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A New Sourdough Bread Recipe

I have been experimenting with a new sourdough bread recipe and I think I’m ready to share it with you. Over the years I feel like I’ve tried them all with various levels of success. I like the shortcut recipes and the recipes that get clever with using up extra sourdough starter, but the best tasting sourdough bread recipes were really, really time-consuming. I mean I like baking and all, but I do sometimes like to leave the house!

So I was tickled when I finally cracked open the sourdough section of the Artisan Breads book. There is a simple and not too time-consuming recipe that makes a nice sourdough bread.

First, this recipe is an overnight recipe. You will make the dough and then let it sit overnight in the fridge. Next, the recipe will use the weight instead of volume. Sorry to all the non-scale people! I am now a firm believer in using a scale to make bread.

In your mixing bowl, add 16.3 ounces of warm water (about 80 degrees)
Add 9.6 ounces of starter
Mix together for about a minute
Add 22.8 ounces of regular unbleached flour
Add 1.7 ounces of whole wheat flour (if you don’t have whole wheat, just substitute regular)

Mix the ingredients together for about 2 minutes. Flip the dough over in the bowl at least once, if you can. It will be sticky but that’s OK.  Now, cover the dough in the bowl and let it sit for 15 minutes. This is known as autolyse and it helps improve the flavor of breads made without oils and sugars.

Now add in 0.7 ounces of salt (this is about a Tablespoon) and mix for 2 minutes.

Again, flip the dough at least once during this 2 minutes. The dough will be a bit sticky but that is totally fine. Dump the dough on to a lightly floured countertop and then quickly and lightly oil the mixing bowl you just used. Put the dough back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. If it is chilly in your kitchen, cover the plastic wrap with a towel. Set your timer for an hour and go do something else.

Tip the dough back on to a lightly floured countertop and fold it over on itself in thirds and then cover it with the plastic wrap again. Let it ferment for another hour. When the timer goes off, divide the dough in half and shape them. Are you making French bread loaves? Then make the dough oblong or square-ish for loaf pans or round for boules. Don’t make it the final shape. In other words, don’t handle the dough too much. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, take a clean, dry dishcloth and line your pans or baking tray. Then dust the cloth with flour. When the timer goes off, finish shaping the dough how you want. You can be a bit rougher now. You want to get a nice tight finished dough. Place the dough upside down (bottom-up) on the floured cloth. If you are using a baking tray, use some excess cloth as a border between the loaves. Cover the dough and let sit for an hour. When the timer goes off, put the covered dough in the fridge overnight (or for at least 8 hours). As the book says, this step helps the dough develop that lovely sour taste.

The next morning (or 8-hours later) pull the dough out and let it warm up on the counter for an hour or maybe an hour and half. About 20 minutes before you want to bake, go ahead and preheat the oven to 475. If you have a baking stone, put it in at this point (or if you are like me — you just leave it in the oven all the time). About 10 minutes before baking put a tray of water on the bottom rack. About 3 cups of warm water is good.

If you are using a baking stone, you will gently flip the dough from the floured cloths to an oven peel lined with parchment paper. Otherwise, use oiled loaf pans or a parchment paper lined baking tray. Spray the loaves lightly with water about 5 minutes before baking. Right before baking, score the loaves with a sharp knife and spray with water again.

Put the loaves in the oven and reduce heat to 450. Bake for about 12 minutes and, if using parchment paper, now remove it from the oven.

You can usually slide it out from under the loaves and then that lets the loaves bake directly on the stone (or on the baking tray). At the same time, take out the water pan. Be careful! That is some hot water.

Let the bread bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. Put it on a cooling rack for at least 30 minutes before you dig in.

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