Weekend Bakery
Weekend Bakery wants to offer and share information, tips, techniques, recipes and tools for the ‘professional’ home baker, with an above average interest in the art of artisan bread making. Weekend Bakery points to the fact that a lot of people, like us, concentrate their baking activities around the weekends and holidays. The moments you look forward to, thinking about what recipes to try or which favorite loaves to bake.
Weekend Bakery is serious about artisan bread making. We have our own ‘at home micro bakery’. Making bread in small quantities with time and attention will deliver great and rewarding results. So why not try and make your own too? It’s a hobby with great benefits for your mind as well as your body. Making good bread appeals to all your senses. Working with dough can be your own form of meditation. Your body can seriously benefit from the bread you make.
So there are lot’s of good reasons to make your own. Maybe you’ve already discovered them. So if you are serious about good bread making, Weekend Bakery is the place for you. Get your hands stuck in a piece of dough and smell the aroma of your own sourdough starter.
Our Artisan At Home Bakery
We are passionate home bakers. We have been sharing our quest for good food and especially good bread for over 18 years. We love sharing our homemade bread and recipes with friends and family and everybody who’s truly interested. We are especially enthusiastic about the ‘artisan’ way of baking. Traditional methods, few ingredients, lots of taste. It’s amazing and rewarding to discover you can make a wonderful bread with just flour, water and salt and a bit of homemade sourdough.
Our Bakery Tool Shop
We are proud to offer a range of bread baking tools that are perfect for the home baker and small bakeries. All bread baking tools are made within the European Union and of the highest quality. And there’s some very original sweet baking stuff too. Plus we ship all over the world. Come and take a look and get inspired to bake!
Things we love to bake and make
There are some items that we have really ‘made our own’ over the years. Next to our “Pain Rustique’ and Pain au Levain’ that has an ever growing enthusiastic following, we have perfected the art of croissant making and baguette baking. We also make traditional Dutch specialties like suikerbrood (sugar loaf) speculaas, cinnamon buns and roggebrood (rye bread). We love making our own pizza and flatbreads. We also make our own marmalade from the Sevilla oranges when in season and like to experiment with chocolate and caramel too and love to roast our own coffee beans.
Besides the baking
We love to travel. Our favorite destinations are Italy, France, Norway and Canada. Favorite cities: New York, Venice, Amsterdam.
Also fond of (outdoor) cooking, the Italian kitchen, Indian and Japanese food and much more…
Happy baking from Weekend Bakery!
Ed & Marieke
Netherlands
Teresa says
I would like to try one of your sour dough recipes. Sourdough-pain-naturel. I have my own starter. Your recipe does not indicate how much starter to use if you already have starter. How much starter should I use.
Thank You
Ruud Prins says
Wat een sublieme site met fantastische recepten.
Vriendelijke groet,
Ruud Prins
Buddy Sullivan says
For your map, a mill to add?
Sint Antonius Molen, windmill from 1817, Halsteren, Bergen op Zoom
Bought nice flours and gifts last zondag. Friendly Miller too!
Like your site, thanks!
Weekend Bakers says
Thank you Buddy, we will add the mill to the list. And we love friendly millers because during a nice friendly chat they are known to share useful information about their products too.
Enjoy your (baking) weekend!
Ed & Marieke
WKB
Melissa Segal says
Hi Weekend Bakery,
I just love your site and have used a few of your bread recipes with wonderful results. I am writing to ask you to help me with a baking question concerning baguette. I get a great result, achieving the big holes and creamy texture, and a few ears on each one. The consistent problem I have is that the dough tears and splits on some of my 5 lame slashes around 10 minutes into the baking process. My baking temperature is 240C preheated for 1 1/2 hours, one cup of water in a cast iron pan on bottom shelf, three baguettes on a pizza stone, middle shelf which I transfer using a cookie pan. I use a wire rack for both the pan of water and the baguettes. This is a fan oven, with two heating elements, one on the ceiling of the oven, and the other, under the floor of the oven. If you could offer a solution, I would so appreciate your help! My goal is to achieve a beautiful exterior to match the wonderful interior. Thank you in advance!
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Melissa,
Could it be you do not slash deep enough and at an angle?
Does your oven also have a conventional setting instead of the hot air?
