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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Homemade Artisan Sourdough Bread

I love sourdough bread. The slighly sour taste mixed with hot melted butter is heaven to my taste buds. Since starting a sourdough starter over a year ago, I have been trying to perfect this artisan loaf. I have to say, it has the best texture and crust of any I have tried! Real artisan sourdough is often cooked in a brick oven in a terracotta dish, but I believe this version is perfect for the everyday chef.




This is my sourdough starter. It is in its second year of living in my refrigerator, and it has worked hard for me. I have made sourdough bagels, sourdough pancakes, and sourdough bread, all from this one magical, bubbly mess! You will need at least 1/2 c of starter for this recipe.







These are the only two vessels needed for making this sourdough. The glass bowl is for mixing, and the round casserole dish (with a lid) is needed for baking.






The first mixture is the most important part of this recipe. If you don't get the texture right, your bread could fall flat! For this mixture, you will need:

1/2 c sourdough starter (I sometimes throw in a bit more)

3 c flour- this time, I used 1 1/2 c unbleached and 1 1/2 c spelt. The more whole grain flour, the denser your bread will be. I find that the 50-50 ratio makes a great loaf.

1 t sea salt

1 1/2 c water

Mix everything in a glass bowl. If the mixture is runny, add more flour. The dough should be firm but wet, as in the picture above.

Since the dough will need to sit out for a long period of time, start the dough with respect to the meal with which you will eat it. For a lunch loaf, start the dough around 5pm the night before. For a dinner loaf, start it around 10pm the night before.




Next comes the waiting... as with many traditionally-made foods, sourdough requires a long fermentation. I let it sit on my counter, covered with a wet towel, for 12 to 15 hours. The timing all depends on the temperature of your home. Since it's been fairly warm in my home lately, I let my dough ferment for 13 hours. The picture shows how much it has risen overnight.

When your dough is ready, you need to "flip" it. I call it this because it is kind of like flipping pancakes :) Get your hands really floury, and sprinkle the top with a few pinches of flour, then flip it from the side to the center of the bowl. I usually turn the bowl 2 or 3 times while I'm flipping to make sure I get it all unstuck from the bowl.


 

When you have flipped your dough, turn it out on a lightly floured surface while you clean and grease the bowl. This picture shows my dough after having been flipped and back in the glass bowl. I coated my bowl generously with virgin coconut oil.

Re-cover the dough with a wet cloth and let it sit for the second rise. This rise could range anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. Today, mine took 2.5 hrs.






Here's my dough, ready for baking! If you let the dough go too long, you might see large bubbles coming to the surface and popping. If this happens, don't fret- just get that loaf in the oven pronto!

To bake your sourdough, preheat the oven and the lidded baking dish to 450 degrees F. I have tried baking at a lower temp, but the crust just isn't the same! When oven and baking dish are heated, carefully remove the lid and pour in your dough. You may need to use your hands or a stiff spatula to help the dough along. Cut some 1" slits in the top of the dough with some kitchen scissors and replace the lid.

Bake 30 minutes with the lid ON.

After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes with the lid OFF.



 



Here's what you will pull out of the oven! A crusty loaf fit for a French boulangerie. It is fantastic with a large dollop of butter or dipped in your favorite seasoned olive oil! Artisan quality, and oh so delicious!






Here's a cross section of the bread to show you the fluffy goodness you'll find under that crispy crust! My kids ate the other half... If you are not satisfied with the rise of this loaf, you can always use 100% unbleached flour for an amazingly fluffy bread.

This post was shared on Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist

8 comments:

  1. How do I make the starter? I am new at this. thanks, Dona

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  2. Sourdough starter is easy :)

    Combine equal parts flour (unbleached) and filtered water in a glass jar and cover loosely with a towel. 1/4 c flour/water should be a good start! Leave on your kitchen counter...

    "Feed" your starter with equal parts flour/water every 12-24 hours for about a week or until it is bubbly and smells nice and yeasty.

    Store the starter in your fridge until you are ready to use. You can now put a lid on your container. Be sure to "feed" it every week or so with equal parts flour/water.

    It's that simple! :)

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  3. Wow, this does look easy since the sourdough is doing all the work!

    I was going to ask if I could use something else besides spelt, and then I noticed the note at the end of the post.

    One question - do I need to grease the baking dish?

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  4. Barb- No, you don't need to grease the baking dish. The original recipe did say to sprinkle oats in the bottom of the dish before adding the dough, but I've found that it does just as well without oats. And, my kids don't like the oat texture. ;) If the bread sticks a little, just run a knife along the edge and it should pop right out!

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  5. Thank you for posting this. I am headed to the kitchen right now to start a batch of starter.

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  6. OK, bread's in the oven. Let's see how it goes. Did I understand correctly-no real kneading other than the turning part? I'm having trouble wrapping my head around that part.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, that's right! No kneeding. Let me know how it turns out :)

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  7. I just read this post, copied and pasted it to send to me in an email. I had just one comment, Thank you for this detailed instructions on how to make this bread. So many other places have shared their recipe, but no real instructions on what it is supposed to look like and how to do all the steps to make Sourdough bread. Thanks again, I saved your site page to my computer and I will be back to see what else you have to offer to we who want to know and can't seem to find the best instructions.

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