Sourdough Bread

yesterday's loaves

In these days of quarantine, many people are now baking at home. I see the pictures on Facebook; I see the shortages of flour and yeast and other ingredients. In normal times I'm kind of a pack rat, so I've always kept "extra" bags of flour around, but I'm still checking every day for more--and not having much luck.

Anyway, a few FB friends have asked for my sourdough bread recipe, so I've reproduced it below--but, first, some caveats:

• Although I've been baking bread every week since, oh, about 1971, and even though I've been doing sourdough baking since the summer of 1986 (when I acquired my starter in Skagwa, Alaska), I am not an authority. I do not try a lot of different things. I've found what Joyce and I like, and I pretty much stick to those things--
• bread and rolls, waffles, pizza, muffins
• Much of what I do--and what you will likely do--depends on experience. I screwed up a lot when I was first baking (glad I didn't have a camera-phone then!), and I still have occasional (okay, rare) disasters, so all I can tell you is that you need to play around with it--don't be afraid: Sourdough is pretty hardy stuff.
• Also--don't go by the clock; go by how the dough looks and responds. Temperature and humidity affect rising times. Sometimes it takes 2 hours, sometimes 3. Be patient. It's gonna do what it's gonna do, and all you can do is be patient--as with a child or pet!

Here we go.

1. Once you've fed your starter and separated it--some for baking, some to return to the fridge for next time--take about 2+ cups of starter (at room temp), put it in your electric mixing bowl, put

   

   starter ready to separate--and bake

   that on LOW and slowly add the following ingredients:
1. 1 cup of warm milk
2. 1/4 cup of melted butter/margarine
3. 1/4 cup of honey
4. 2 teaspoons of salt
2. Slowly add flour to the mixture until it's kind of a thick paste--but not too thick. 
1. I use multiple kinds of flours (as many as sixteen!), but you want to make sure that you use more of flours that have gluten, less of those that don't. Reason: It's the gluten that allows for a smooth rise.
1. Some of the flours I use: oat, whole wheat, white, barley, flaxseed meal, graham, spelt, soy, brown rice, quinoa, teff, millet, kamut, raw flaxseeds, etc.
2. Again--be careful: don't put in too much and make the dough too thick for the beating (!) that will follow
3. When you have the paste ready, put it on medium-to-low speed and let it go for 7-8 minutes. This activates the gluten and will allow for a good rise.
4. When those minutes are over, return mixer to LOW and slowly add whole wheat flour (or white) until it's so thick that the dough is adhering almost completely to the beaters.
5. Here is where I use a dough-hook to complete the dough's transformation into a ball (return to MEDIUM for this). But you can throw it out on a floured board and do the same by hand.
6. Slowly add dough as the dough-hook rotates until it is cleaning the bowl and forming a fairly solid ball.
7. Remove it, toss it on a floured board, and knead vigorously, adding more flour as needed so that when you finish, it's not sticky. I knead mine 100 times.

   

   almost ready to shape

8. When it's a nice, doughy ball, put it in a greased bowl (I use spray oil to do so), cover it with Saran Wrap--or a damp towel--and set it aside on a rack in a warm place to rise. As I said, it could take 2 hours or 3 to double in size--which is what you want.
9. When it's doubled in size, toss it back on the floured board and, using a knife or pastry cutter, cut it into the number of loaves you will be making. (This recipe produces enough for a large round loaf and a smaller one.)
10. Shape the loaves by hand and place them into greased pans (or use parchment paper, which is what I do now)
11. Cover and set aside on a rack for Rise #2 (about an hour and a half--could be more or less) until it's again doubled in size.
12. Preheat oven (350--or whatever temp your baking pans call for). Just before the oven is ready, scatter some flour over the tops of the loaves (I use a sifter to do so), then use a very sharp knife to slice the tops.
13. Pop them in the oven for about 40 min or more (keep an eye on them--the time varies).
14. When they're done, they will be brown (duh) and will sound hollow when you tap the top.
15. Remove them, put them on racks to cool, and, later attack them!

I should note that I use a variety of pans--mostly clay these days--sometimes with tops, sometimes not. Follow the instructions that come with those pans for temperature, top-removal, etc.

Again--I play around with things almost every week. I guess I'm just advising you to figure out what you like--and go for it!