Melissa says
I am slashing the dough 1/4 inch at a 30 degree angle, but do you suggest I make the slashes deeper? I’m afraid there is no conventional setting. I could put a tray under the ceiling heating element, but then I worry they won’t brown enough. I used that option with macarons and that solved the problem of them browning too fast, but not sure if that will work with baguettes. (I forgot to mention in my earlier email that I slide the baking paper off the cookie sheet to place the baguettes on the stone) Thanks so much. I saw your recipe for raisin bread recently and plan to make it in a few days. Just a wonderful site you have…
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Melissa,
We think your scoring is about right, but you still see the splits where you do not want them. Our suggestion would be to try and bake at a lower temperature or to temper the oven right back to 170 or 180 just before the 10 minute mark. Another thing to try is to use your tray for the first part, then take it out and let the baguettes brown for the second part of the baking process. Sorry we cannot offer you the ultimate solution based on our own experience, but the hot air is just so much fiercer on the bread dough and you do need to get creative and try a few things.
If you try the raisin bread also make sure to bake at a lower temp than we indicate in the recipe (20 degrees lower to start) and temper the oven as soon as the bread has a light golden colour.
Thank you for your kind words en keep on baking!
Marieke & Ed
WKB
Melissa says
Yes, all good ideas, and perfect timing on your response…
Yesterday I made your raisin bread, divided the dough into 2 and made both at 210 degrees and then turned the oven down to 170 when the browning was right, as you suggested. Then I realized that I need to do exactly the same thing with the baguettes, only start with a higher temperature for the first 10 minutes to get that(make or break) oven spring, and then bring it down….
More importantly, this raisin bread is outstanding. My husband said it is the best bread he has ever tasted! I absolutely agree, and decided to forfeit my first priority of picture taking, to slicing it all up and putting it in the freezer so there would be something left for the following day😊The dough is very sticky, and I normally don’t do well with wet dough, but I watched your video on folding and shaping and actually, to my dismay, enjoyed the process, and will now apply this technique to my future baguettes.
The best bread recipes and techniques for bread making are on your site!
Thank you and all the best!
Weekend Bakers says
Thank you so much Melissa, it all sounds excellent.
Enjoy your baking, freezing, eating and sharing. You are doing great!
A very happy (baking) weekend for you and your family,
Marieke
Alex says
Hi guys, I cannot believe that I lived just a 5 minute walk away from the windmill in ysselstein for years but never tried baking a loaf while there, now I’m I’m the UK I am home baking using flour that I have milled using my burr coffee grinder, it’s quite nice but I am going to have to up the salt level a bit. Great website you have. 👍
Alex. (I need poffertjes btw) 😉
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Alex,
Thanks for the kind words. Great you are grinding and baking, sorry you missed the opportunity to try the IJsselstein mill flour, but who knows you will get another chance in the future. Hope you will have good results with your current method and an extra pinch of salt.
If you need poffertjes, we can help you with the recipe too (but the poffertjes pan could be the challenge there):
www.weekendbakery.com/posts…h-classic/
Making small pancakes with this batter is very nice too.
Enjoy your baking and ‘Groetjes’ from across the pond.
Ed & Marieke
WKB
Paul T CONTE says
Have you explored the tangzhong and/or Yudane techniques for bread or rolls?
I LOVE your website!
Have found a local stone mill with an awesome range of grains near my home in Eugene, Oregon.
Camas Country Mill
www.camascountrymill.com/
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Paul,
So wonderful you found a great mill close to home. You are lucky (like us) to find good flour nearby. People often underestimate the impact of good flour on their baking results.
Yes we have used / played around with tangzhong, but not yet enough to say something very helpful about it. Recently we made hamburger buns with tangzhong and it turned out great, but have to give it at least a few more turns to see if we can replicate a good result. Would also be interesting to compare how the recipe turns out with and without it.
Thank you for your very kind words and if you have found a great recipe with these techniques and want to share, we would love to hear about it.
Wishing you lots of crusty loaves and enjoyable baking moments!
Ed & Marieke
Greetings from The Netherlands / Holland
Chris says
Hi Ed & Marieke,
Ik bak al een tijdje met veel plezier de recepten van jullie website, met veel succes!
Wat me opvalt van jullie recepten ten opzichte van buitenlandse sites (UK/US) is dat de meeste recepten hier een lagere hydratatie hebben. Ik merk dit zelf ook met mijn tarwebloem (van de Zandhaas), het lijkt wel alsof deze maximaal rond de 70/72% hydratatie ‘pakt’. Veel hogere percentages blijkt niet altijd een even groot succes. Kan het kloppen dat Nederlands bloem anders reageert op vocht dan bijv. Amerikaans of Engels bloem?
Groet,
Chris
Weekend Bakers says
Hallo Chris,
Dat klopt helemaal. De (met name) Amerikaanse bloem kan een paar % meer vocht aan dan de ‘Europese’ bloem. Bij de Engelstalige recepten geven we ook aan dat mensen die ‘American type flour’ gebruiken iets meer water moeten toevoegen per brood dan aangegeven in het recept.
