In the Kitchen Again

Still no travel and no use making any major travel plans for the near future. So I'm back in the kitchen again today as I am so many days making sourdough bread. I found out recently that one thing many people were doing as they were quarantining at home was sourdough bread making. I guess I wasn't aware how trendy I'd been until a particular insurance commercial came on recently. It does explain the flour shortage in the local grocery store, however. 

I have always enjoyed baking bread and years ago I made quite a lot of it. Fast forward 20 plus years and 20 plus pounds and bread has not always been my friend. Still, few things can equal the smell of fresh bread baking. It just fills your home with hospitality. 

Early in the quarantine process a friend offered some sourdough starter. I jumped at the chance to resume my bread baking since I had little else to occupy my time then. I worked with that starter and lovingly fed it but I could not get it to work right. It developed a funny smell that I knew wasn't right and the few times I tried to make bread was a failure. So per my usual I took to the internet reading, watching and learning more about sourdough. I finally happened upon sourdough starter available dehydrated on Ebay. Actually there is a good variety of it available there. I chose the one that claimed to be of 900 year old Welsh origin. Not sure how you prove or disprove that but it sold me and a few days later I received my sample with complete instructions for reconstitution and feeding. My bread improves each time and now I've also been trying some other recipes using the starter. 

If you're not familiar with sourdough you should be. Sourdough bread has been around for centuries. One of the oldest sourdoughs ever found dates from thousands of years ago. In the middle ages much commercial bread baking relied more on bram from the beer brewing process. When commercial yeast and baking powder were introduced in the 19th century sourdough fell out of favor as the newer methods were much faster and more reliable. For many, however, commercial products weren't readily available and a person's sourdough was treasured and protected to keep it from dying. 

Even with a tried and true 900 year track history for the starter I chose it took me some time to develop a good active starter and the knack of sourdough. I have found the best flour to use is King Arthur bread flour because of it's more consistent protein content. I also realized that weighing your starter, flour and water when feeding provided a happier, healthier starter. I like to leave mine out and feed it twice a day but I hate waste and find myself either throwing out starter or baking and throwing out bread. So now and then I put my starter in the refrigerator for a few days to take a break from feeding and baking. When you have an active, healthy starter many bakers name their starter. Meet Jenny! She is active and healthy, a living thing in my home. 

Feeding the starter is simple. After I weigh my starter I add equal amounts of filtered water and flour. Stir, cover lightly and leave it alone. A good starter will start bubbling and rising in the container. It should rise to at least twice the volume in the container. When the level of starter begins to fall the starter is hungry and needs feeding again. I keep only a small amount of starter going to save flour waste but will increase to get the volume I need for a recipe beginning the day before I plan to bake. I find that if you don't feed the starter frequently it will sour too much and have some unpleasant aroma and taste. If the starter is very hungry and unfed it will develop liquid on the top called "hooch". Some pour this off and others stir it in. I try to avoid developing this. If my starter does get a little sour smelling I discard all but about 25 grams of starter and begin regular feedings keeping the amount small for a few feedings. Soon I have a good-smelling, healthy, happy starter again. There are suggestions on the internet about what to do with your "discard" if you don't plan to bake and don't want to waste. I recently found one that recommended pouring it onto a hot skillet and frying it like a hoe cake. I think I'll try that soon. 

Weighing ingredients for feeding

Just fed starter

I have tried different recipes I found on the internet including some for brownies, muffins, pancakes and hamburger buns. I prefer just making bread though. I searched online for recipes having lost mine years ago. Many that I found contained only a small amount of sourdough and added commercial yeast but I wanted my bread to be powered only by the sourdough starter. I also like my bread just a little sweet so I want some sugar added to the recipe. I found one I liked and wish I could give credit to it's origin but I have long since lost that internet link. I altered the recipe only slightly for my taste and am happy to share that with you. 

Sourdough Bread 

2 cups bread flour

1/4 cup sugar (can use any type of sugar and vary amount to suit your taste)

1 1/2 cup starter

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp filtered water (more or less to get right hydration for the bread)

1 tsp oil or soft butter

2 tsp fine sea salt

Using a mixer with dough hook or mix by hand, combine all ingredients except salt and mix until the dough is pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Cover lightly and let rest 15 minutes. Sprinkle salt over dough and mix (knead) until incorporated, about 5-7 minutes. 

Dough should be tacky but not sticky. Place in a large, greased bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place until doubled. This could take 2+ hours. I have let mine rise up to 6 hours with good results. You can also put this in the refrigerator to rise overnight if you need a slower rise time. 

When doubled carefully remove the dough to a lightly floured surface being careful not to deflate the dough too much. Shape the dough into a loaf or a ball depending on how you plan to bake the bread. 

I prefer a round loaf baked in a dutch oven in the regular oven. Place the round loaf upside down in a banneton or smaller bowl lined with a tea towel lightly dusted with flour to shape the dough and allow a final rise. Cover with the plastic again and let rise for another 1-2 hours until doubled. 

Preheat oven with a cold dutch oven in it to 450 degrees. When the oven is hot remove the dutch oven. Place a piece of parchment paper over the bread and invert onto the parchment. Place the parchment and bread into the dutch oven. Score the
top of the bread with a sharp knife, replace the dutch oven lid and place in the oven. After 10 minutes reduce the heat to 400 degrees. The bread will need to bake an additional 25 to 35 minutes. Take the lid off the last 5-15 minutes to brown and crisp the crust. The longer the lid is off the crispier the crust will be. You can use a thermometer to check the doneness of your bread. The internal temperature should be at least 205 degrees. 

Remove loaf to a wire rack to cool before slicing. Slicing into hot bread can ruin the texture of the bread so hard as it is to wait you need to. 

This recipe also works for making bread in a loaf pan without using a dutch oven. Shape into a loaf and place dough into a greased loaf pan. Allow to rise until doubled as before. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bake for 10 min before reducing temperature to 400 degrees. Bake an additional 25-30 minutes. You may need to tent with foil if your bread is getting too dark. When done, cool on a wire rack before slicing. 

If you are interested in making sourdough bread you can make your own starter from scratch. There are a lot of directions on the internet. If you have a friend willing to share their starter this can be the best way to get started. I think the one I received would have worked if I knew then what I know now. Or you can purchase starter from internet sources. Besides Ebay there are other sources available such as from King Arthur flour. Google will you help you find anything you need. I hope this encourages you to get hooked on sourdough. And don't forget to name your starter!