SOURDOUGH BREAD

         
Eric has become an expert at making sourdough bread and has shared his technique and tips with me. This bread isn't too sour, is somewhat chewy and just perfect for a sandwich, toast, garlic bread -- anytime you want to treat yourself or those you love!  Everyone who has had it thinks it is scrumptious.  Eric  ordered his starter from Breadtopia back in March, and when we were together in Palm Springs in June he gave me some of his starter in a jar.  I also made videos of all his steps in the correct order and have now typed them up.  This post is mostly for me so that I can pull it up on my iPad when I am making it and for anyone that wants me to give them some starter.  I have made 4 loaves now, and they are all delicious. The only difficulty I am having is getting it put in the bread pan properly so that it comes out perfectly symmetrical, but I will discuss that in Step Five below.  You can see the seam issue on my picture above.  There are several steps but each one only takes 5-10 minutes, so don't let that scare you.  BTW these directions are for using a bread pan to make a loaf.  Eric started by making the round bread in a "proofing bowl" and baking it in a Dutch oven, but switched to a bread pan for a more uniform bread.  I prefer slices the same size so I doubt I will ever attempt the round loaf.  Eric has also used his starter to make pizza dough, pancakes, pretzels, and kolaches, but I will try and perfect my loaf before attempting any of those.

General Info:

The starter should be fed every 3-5 days (I have gone as long as 7) and kept in the refrigerator with the top loosely on it.  I have a glass jar that has a metal snap to hold the lid tight, but I don't snap it and instead let it sit gently on the top.  Eric says even if you forget to feed it you can still use it unless it gets mold or something on top.  Also if a lot of liquid (looks like water) is floating on top, pour the bulk of that off before feeding (which is what I had to do when I waited 7 days to feed it).  

When you are NOT going to make bread but need to feed it you can do one of two things.  Because it is going to increase in volume, if your jar is large enough you can just feed it.  You can also take some out and put it in a "discard jar" or give some to a friend.    Pour in 2/3 cup unchlorinated water (I buy Spring water, but Eric says you can also use distilled) and stir to loosen it up.  Then add 1 cup all-purpose flour and stir it in till all the flour is wet.  It's fine if there are still lumps in it.  Put it back in the refrigerator.

If you use a discard jar also keep it refrigerated.  Once you have accumulated enough, probably 2-3 times, you can use it to make other things.  I made crackers with only one "discard" and it wasn't nearly enough.  Simply spread the discard onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet, sprinkle it with herbs and bake it.  You can score it to be the shape you prefer for crackers or just break it up once it comes out of the oven.

When you do make bread you can start it when you are going to be around about 5 hours for all the steps.  Eric says if you have to leave just put the dough in the refrigerator while you are gone and that will slow down the rising.  I have not attempted this and have started making mine mid afternoon and baking it the next morning since that is how we did it in Palm Springs.  Eric says once the bread is in the bread pan, it can stay in the refrigerator 12-24 hours before baking it. He also says if you want to bake the bread the same day you can let it rise a couple more hours once it is in the bread pan instead of refrigerating it.  I have also not attempted that either.

Making Bread:

STEP ONE:

Take about 3/4 cup of starter out of the jar and put it into a glass bowl.  (You can use as little as 2 TB but it will take longer to rise.)

To feed both your starter jar and make bread, put 2/3 cup* unchlorinated water into the starter jar and also into your glass bowl. Stir well, breaking up the starter in each.  Then add 1 cup all-purpose flour into both the jar and bowl and stir until all the flour is wet, kind of a chunky paste.  It doesn't have to be perfect, the flour just needs to be wet.  Close the lid on the starter jar and put back in the refrigerator, but remember not to tighten or seal the lid.  If by chance you are making bread again the next day you can leave the starter out on the counter.  I have not done that yet.

Tip:  Put a little water on your fingers to get the excess off the spoon.