Het is wel mogelijk hoger te gaan, maar dat heeft te maken met het ssort brood en de methode. Kijk maar eens naar onze 80% hydration baguettes en de ciabatta focaccia (85%), allebei gemaakt met tarwebloem van De Zandhaas:
www.weekendbakery.com/posts…-baguette/
www.weekendbakery.com/posts…-focaccia/
Geniet van het bakken en experimenteren!
Ed & Marieke
Tineke says
Hi Ed en Marieke,
Heerlijke zuurdesem recepten op jullie site en een hele goede uitleg! Ik heb de plain en volkoren versie gemaakt. Maar het deeg blijft heel sticky. Waardoor hij niet goed te vormen is en uitzakt als ik hem in de oven doe. Heben jullie tips?
Weekend Bakers says
Hallo Tineke,
Kun je ons zeggen welke bloem en meel je gebruikt hebt? En met hoeveel proteïne / gluten indien mogelijk?
Kiki says
Hey. Ben nieuw in het zuurdesem bakken. Ik had een vraagje over jullie starter. Activeren jullie deze voor jullie de poolish maken. Heb ergens gehoord dat je de starter terug moet activeren voor gebruik en dus op punt is 3a4u na het voeden. Of gebruiken jullie de starter gewoon rechtstreeks uit de koelkast ?
Alvast bedankt
Groetjes,
Kiki
Weekend Bakers says
Hallo Kiki,
Als je het desem gebruikt zoals wij dat in onze recepten doen, dan kun je de kleine hoeveelheid desem direct uit de koelkast in je voordeeg / poolish doen.
Als je desem langer dan een week in de koelkast heeft gestaan, dan zouden we het van tevoren even verversen en weer actief laten worden, voor het in een voordeeg te gebruiken. Dus wij houden de periode van langer of korter dan een week aan om te beslissen of je van tevoren eerst wel of niet ververst.
Let wel: Dit werkt goed voor ons maar je moet even kijken of dat voor jouw desem ook zo is. Je doet er nooit verkeerd aan als je binnen een paar dagen eerst ververst.
Succes ermee!
Ed & Marieke
WKB
Elise says
I have made your San Francisco sourdough, the one that spans 4 days. It’s a great recipe, we loved it! In particular, I love the time line. The 4-day process is a perfect schedule for me. (A few minutes here, a few minutes there, nothing too time-consuming all at once).
Here’s my question: is it possible to adapt other sourdough recipes to that schedule? What limitations would I need to factor to make that decision?
Kind regards!
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Elise,
Thank you for your lovely comment and your words on how you are experiencing the recipe. We understand you wanting to do this with other recipes and it is possible of course to adapt recipes, but there is not a simple formula we can give you that we can explain in a few lines. Every recipe (if done correctly) is a balanced formula and changing one thing means changing other things. It all comes down to time (and timing), temperature and amounts, so if you want to adapt a recipe, you have to know about the workings of these elements. The main thing is that if you want to slow a process down, you either use less yeast / sourdough or keep the dough at a colder temperature or both.
So our advice would be to take a recipe you like and see if you can use these elements to adapt it.
Enjoy your baking adventures!
Karen J Gray says
Hi,
I’ve really been enjoying this site. You explain everything so clearly!
I’ve known absout sourdough for ages but hadn’t ever attempted to make any. But I decided it was time, so I followed your directions for making a starter. They were the clearest directions I’d been able to find. I’ve developed a load of allergies, including to cultured yeast and wheat, so sourdough and rye are even more appealing. I have baked for most of my life but haven’t made bread in a long time. Now I have very good reasons for making my own bread too. I’ve got some nice fresh whole rye flour and am looking forward to the first loaf of bread.
But now I have a question I hope you can answer, if you’d be so kind.
Today is day 3 for my starter. It’s in a 750 ml canning jar. When I checked on it this afternoon, I could see it had overflowed and leaked a bit from under the lid.
The jar had about 6 or 7 cm worth of starter in it last night after I fed it. It was very light and fluffy ( for lack of a better word) when I fed it.
When I first looked at it, I thought the jar was still full, but when I took off the lid, though the underside was coated in starter, the jar was only about half full, maybe 10-12 cm worth, so at some point it collapsed after it got high enough to leak.
Any idea why this may have happened? It still smells exactly the same as it did on day 2, which isn’t the most pleasant odour ever, but not a spoiled or nasty odour. No sign of yeasty or sour odours yet.
