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How To Make Easy Sourdough Bread
by
Dennis Weaver
Sourdough simply uses wild
yeast in place of commercial yeast to leaven the
bread. It relies on the wild yeasts that are in
the air all around us and cultures those yeasts
in a warm, wet environment created with water,
flour, and sometimes other components.
When creating a sourdough starter, we always felt like we were on an expedition trying to trap invisible yeastie beasties with our flour and water concoctions. Because we couldn’t see the beasties, we were never sure what we had captured. While usually successful, we never felt like we were in control. Maybe that is the way sourdough should feel, a symbiosis with nature.
But there is an easier way: use commercial yeast in the starter. I know, that’s heresy to the sourdough zealot but we only care about the bread. Using commercial yeast is easier, it’s the alcohol from the long cool fermentation that creates the sourdough-like flavor, and the wild yeasts will eventually take over the starter anyway. Because it's easy, it’s no big deal if you abandon your starter after a few weeks; you can readily start another when you’re back in the mood or have the time.
Using this recipe for sourdough bread, a small amount of yeast is used in the starter. As the starter is used and refreshed with new feedings of flour and water, wild yeasts are introduced and cultivated.
Here is the recipe:
For the starter:
1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1/4 teaspoon yeast
1 cup high gluten unbleached flour.
Mix the starter in a glass or steel bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set it aside at room temperature until it is doubled and bubbly, maybe 4 to 6 hours.
For the sponge:
A sponge is a pre-ferment, a wet mixture of flour and yeast that acts as an incubation chamber to grow yeast at the desired rate. It is added to the dough.
1 cup of the starter
3/4 cup warm water
2 cups flour
Mix the one cup starter with the flour and water, cover, and set aside to ferment until it has tripled in volume. At room temperature, it will take four to eight hours. You can put it in a cool place--about fifty degrees--and let it perk all night. (In the winter, your garage may be just right.) You can also put it in the refrigerator overnight. At temperatures of forty degrees, the yeast will be inactive but the friendly bacteria will still be working and enhance the sour flavor of the bread. If you retard the growth with lower temperatures (“retard” is the correct term for slowing the growth of the yeast), simply bring the sponge to room temperature and let it expand to three times its original volume before proceeding.
For the dough:
All of the sponge
11/2 cups flour (more or less)
2 teaspoons salt
Mix the salt with the flour. Knead the combination
into the sponge by hand until you have a smooth,
elastic, slightly sticky dough, adding more flour
as needed. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and
let it rise again until doubled, about an hour.
Bakers note: Notice that the salt is not added
until the last stage. Salt in the sponge would
inhibit yeast growth.
Form the loaves:
Though you can make this
in pans, it works best as a large freestanding
round or oval loaf or two smaller loaves. Place
a clean cotton cloth in a bowl or basket in which
to hold the loaf. Lightly dust the interior of
the bowl with flour. Place each formed loaf upside
down in a bowl on top of the dusted flour. Cover
the loaves with plastic and let them rise again
until doubled. This rising will probably take
less than an hour.
Bakers note: You want a light dusting of flour
on the cloth to be transferred to the bread, not
a heavy caking. Softly sifting flour from a strainer
is the easiest way to achieve an even coating.
If you choose to bake the
in pans, omit this step. Instead, let the dough
rise in a greased bowl covered with plastic until
doubled. Form the loaves for pans, place the loaves
in greased pans, and let rise until well-expanded
and puffy. Bake at 350 degrees until done, about
30 minutes.
To bake crusty bread:
To form the thick, chewy crust that is typical
of artisan breads, follow these instructions:
Place a large, shallow, metal pan in the oven
on the lowest shelf. You will pour hot water in
this pan to create steam in the oven. (High heat
is hard on pans so don't use one of your better
pans and don’t use a glass or ceramic pan which
might shatter.) An old sheet pan is ideal. Fill
a spray bottle with water. You will use this to
spray water into the oven to create even more
steam.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. When the oven
is hot and the
is fully risen and is soft and puffy--being very
careful not to burn yourself with the rising steam
and with a mitted hand—turn your head away and
pour two or three cups of very hot water in the
pan in the oven. Quickly close the oven door to
capture the steam. With spray bottle in hand,
open the door and quickly spray the oven walls
to create more steam and close the door. The oven
is now ready for the loaves.
Work quickly to get the
in the oven before the steam subsides. Gently
invert the loaf or loaves onto a slightly greased
non-insulated baking sheet on which a little cornmeal
has been dusted. With your sharpest knife, quickly
make two or three slashes 1/4-inch deep across
the top of each loaf. This will vent the steam
in the
and allow the
to expand properly. Immediately, put the
in the steamy oven. After a few moments, open
the door and spray the walls again to recharge
the steam. Do this twice more during the first
fifteen minutes of baking. This steamy environment
will create the chewy crust prized in artisan
breads.
Let the
bake at 425 degrees for fifteen minutes in the
hot steamy oven and then reduce the temperature
to 375 degrees and bake for a total of 35 to 40
minutes. Check on the
ten minutes before the baking should be complete.
If the top is browning too quickly, tent the loaf
with aluminum foil for the remainder of the baking
to keep it from burning. The
is done when the crust turns a dark golden brown
and the internal temperature reaches 210 degrees.
It is important that the
is well-baked to drive moisture from the loaf.
If the
is under baked, the excess moisture will migrate
to the crust and you will no longer have the dry
chewy crust of a great artisan loaf.
This sourdough
is to die for. The prolonged rising gives the
yeast plenty of time to convert the starch to
sugars and the friendly bacteria a chance to impart
their nut-like flavors.
Storing your crusty bread:
Unused crusty
should be stored in a paper bag at room temperature.
If the
is stored in a plastic bag, the crust will become
soft.
Copyright 2003-2007,
The Prepared Pantry (http://www.prepraredpantry.com
). Published by permission in the Article
Directory: http://www.articlecube.com
Dennis
Weaver is a baker, a recipe designer, and a writer.
He has written many baking guides and How
to Bake, a comprehensive baking and reference
e-book--available free at The
Prepared Pantry which sells baking supplies
and tools and has a free online baking library.
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