…Obelix, the levain, the soul of our bakery…
A day in the life of Obi is not a 24 hour thing. It’s more like 36 hours. This guy works hard. On two square meals a day, he sleeps like a polar bear and works like a coal miner. His job is simple, though:
Just burp and fart. Eat and sleep.
Enough smack talk. Obi is the levain (or mother starter). He’s over twenty years old but no-one knows his actual birthday. Don’t talk to him about it. He gets a bit sensitive.
Dusty uses Obi to make his sours. A little bit of Obi goes into each ferment. Obi’s mood on the day affects the bread so Dusty has to take what he gets and work with it, cos really; Obi’s the boss.
A basic sourdough starts with Obi:
2.pm: feed Obi lunch
2.am: feed Obi breakfast
7.am: mix a bit of Obi into dough
7.am-8.am: Obi works on the dough (autolyse)
8.am-11.am: Obi keeps doing his job (the first rise)
11.am: each loaf is shaped with a little bit of love, then put to bed (to retard the dough in the fridge overnight)
2.am-4.am: the loaves are proved (also known as the final rise)
4.am: the loaves are baked on the hot stones of the oven
6.am: delivery (Obi says goodbye to his children)