I wonder if it’s just too warm in my apartment? Unfortunately I have no control over the temperature and the past few days it’s been around 28-30 C. Short of putting it into the fridge, I can’t keep it cooler.
I’m going to scoop out half of the starter into a clean new jar and then continue following the directions, but I do wonder if I should use a taller jar? Any suggestions you may have would be welcome.
Many thanks,
Karen
Weekend Bakers says
No worries Karen,
There is nothing wrong with what you describe.
You might noticed that by making the culture thicker that it takes a little longer, so you see by changing the consistency to thicker it will start deflating later. You could make it thicker next time. The deflating just indicates that the food for the culture has been ‘eaten’ and that it is time to feed it again, not that it is not working.
So it is also not a problem if the culture is deflated for a little while before you feed it again. Just keep feeding /refreshing and also 2 to 3 times a day giving it a good stir to add oxygen to it and we think it will be fine.
More important even is de smell and look. As your culture starts to mature with every day you feed it, it start to smell nicer and nicer, from a bit musty to yogurt and fruit tones, so keep ‘your nose’ on that fact.
Just keep up the process, making it a little thicker, maybe feeding sooner and it will be OK we expect.
Greetings and be safe and enjoy your sourdough baking!
Ed & Marieke
Weekend Bakers
PS: When you start using the culture, maybe every week or a few times a week, just refresh it, let it get active, then keep it in the fridge, especially with your temps. If you use it within a week, you can even take it straight from the fridge and use it in your preferment / poolish. This is what we do, and it works perfect for us.
We also have some tips on this page that might be helpful, especially when you start baking with your sourdough baking: www.weekendbakery.com/posts…ough-tips/
RobLondon says
I’ve made a few thing now from your amazing site and a big thank you!
The Rondo’s were such a hit as was the 80% baguettes particularly with my French husband!
You explain everything in clear, near nerdy terms (I mean that as a compliment) that you have me completely addicted and now we are just worried a bit more about our waistlines!
But, please can you clarify if your oven temperatures are with or without fan?
Merci
Weekend Bakers says
Thank you Rob! We are very pleased the recipes are such a success and we can play a part in your baking joy.
We understand about the waistline, boy it is hard with the rondo’s because they are ‘calorie bombs’ but taste so good. Compensate with a nice sourdough loaf!
We will take note of your question about the oven settings and be more clear with our instructions. In general all temps given are the conventional setting without fan, unless we expressly say so, like with the croissants.
For all bread recipes we never use the fan oven, we find it dries out the dough too quick, it inhibits the oven spring.
Enjoy your baking and sharing,
Marieke & Ed
Bluebottle says
Me again, there doesn’t seem to be a search tab in your menu to easily find particular recipes, other than doing so through a Google search. Or am I just not finding this option.
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Bluebottle,
We do have several search options. Depending on what device you use, it is either in the right hand upper corner (Search box and looking glass) or below the comments you see ‘search’ with a box.
Will write reaction to your nice comment soon too!
Bluebottle says
I have been on a ‘lockdown’ sourdough journey, which I’m beginning to now master. I am so delighted to have found your site, you emulate all that I wish I could do in life, bake for others to appreciate and share. Food, but good and usually healthy, is my passion and my weekly ‘bake club’ of 4 with me usually doing the baking is my only outlet! I’ve loved having time during ‘home working’ to get to grips with the sourdough starter, it took a long time to achieve, and now sourdough bread baking. Having a son temporarily at home to enjoy the fruits of my labour is such a privilege and a moment in time my husband and I will treasure.
I almost wish I could be furloughed (!) to bake for my local community and continue this journey. I have only tried 2 recipes thus far on your site but now I’ve found you I’ll certainty try more.
What I can’t workout is if you only bake with sourdough or all baking methods. There doesn’t seem to be a ‘sourdough only’ section. Anyway, as I investigate other recipes, I’ll work this out. The more I investigate your site the more I will learn and appreciate what you offer.
Lucky you that you both have the same passion, sadly my husband is not really interested in food, hence having a son at home during ‘lockdown’ who does is such a treat.
Sorry to have rambled on, have a wonderful weekend!
Thank you 💜
Bluebottle
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Again,
So lovely to read your comment. Wonderful to have your bake club to share and bake together and a son who is interested in learning and baking with you. He will have so much gratification also later in life from learning the skills early on. Always happy to know that positive things come out of troubled times and we must appreciated them even more and be thankful. Also talking about ourselves here, because we are blessed with the way we live here in Holland, our home, our village, the people, our family and not in the least our garden. I wish everybody a bit of green space to potter about in, grow some stuff. This is another passion we share together, especially getting birds and ‘wildlife’ into the garden, growing plants and trees and also vegetables and a bit of fruit. If and when we have the time, next to the baking, we go outside.