Pull off a piece of saran big enough to cover your bread pan because you will use this same piece of saran on every step.  Lightly put saran wrap on the bowl and set aside for about two hours.  It depends on how warm it is in your house.  It might take about 2 hours if the temperature is lower than 75 degrees, but anything higher than 75 will decrease the amount of time for this step.

STEP TWO:

Check it after an hour.  You want it to rise and bubbles to form but you don't want the bubbles to pop.  With it being summer and hotter I have only waited an hour, because I have had a few popped bubbles after an hour.  I am assuming it will take longer when the weather cools off.

Scrape it into the Kitchen Aid mixing bowl.  It should be a little stretchy.  Add 2/3 cup water and stir it to break it up.  Add 2 cups bread flour (works best but if you can't get it then all-purpose will work).  Stir it with a wooden spoon till all the flour is soaked in.  It should be pretty dry but with no big chunks of dry flour.  Put saran back on for about 15 minutes to let all the water soak into the dough.

STEP THREE:

Sprinkle 1-1/2 teaspoons non-iodized salt (like sea salt) over the dough and pinch it in with your fingers.  Put it on your mixer with the dough hook on LEVEL TWO and mix for 5-7 minutes.  Wet your fingers to get extra dough off the dough hook.  Re-cover it with saran and leave it for about an hour.

STEP FOUR:

After about an hour it should look pretty smooth.  Put some oil (I use Canola but vegetable will also be fine) on your fingers and go around the bottom of the dough pulling it up.  Stretch it up (like up about 8") and then fold it back over and tap it back down over itself.  Keep doing that all the way around about four times.  This is supposed to help you get the bubbles in the bread for a nice consistency and is just another way of kneading it.  Put saran back on for another hour.

STEP FIVE:

Pour a little canola in a glass bread pan and rub it around really well. Put flour on your countertop (not too much) and dust it around.  Use the pastry scraper and scrape dough out onto floured counter. Sprinkle dough with a teeny bit of flour.  You want the outside to not be super sticky.  If the dough is still really wet and not as firm as you think it should be you can sprinkle a teeny bit more flour.  Too much flour will make your bread tough so definitely experiment with this step and don't add too much flour.  Do the stretch and fold routine four times again, being sure that the last fold you tap it down.  That seam needs to go on the bottom of the bread pan, and surprsingly that has been the most difficult task for me to achieve.  If that seam isn't on the bottom then when the bread bakes that seam sort of separates a little and keeps the loaf from looking perfect.  It doesn't affect the taste at all, but of course my goal is for the loaf to be as perfect-looking as it tastes.  So once you have done the final stretch and fold, gently use your hands to shape it to fit in the bread pan.  It doesn't matter if it doesn't totally reach the ends because as it rises it will fill in.  Spray that same piece of saran with cooking spray and cover the bread pan and put it in the refrigerator overnight.  Eric says you can bake it the same day by letting it rise a couple more hours but he thinks it works best to let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.

STEP SIX:

The next morning set it out and leave the saran on the top while preheating the oven to 450 degrees.  Preheat the oven for 30-45 minutes so it is really hot.  Take the saran off and bake it for 30 minutes.  It needs to be a little brown on top but not too brown.

Let it sit in the pan about 10 minutes then use a knife to go around the sides to loosen it and dump it out of the pan.  Wrap it in a tea towel and let it cool for 2 hours before cutting it.

*Because we have more humidity in Texas than CA (duh!) my final dough is a little wetter than it was in CA so I am going to experiment with using a scant 2/3 cup of water to see if it will help get a firmer loaf to put in the bread pan thus making it easier to set that seam on the bottom and get my loaf more perfect.  I definitely don't want to change the texture or taste so if it makes it tougher doing that, I will go back to the full 2/3 cup.  In discussing this with Eric he said to try scoring the top of the loaf so it will let out the steam a little and possibly prevent the "blowout" I am getting on the sides.  If that's the case I will leave my dough a little wet like I have been doing because the taste and chew are perfect.  Obviously in making bread there are all kinds of experiments but it's fun to try and perfect it!  Good luck!!