Comments on: Making Sourdough Bread

By: Stephen Sample

Stephen Sample — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 02:15:14 +0000

The no-knead bread works pretty well as a sourdough. In my experience, though, there had to be a few tweaks to the recipe, because the sourdough adds some extra liquid.

I’m sure these changes are all dependent on (at least) the temperature and humidity of your kitchen, and the microbial population of your sourdough, so please treat this as a jumping-off point:

3 c flour (I personally like this best with 2c unbleached white all-purpose, and 1c whole-wheat bread flour. Using only white flour made the flavor less robust, and using only whole-wheat bread flour made it a lot denser)

1 1/2 c water (I tried it with less, to offset the extra moisture you get from the sourdough, but even taking a few tablespoons out made it hard to mix the starter in, and made the final bread less open)

1/6 c sourdough starter

1 1/4 t salt

Mix everything, put in an airtight container, and let rise for about 22 hours. Fold over with flour, let rest, shape, wrap in a floured towel, and let rise for two hours–just like with the standard no-knead bread.

The dough will be wetter than usual, though, so have plenty of flour on the board. And maybe give one extra fold to help dry it out.

About half an hour before the end of the rising period, preheat the oven and a covered baking dish (I use a Dutch oven). Dump the dough into the hot baking dish, cover, and bake for about 25 minutes; then remove the cover and bake for another 40 minutes or so. (The time adjustments are to deal with the slightly wetter dough).

By: P J Evans

P J Evans — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 23:04:57 +0000

Sourdough waffles … finger food.

By: almost vegetarian

almost vegetarian — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 02:00:56 +0000

Interesting. Very, very interesting. A student gave me some 30-year-old San Francisco sourdough starter (she owns a well-known bakery), and I’ve been playing around with it. I only feed mine monthly, as per “The Cheese Board Collective Works” book, to save time and effort. So far, I’ve made baguettes and a pizza dough with it. Over cooked the baguettes (crunchy like you’ve never seen before) but the pizza dough was rather good (although it, too, got a few minutes too much cooking). Still, lovely taste. Nothing quite like a sourdough.

By: Lydia

Lydia — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 17:05:13 +0000

I love the notion that starting a starter means creating something that can last through generations. Many years ago, I did try making the starter that Nancy Silverton did with grapes, but it fell prey to my negligence in the care-and-feeding department. Hooray for you for nurturing your starter, and for sharing the inspiration with us.

By: June

June — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 12:01:41 +0000

Hi Jesse,

I finally bit the bullet and made a similar commitment to sourdough this past weekend! I just began my starter on Saturday - as of Monday morning, it looks bubbly, so it looks like I’m on track. I’m hoping to use it in the “No-knead” recipe (from the NYT) that burned through the food blogosphere last fall.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 04:35:02 +0000

Jeffrey Steingarten has an entertaining chapter about making homemade sourdough bread (mind you, homemade as in “from scratch” as in “no starter at all to get things rolling”) in his book “The Man Who Ate Everything”. I still think Steingarten is kind of an ass, but at least now I know he’s a funny ass whose book is worth reading

By: Mom

Mom — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 22:36:15 +0000

You’ve inspired me to make sourdough bread weekly too. We also enjoy it and as a result are eating more bread. There’s nothing better than bread fresh from the oven.

Even though sourdough bread is delicious, it isn’t a substitute for all breads. You’re going to need yeast occasionally for variety. My advice to anyone who wants to bake bread on a regular basis is to find a source for bulk yeast. I get mine from Costco now, but for years got it from a bakery supply company that also sells to individuals. It comes in a two pound package and costs just a little bit more than buying the 3 little individual packs from the grocery store. It keeps forever in the freezer so you don’t have to worry about it losing its strength. I just put the package in a plastic bag and pop it in the freezer and then when I make bread, I measure out the desired amount and make the bread. (1 Tablespoon of yeast is equal to a package).

Making bread is a good stress-reliever as well as being a fun thing to do. You’re right about little things making a big difference in the outcome of the bread. Perhaps that’s a topic for a future entry!