About the recipes: There’s not a special sourdough section, but if you type in the ‘sourdough’ keyword you will get all the sourdough recipes.
www.weekendbakery.com/?s=sourdough
We can recommend one of our recipes that would be great for sharing:
The sourdough mini boules:
www.weekendbakery.com/posts…i-boulles/
If you would be able to make a few batches (you get 6 with each batch)
you can share this with friends and neighbors and it might be a start of your wish to bake for others.
All the best and stay happy and healthy!
Marieke & Ed
WKB
Sari says
Hello,
thanks for this incredible and so inspiring site! Been testing and enjoying different kind of recipes.
One thing you guys are missin is a sourdough ciabatta, would that be a possible candidate in your recipebook?
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Sari,
Thank you so much. We will try and make a good recipe as you suggested. We do have some thoughts.
Enjoy your baking and hope our recent recipes can inspire you some more.
Greetings,
Marieke
WKB
Sari says
Oh, I can’t wait, thanks in advance!
Baked mini boules today, those are delicious and so cute ❤️
Weekend Bakers says
Wonderful!
Stefanos Alexandrou says
I would like to ask if you have a recipe for donuts.
Thank you!
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Stefanos,
No we do not have a recipe we can recommend. We have never made them we must admit. Hope you will find a good one!
Jacky says
Hi Ed & Marieke,
I’d Just like to say congratulations on your web site which you both obviously take great pride in. It is certainly one of the best sites regarding bread making. Have a great day & just by the by I’m from down under and if you haven’t been here yet I’m sure it could become one of your fav destinations.
Weekend Bakers says
Love reading your comment Jacky, thank you so much! How strange that the whole world is in a similar situation and we can all relate. Great so many people from all across the globe find comfort in baking and we can be a part in providing recipes that seem to work for a lot of home bakers, whether they live in Holland or Australia or South Africa.
Wishing you lots of loaves from the Low Countries and who knows one day we will be able to make the decision to travel to your marvelous and to us exciting and beautiful part of the world.
Take care,
Ed & Marieke
WKB
Rajh says
Thanks
Sylvia says
Hello,
Yours is a lovely site I came across just now while ‘googling’ for wheat flour 480! Due to the lockdown we are experiencing, it has been difficult to find any kind of flour (getting better now), but I often use fine semolina (I learned that in North Africa, and I prefer it when baking white breads).
Speaking from the UK now, but born in Amsterdam a long time ago…:
Currently making natural rise bread…
Dank voor alle uitleg!
Sylvia
Weekend Bakers says
Hello / Hallo Sylvia,
Great to get your comment. You must have traveled a lot and picked up all kinds of interesting and delicious knowledge and recipes. At the moment traveling is not an option for most of us and to be honest it is not so bad as long as we can bake. We have also baked and still do so with semolina. Don’t know if you have seen this recipe for instance:
www.weekendbakery.com/posts…same-loaf/
Also do not know if you have any memories about Holland and Amsterdam or about our food, but maybe this typical Dutch recipe will be to your liking: www.weekendbakery.com/posts…ff-pastry/
And people with Dutch roots and expats also miss these:
www.weekendbakery.com/posts…dos-kanos/
Enjoy your baking / geniet van het bakken,
Ed & Marieke
WKB
Chris says
Hi Ed & Marieke,
Ik bak al een tijdje met veel plezier de recepten van jullie website, met veel succes!
Wat me opvalt van jullie recepten ten opzichte van buitenlandse sites (UK/US) is dat de meeste recepten hier een lagere hydratatie hebben. Ik merk dit zelf ook met mijn tarwebloem (van de Zandhaas), het lijkt wel alsof deze maximaal rond de 70/72% hydratatie ‘pakt’. Veel hogere percentages blijkt niet altijd een even groot succes. Kan het kloppen dat Nederlands bloem anders reageert op vocht dan bijv. Amerikaans of Engels bloem?
Groet,
Chris
Chris says
Hallo Ed en Marieke,
I have read so many people saying that to test your new sourdough culture with the water float/sink test. However, I believe that if it sinks this is not necessarily a sign that it is not ready. My culture is now on day 9, always at a consisitent 21c degrees, doubles every day, smells tremendous, exactly like a bottle of expensve red wine, and has plenty of aeration, air pockets. But it never floats whenever I test it. Please could you offer your insight into what you would assume is happening at this point. Is it ready for the fridge? Thanking you as always.
