (15%). Stop when the water is milky and no lumps of levain are left.
2. Add the flours (low, 2–3 minutes). Add the [[flour_00]] 00, [[lancelot]] Sir Lancelot, [[hww]] unsifted and [[hww_sifted]] sifted hard white wheat. Mix on low (15%). Stop when no dry flour is left. Scrape the bowl once if flour sticks to the sides.
3. Rest (25–30 minutes). Cover the bowl and leave the mixer off. This gives the home-milled bran time to soak and soften.
4. Salt (medium-low, ~2 minutes). Sprinkle in the [[salt]] salt and mix on medium-low (20%). Stop when you can’t feel any grains when you pinch the dough.
5. Oil (medium, 1–2 minutes). Turn up to medium (25–30%) and drizzle in the [[oil]] olive oil a little at a time, waiting for each splash to disappear before the next. Stop when the oil is all in and the dough no longer looks greasy.
6. Finish (medium-low, 3–5 minutes). Drop back to medium-low (20%). Stop when the dough is smooth, supple and only a little tacky, and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Aim for 75–78°F. If it runs warmer, use cooler water next time; the mixer heats the dough more than hands do.

Ferment

1. Bulk rise (4–6 hours). Move the dough to a lightly oiled, covered container at room temperature. Give it 1 or 2 stretch-and-folds in the first 2 hours. Stop when it’s puffy, bubbly underneath and about 30–40% bigger.
2. Ball. Divide into [[count]] pieces of [[weight]], using as little bench flour as you can, and shape into tight, smooth balls.
3. Cold ferment (24–48 hours). Put each ball in a lightly oiled, lidded container and refrigerate right away. 48 hours gives the most flavor.
4. Warm up. Take the balls out 3–4 hours before baking.

For sauce, toppings and the bake, see the pizzas below.