Sourdough can I make it tonight and bake it in the morning?

[tinkywinkyshandbag]

Hi all, I have been given some sourdough starter which looks and smells great, and I have plenty of bread flour. I know that it takes a long time to prove a sourdough loaf, what I would ideally like to do is make the dough tonight before bed and then bake it in the morning so that we can have it for lunch. Does that timing work? Also does anyone have any favourite recipes. I don't have a Dutch oven or a loaf tin so it would just be baked in the oven as a free form loaf. Thank you!

Do t know the answer but was wondering the same thing, I’m currently making a starter

No, in short, you need longer. When was starter last fed?

Yes, you can usually prove it overnight. It can be a bit unpredictable wrt rising speed, but it should be okay as long as your room isn't boiling hot. I would recommend putting a roasting tray of water in the oven with the loaves, to get a better crust

BBC sourdough recipie is a good place to start.
I'd make it, knead it tonight
Wack in fridge overnight

Shape it in the morning first thing
Prove it in a warm ish spot for a few hours
Bake about 11ish and you should be good.

That is, you can prove the dough in its bowl overnight, but you'll have to shape it and leave it to prove again in the morning before you can bake it (this is usually what we do)

Perfect that sounds good, starter was fed last night and is lovely and bubbly and smells great, should I feed it again? Thanks for your advice I've never been a great baker but there's something magical about home made bread. My usual place to prove ordinary bread after it's been knocked back is on top of my heated airer. Usually get a great rise then.

I don't want to keep throwing away starter so ideally I'd like to do the method where you use some and then keep the rest. I wouldn't mind trying sourdough pancakes though.

First attempt! Actually second as first was too wet and sloppy so threw it away. This ones quite hefty but tastes good. Any tips for a lighter bake?

Ooh well done! That actually looks quite an even, well risen crumb for sourdough, it's usually denser than yeast loaves and even more so if you're used to shop bread

@Bakedpotatoandgin thank you it was tasty! One thing I found was that after the overnight prove it had really stuck to the bowl it was in, is it okay to use oil in the bowl to stop this happening? Thanks for the advice.

Yes I would think so. Or you could oil and flour it as you would the baking tray

Don't oil the bowl, just tip it out and use a spatula to scrape it.

Let it rise longer after you shape it for a lighter loaf, and making the dough a bit wetter might help. Looks like you've got a nice lively starter. They vary according to what yeasts they pick up.

Yay second attempt lighter and softer and with holes..DH thinks it could have done with 5 more mins cooking but I think DD will approve as she found the first one a bit heavy. Amazing how satisfying it is to bake a loaf of bread!

That looks amazing!