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Chris,
First of all, we never use the float test and think you are right. What you describe to us is a culture ready to be used in baking. We base our judging on activity, smell and look (no strange color or fuzz) and we think you should move forward and start baking with it. Based on the smell and activity at this stage the right bacteria have the upper hand (if not sour enough it would very easily smell bad or get something in it that does not belong, the sour protects the culture).
Hope you will do your first test bake soon and it will be a success!
Ed & Marieke
WKB
Lysbeth says
Beste Ed&Marieke,
superleuk om al jullie recepten te lezen. Ik heb al verschillende dingen bij jullie gekocht en dat gaat heel goed.
wat ik graag wilde weten, is wel soort meel jullie bij jullie recepten gebruiken? Broodmeel is zeer algemeen, heb ik inmiddels begrepen. wat gebruiken jullie meestal?
alvast bedankt en succes.
Weekend Bakers says
Hallo Lysbeth,
Wat leuk je comment te lezen. Bedankt voor je aardige woorden 🙂
Wij gebruiken voor onze broodrecepten het liefste als basis biologische tarwebloem met een proteïne (gluten) gehalte van tussen de 12 en 13% en combineren deze basis met kleinere hoeveelheden spelt, volkoren tarwe en rogge. Voor witte broodjes en brood gebruiken we ook graag Italiaanse bloem (vaak merk Capoto, de Caputo blue). Deze kun je ook heel goed gebruiken voor pizza en focaccia en andere platte broden.
Onze favoriete molen is De zandhaas in Santpoort. Over het algemeen hebben molens een heel hoge kwaliteit bloem en meel tegen zeer redelijke prijzen (als ze open en toegankelijk zijn op het moment natuurlijk). Indien (weer) mogelijk kun je ook online bestellen bij bv De Zuidmolen. Zij verkopen ook goede Franse bloem die wij ook wel gebruiken voor de croissants en dergelijke (Type 55 bloem).
Hopelijk kun je er wat mee. Vraag gerust als je nog wat wilt weten en geniet van het bakken!
Marieke & Ed
WKB
Chris says
Hallo Ed en Marieke, Ik heb een vraagje maar eerst wil ik jullie alebie bedanken voor al dit informatie en gegevens op jullie website. Ik wens jullie alle beste. I have searched and searched for a whole week for one tiny bit of information on google and so after exhausting myself I would be so grateful if you could answer this: What is the general ratio of sourdough starter to the rest of the flour for your bread? Can you believe it that no one seems to talk about this – there are plenty of recipes, but this is of not what I am looking for, and the recipes differ so much. Dankjewel uit Ireland.
Weekend Bakers says
Dankjewel Chris, ook voor je aardige woorden in het Nederlands. The reason you did not really find an answer is because of the timing and how long it takes to make the final bread, the method, how many stages there are, the temperature. They all influence the amount of sourdough you would need. In general we can say that with our method a good indication (with an overnight preferment for 12 hours at room temperature) would be around 3% of the total amount of flour used in the recipe.
Depending on the activity of your own personal culture, there will always be ‘room’ to shorten or lengthen the last proofing phase to get to a good result.
There are dozens of ways to get to a good loaf, so you maybe must not overthink this subject too much and focus on finding a method and type of bread that you like the most. Bake it over and over, getting comfortable with it and gain baking experience and knowledge this way. That would be our advice to being a happy baker.
Groetjes uit Holland and stay safe!
Ed & Marieke
Chris says
Hallo Ed en Marieke, bedankt voor jullie snel antwoord. Just so that I understand correctly: You are saying that you use the 3% of the final sourdough culture as a poolish? You do not mean taking (bijvoorbeeld) 1000g of flour and using 30g of the sourdogh culture to make the bread do you, with no overnight rise that is? Since most recipes that I see are using 100g – 400g culture in 800g loaves? Please forgive my ignorance, this sourdough baking is totally new to me at the moment. Hartelijk Bedankt voor je geduld. Chris.
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Chris,
With the 3% / 30 gram and other ingredients we make a poolish.
With this small amount of sourdough you create a fully active sourdough preferment overnight which you then use to build the final dough. This way you can keep a small starter and still have the full sourdough flavor. Big advantage for home and hobby bakers is you are wasting far less precious flour when refreshing your culture than you would maintaining a big one!
You can read more about it under ‘why we use such a small amount of starter culture’ here:
www.weekendbakery.com/posts…ough-tips/
So with this small amount we create the bigger 100 to 400 gram ‘culture’ overnight.
Hope you understand.
Make one of our recipes like the pain naturel: www.weekendbakery.com/posts…n-naturel/
and you will understand even better we think!
