Pete, you need a good starter, like an aged one/ I'll dry it, send it, and you will hydrate it, feed it, but you will get that "old" feeling! Here you go............. There is more to this drama, \but this is a good starter.
Suzi
Basic Sour Dough Bread / Rolls
Of course, there are a lot of recipes for sourdough bread. There are also recipes for sourdough rolls, sourdough pancakes, sourdough pretzels, sourdough bagels, and probably sourdough saltines for all I know. This is the basic recipe I use, though, and it's simple and makes a fine bread. You'll need the following:
- 2 Cups of sponge (proofed starter)
- 3 Cups of unbleached flour
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil or softened margarine
- 4 teaspoons of sugar
- 2 teaspoons of salt
To the sponge, add the sugar, salt, and oil (the oil is optional - you can use softened butter instead, or no oil at all). Mix well, then knead in the flour a half-cup at a time. Knead in enough flour to make a good, flexible bread dough. You can do this with an electric mixer, a bread machine on "dough cycle," or a food processor. You can also do it with a big bowl and your bare hands.
Keep in mind that flour amounts are approximate; flour varies in absorbency, and your sponge can vary in wetness. Use your judgement; treat it like ordinary white or french bread dough. Trust your hands and eyes more than the recipe, always.
Let the dough rise in a warm place, in a bowl covered loosely with a towel (if you're using a bread machine's dough cycle, let it rise in the machine). Note that sourdough rises more slowly than yeast bread; my starter takes about an hour or so, but some starters take much longer. Let the dough double in bulk, just like yeast-bread dough. When a finger poked into the top of the dough creates a pit that doesn't "heal" (spring back), you've got a risen dough.
Punch the dough down and knead it a little more. Make a loaf and place it on a baking sheet (lightly greased or sprinkled with cornmeal). Slit the top if you like, and cover the loaf with a paper towel and place it in a warm place to rise again, until doubled in bulk.
Place the pan with the loaf in your oven, and then turn your oven to 350o Farenheit and bake the bread for 30-45 minutes. Do not preheat the oven. The loaf is done when the crust is brown and the bottom sounds hollow when thumped with a wooden spoon. Turn the loaf out onto a cooling rack or a towel and let it cool for an hour before slicing.
And that's that. If you double the recipe for two big two-pound loaves of bread, the total price tag will be less than a dollar.
Comments and Notes and Ramblings
For good rising, I use my oven. Turn the oven on for a minute or so, then turn it off again. This will warm the oven and make it a great environment to raise bread. If you can't comfortably press your hand against the inside of the oven door, the oven is too hot. Let it stand open to cool a bit.
I'm continually amazed at the elegance of sourdough baking . . . Bread is simple and yet it's one of the most satisfying foods there is, and the most fundamental
Tools: Oven, 2 flat baking sheets, 1 deep baking sheet or shallow pan for the water.
Bowl, stout rubber spatula or wood spoon.
A pizza paddle or wide spatulas to move the dough loaves around.
Yield: 4 normal size loaves, 6 small loaves or lots of buns.
Bread Recipe: Plan for between approx. 10 to 24 hours for the process (your choice -- read ahead and plan for what works best for you)
- 2 cups (approx) liquid starter culture (always leave at least a cup of starter in reserve for future bread baking)
- 8 cups (approx.) White unbleached bread flour, (approx. 3 lbs.)
- 5 cups (approx.) Baby Bottle Warm water* (appx 90 degrees)
- 4 heaping teaspoons Sea Salt
- 4 heaping teaspoons sugar (honey, organic white or brown sugar)
- 2 or more additional cups of flour
- Approx. ½ cup olive oil
Note: All measurements are very approximate. Adjust flour and water ratios til it feels right (tough if you have no idea what that means, you'll just have to try it my way first then adjust your approach next time.) I allow 1 teaspoon of salt per medium loaf. The sugar is to counter the killing effects of the salt (on the yeast).
Step One: Approx 5 minutes to make. 8 to 24 hours to sit on your counter and ferment.
- Mix by hand the flour, starter and water in a very large ceramic or glass bowl until all ingredients are moistened. Do not beat, just gently mix.
- Let this sit for a minimum of 8 hours (in a warm kitchen) or as long as 24 hours. I prefer about a 12 hour period (I mix it in the morning and bake it in the evening). If it’s very warm, go with less time so that your culture doesn’t run out of life before it’s baked. This process is called the “sponge”. I cover mine loosely with a flexible plastic cutting board.
Note: after you've made a few loaves and have a feel for the process, see the FAQ's for info on adding other flours at this stage.
Step Two: About 10 – 15 minutes to knead. Approx 1 to 2 hours to rise.
- Mix Salt and sugar with 1 cup of flour. Stir this mixture into your fermented sponge. Add additional flour if the dough is still wet. When you can no longer stir the bread, cover your hands until they are dripping in olive oil and dive them into the bread. Knead the loaf by turning the far edge over the loaf and towards your body. Smash it into the loaf, give it a ¼ turn and repeat kneading the loaf for between 4 to 15 minutes. (Depends on how fast it goes and your attention span).
- Add a little more flour if the loaf is too sticky, though err on the wet side as a wet dough yields a more open texture. If you make the mistake of adding too much flour, as soon as possible shake off the excess flour (save it to add to your starter) and add more olive oil to the mix until you can knead it again.
- Oil the bread bowl heavily. Put the dough in the bowl and pour more oil on top and spread it around so that it’s protected from drying out.
- Let it rise in a warm place til it’s about 50% bigger or almost doubled. (about 1 to 2 hours)
Step Three: Cooking. About 15 minutes to prepare your oven and loaves. 45 min. to bake.
- Pre-Heat your oven to 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Meanwhile put a large kettle of water to boil. Put a shallow metal pan in the bottom of your oven.
- Punch down your bread dough.
- With a knife, cut it into sections for loaves. This recipe makes 4 medium or 6 small loaves.
- Make about 2 to 6 kneading motions of each dough section and shape the dough into a round or long loaf. Shaping a loaf requires only childhood mud-patty skills, so don’t make this hard on yourself.
- Sprinkle a layer of flour on your kitchen counter and put the shaped loaves there.
Note: This step in the process is the ideal place to add flavorful ingredients to the bread such as – Chocolate chips, dried fruit, chopped nuts, cinnamon and sugar, sautéed onions and garlic, cheese, chopped jalepeno chiles, etc.
Either knead the ingredients into the dough before you shape it OR flatten out the dough and spread the ingredients over it. Roll up the dough and tuck in the ends.
6. Shake a generous sprinkling of flour (about 1/2 cup) on your 2 baking sheets.
7. Finish the dough –
A. The easiest: Pat flour all over the dough. OR
B. Beat a whole egg and spread it over the tops of the loaves.
Optional -- Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds .
8. With a sharp knife, slash the tops of the loaves approx ¼ to 1/2” deep. On round loaves I make an “X”. On long loaves I put 3 to 5 slashes the width of the loaf.
9. Slide the loaves onto the pan and put them in the hot oven.
10. Pour the boiling water into the hot shallow pan on the bottom of the oven and quickly shut the door to seal in the steam.
Bake for 45 minutes at 400 degrees.