Bread: Sourdough 3

I have a confession to make. Bread was supposed to be the second sourdough post, but I almost killed my starter. I'm not sure what happened, but I went to make a loaf of bread and it just wouldn't rise. I started in in the morning and by 10 that night it has risen just a bit in the bowl. I put it in the bread pan in the fridge overnight and it took the whole next day to properly rise, I baked it right before bed. I had to feed and nurture the starter daily for 3 days to get it going again. Now it's fine, but things were a little touch and go for a while. Anyway, on to bread.

White Sourdough Bread - derived from a variety of recipes, distilled to simplicity.
6 cups white flour
1 3/4 cups water
1 tbs salt
1/2 cup starter (don't forget to keep a bit of starter for the next batch!) or 1/2 tsp yeast

Well developed gluten. And flavor.

Mix the starter, 5 cups flour, the salt and the water together in a bowl and try your best to get them into a ball. Reserve the 6th cup of flour and use it for dusting the counter and adding to the dough to get it the right consistency. I knead the dough by hand, mostly because that way I can really feel when it's ready. You can also use a mixer with a dough hook or theoretically a bread machine. What you're going for is a sticky mass that has come together well enough that it pulls pretty cleanly away from the counter when you're kneading it or away from the side of the bowl with the dough hook. Dough changes as you knead. It's sticky and loose and then not as sticky and firmer as the gluten forms. Resist the urge to add too much flour too early. There are plenty of articles online about kneading dough and what proper dough consistency is. There are also plenty of different opinions about what the final dough will look and feel like. The dough in this recipe is fairly loose for a bread dough (though heavier than my pizza dough) because I bake it in a pan. A loaf that will be baked free on a stone should probably be a bit stiffer to hold it's shape better. I prefer baking in a pan mostly because my kids use the bread for sandwiches and by using a pan I can make sure that those sandwiches fit in a standard lunch bag. You can use a regular glass pan that you bake quick breads in (though you should probably reduce the flour to five cups and the water to 1.5 cups) but I really really like my Pullman Pan. It makes a perfect sized loaf and, for me at least, never sticks. I've sort of gotten off track here. You've now kneaded you dough for 10 minutes or so. Now flop it back into the bowl and cover until it has about doubled in size. I don't know how long this will take for your dough. It might take 4 hours, it might take over night. It depends on how lively your starter is and how warm it is. It's actually cooling down in Texas finally, so I'm letting my first rise happen on the counter over night. From 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. is about 9 hours. That seems to work. I will say that a long rise is necessary for good flavor and gluten development in bread. You can make the recipe here with a whole packet of yeast (2.5 tsp) and it will rise faster and you'll be able to get it baked faster. It won't taste as good as if you use the suggested 1/2 tsp and just wait longer. If you don't believe me, then try it, you'll be a convert. Time is the one ingredient that absolutely cannot be replaced in great bread. Ask any baker, all great breads take time. Now you have to shape the dough or flop it in the pan. I'm the wrong man to talk to about shaping bread, go do a search. I just peel the dough out of the bowl, get it vaguely log shaped and drop it in the bread pan. I'm such a lazy baker. Then take a piece of plastic wrap and lightly butter it and cover the pan. This lets the bread rise to the top of the pan without sticking to the covering. When the bread has about doubled in size in the bread pan, or reached the top, heat the oven to 400 and bake for 40-50 minutes. When you knock on it and it sounds hollow it's probably done.

I think my bread is so pretty that it deserves an outdoor photo.

It will take you a few loaves of bread to get the hang of all of this. It's not hard, but it does require some experience doing it. If you want to be really scientific about it, keep a journal of your baking. Exactly how much went into the loaf, what the dough felt like, how long the rise was (note the temperature in your kitchen) and how long your bake was. After 4-6 loaves you'll have a very good idea what's going on and what you can expect the next time you bake. You should be able to make a wonderful aromatic beautiful loaf of sourdough bread with a little practice. It will put to shame anything you can buy in the grocery store and you probably won't be able to buy anything it's equal anywhere for less than $5-7 a loaf. This is real artisan stuff here. Don't be afraid to pick up a book or two on baking bread from the library. There is also a ton of information about baking online especially from King Arthur Flour. You could also drive my sister insane by hitting her up at The Naked Elm, her bakery and cafe in Blue Mounds Wisconsin. She loves baking and will gladly tell you that I actually suck at baking and set you straight on how it's done.

Go bake some bread. It's one of those things that you need to do to really learn. You can spend all day reading about rock climbing or sailing or riding a motorcycle or baking bread, but when it comes right down to it, you can't really learn about it until you actually do it.