Groetjes,
Ed & Marieke
Chris says
Hartelijk Bedankt Ed en Marieke. Nu begrijp ik alles, Ik had die web pagina, over de preferment en poolish, al gelezen; maar na zoveel uren van het lezen waarschijnlijk heb ik mijn concentratie kwijt geraakt. Een grote bedankt voor julllie antwoorden en ik wens jullie allebei de allebeste in jullie bakken en dit fantastically arranged, easy to follow, and logically and sensibly put together website, it is so well done compared to many others that I have seen. Groetjes, Chris.
Weekend Bakers says
Thank you Chris, much appreciated 🙂
Sarah says
Hello!
So happy to have found your website, it’s going to keep me busy 🙂 quick question – I made your crusty white loaf, but what do you suggest I bake it in, I did it in a Dutch oven but it didn’t rise very well – should I be doing it in a loaf tin with no lid? Any tips very gratefully received. Thank you! It tasted delicious by the way. I wanted to tag you on Instagram – but can’t find you guys?
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Sarah,
The Dutch oven is perfect. The rising of the dough in the oven also depends on the proofing of the dough before. So maybe a bit of under-proofing could give a better oven-spring in your case. It depends on how well proofed the dough was and at what temperature.
You can also do the finger poking test to see where the dough is at:
the finger poking test;
With your finger gently poke in your dough. If you have a high hydration dough you can first dip your finger in a little bit of flour to prevent sticking.
Roughly speaking:
If the hole disappears completely: under-proofed
If the hole dent pops half way back out: proofing is just right
If the hole stays entirely dented in: over-proofed
The result is also very much dependent on the flour you use. So, if possible, use strong white (preferably) organic bread flour for this recipe for the best rise and bake.
Sorry, we are not very active on Instagram, or have not been for ages.
Hope your loaves will be awesome and you will enjoy many more hours of baking happiness.
Ed & Marieke
WKB
Julie Richards says
I am absolutely delighted I have found your website (while browsing for a speculaas recipe!). I love baking, I love baking bread even more, and my partner is Dutch, so your website is the BEST thing I’ve found online for a long time!! (Insert lots of smiley faces!)
Can’t wait to start reading all your tips and recipes. And a batch of speculaas cookies is coming right up.
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Julie,
That is so wonderful. Hope your partner will be pleased when you present a nice plate of speculaasjes, or what do you think about appelflappen?!
www.weekendbakery.com/posts…ff-pastry/
or what about homemade kano’s (oh we love them over here with the almond paste that is so much better when homemade too)
www.weekendbakery.com/posts…dos-kanos/
But maybe good to balance this with some healthy bread!
You’ll find our best bread recipes here:
www.weekendbakery.com/posts…d-recipes/
Enjoy this journey and look after yourselves these crazy times!
Marieke & Ed
Weekend Bakers
Chris says
Hello, I am looking for a legit sub sandwich roll that has a little chew but gooyness factor. When you roll the sandwich tight in butcher paper the sandwich and roll take a cylinder shape. You have a great website love the design and you seem to take your baking serious. Thanks for the time CW
Weekend Bakers says
Hi Chris,
Thank you for your kind words. We do not have the right recipe for you, because we do not have experience with the sub sandwich roll here in Holland. But, based on what we do know, we would start with a dough like that of the baguette boule and maybe add some butter and a hint of sugar to the dough and glaze the top with egg and take it from there. So we would in essence make small baguette boules and shape them like mini baguettes. www.weekendbakery.com/posts…he-recipe/
But hope you will find a good authentic recipe to help you and hope it will be great!
Stay safe and enjoy your baking!
Ed & Marieke
Carey Ann says
Hello from Seattle,
I’m planning on baking the chocolate muffins (with Dutch sprinkles and Dutch cocoa) and am curious about the croissant recipe. Traditional recipes I have call for either water or milk.
The content on this site is concise and in depth. The photos are excellent. Bravo for an engaging and interesting baking site!
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Carey Ann,
So great to read your comment. If you are going to use our croissant recipe for the first time, we advice to make it exactly like we describe it. We use full fat milk with a fat content of 3.5% for this recipe. All the steps are hopefully carefully explained so you can get a good result.
The chocolate muffins have a great texture and you can vary the chocolate amount and kind.
Hope it will be great and you get to enjoy your baking and share the results with your loved ones.
Be safe and happy baking.
Greetings from tiny Holland,
Ed & Marieke
julie says
Amazing video and notes! can’t wait to taste my croissants. I did have one question though – in the video it states to rest dough in freezer 20 min and in the notes reset in fridge for 30. Do you have a preference?
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Julie,
Thank you so much. Our suggestion would be to use the fridge in most cases, because it is easier for most people, it cools more evenly and in general there’s more space too.
Hope your croissants will be excellent.
All the best and stay safe!
Ed & Marieke
Weekend Bakers
noriko says
Do you have bakery books available, if possible with large fonts? If so, what the title of the books, and where I can buy” Internet is not always available, and I can check out some updated info on online.
Also, I am interested in using fermented rice as an alternative of sugar and salt. Do you have some receipes and procedures available?
Weekend Bakers says
Hello Noriko,
We do not have a book ourselves. You can print your favorite recipes from your browser (without pictures or unnecessary content).
We can recommend some other books. Are you looking for bread or pastry books especially?
We have no experience whatsoever with fermented rice. We do know ‘rice syrup’ as a substitute for sugar.
Depending on what you want to bake, it is very much possible to bake a lot of bread without any sugar and very little to no salt, getting good results without the need for substitutes.
Rudolf says
Geachte weekendbakery,
Beste Ed & Marieke,
Tegenwoordig houdt men zich bezig met het maken van desembroden.
Hiervoor worden verschillende terminologie gebruikt:
biga, stiff, levain, liquide levain, moederdeeg, desem, starter.
Allemaal leuk en aardig, maar wat is nu wat?
Ik heb de volgende recepturen:
poolish
%
100 water 17 C gist goed in water oplossen; daarna de
100 T65 bloem toevoegen; 15 á 16 uur in
0,1 gist bakkerijomgeving laten fermenteren
liquide levain
% gist goed oplossen in warm water; daarna
100 water 45 C de bloem toevoegen; 2 uur rijstkast bij 320
100 T65 bloem toevoegen;
50 desem koelen bij 40 C.
stiff (voordeeg)
%
50 water 45 C 4 ” mengen; 4 ” kneden; op bol zetten
50 desem plm 3 uur rijskast 32. C
100 T65 dan koelen bij 4. C
paté fermanté/ biga
%
60 water 17 C 4 ” mengen; 1 ” kneden
100 desem 18 C
0,2 gist water en gist goed mengen;
15 á 16 uur fermentatie
kamertemperatuur bewaren
” betekend minuten
In het receptuur van liquide levain staat 50 % desem.
Is dit het product wat ik krijg na een x-tal dagen van meel en water geroerd in een kom waardoor fermentatie ontstaat?
In het receptuur van stiff/ biga staat het zelfde.
T65 is een patentsoort.
Kunt u hier helderheid in verstrekken?
Weekend Bakers says
Beste Rudolf,
Hier vindt u een artikel van ons (wel Engelstalig) dat gaat over dit onderwerp. www.weekendbakery.com/posts…lish-biga/
Al deze termen zijn een variatie op hetzelfde thema, het zijn allemaal voordegen die men aan het uiteindelijke deeg toevoegt om een betere kwaliteit deeg te krijgen (voor-fermentatie zorgt voor betere verteerbaarheid en meer smaak oa). De variatie zit hem in het gebruik van de hoeveelheid water (% hydratatie) en gist of desem.
Als men een voordeeg met desem maakt dan wordt daar een actieve desemcultuur aan toegevoegd. Dat is die 50% en dat x-aantal dagen waar u aan refereert.
Dus om een voordeeg / levain op basis van desem te maken moet u een eigen desemcultuur toevoegen die u zelf kunt maken en onderhouden.
Wij hebben hiervoor een eenvoudig stappenplan maar we zijn nog bezig met de NL vertaling: www.weekendbakery.com/posts…asy-steps/
De manier waarop wij ons desem gebruiken in onze recepten staat bij deze tips voor zuurdesembakkers beschreven:
www.weekendbakery.com/posts…m-bakkers/
Het is een erg economische methode met goed resultaat die u zeker zal bevallen.
Norma says
Genios los amo
Weekend Bakers says
muchas gracias
sigrid says
Hoi Marieke en Ed,
Hebben jullie er al eens aan gedacht om een boek uit te geven van al jullie recepten? Het kan niet anders dan een groot succes worden!
Groeten Sigrid
Weekend Bakers says
Hallo Sigrid,
Dankjewel voor het enorme compliment! Ja, er zijn zoveel mooie bak-boeken dat je wel iets bijzonders moet doen om je te onderscheiden.
We zouden wel iets willen toevoegen aan wat er al is, en dat zou een enorme uitdaging zijn.
We hopen dat je op deze manier ook veel plezier hebt van onze recepten en tips,
Ed & Marieke
PS: We blijven trouw aan ons concept: Alles is van ons, geen sponsoring, geen hinderlijke advertenties. Gewoon aardige mensen met goede recepten 🙂