Yesterday’s diary dealt with obtaining and maintaining a sourdough starter, with a few odd recipes thrown in. Today’s diary gets to the heart of sourdough – sourdough bread. Although I give recipes, I encourage experimentation - as long as you get the proportions of flour, water and salt basically right, you can add a lot of other ingredients to tailor your bread to your tastes.
Sourdough breads generally have better texture, more complex flavor (though usually not sour) and keep better than nonsourdough breads. There are tricks to make a commercial yeast bread more like sourdough, using a commercial yeast pre-ferment usually called a biga, poolish, or a sponge. Pre-ferments can help, but the ultimate pre-ferment is the real thing: sourdough starter.
A (somewhat) dirty little secret - you can add small amounts of commercial yeast to your sourdough bread if you are worried about the bread rising, or if you need to speed up the process. As long the amount is small, say 1/2 teaspoon yeast per 2 to 3 cups of flour, you will still get the benefits of the sourdough taste and texture.
For those new to bread as well as sourdough, there are many ways to approach bread. Sourdough breads can be very simple, or extremely complex depending on how much work you want to do and what kind of bread you want at the end.
This diary has recipes for:
"No knead" sourdough bread
Sourdough Cheese bread
"No recipe" sourdough bread
Sourdough biscuits
Any bread recipe normally made with commercial yeast, or with a commercial yeast pre-ferment, can be converted to sourdough. Some information on converting here, but I have an even simpler method. Since my starter is refreshed with equal weights of water and flour, I can use whatever weight of starter I have, and subtract half that weight of flour and half of water from the conventional recipe. For the small size of bread I normally bake (1 1/2 to 3 cups of flour total) I use 1/2 to 3/4 cup of starter. If you do a multiday process, you can use less starter.
Kneading
There's lots of trepidation about kneading for those who haven't made bread. You can knead by hand, in a bread machine on "dough cycle," in a food processor, or in a mixer with a dough hook, such as a Kitchenaid. There are also "no knead" methods, which use a very wet dough and a long slow rise in the refrigerator.
I often make a bread using minimal kneading, which means a very wet dough; if I'm kneading, I mix by hand or do small batches in a food processor. The mixer is only for bigger batches - the cheese bread below, for example, or my standard bread for Thanksgiving, Hazelnut Sage bread.
Let's start with one of the simplest, the "no knead" method from "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day." It's a good method, and although touted by some as a breakthrough, similar methods have been around for a while, sometimes called "batter" breads due to the high proportion of water that makes this method work.
I make this as a small loaf, since it's just for me, and I've changed a few things from the original. For a more usual size loaf, double everything.
The original authors advocate making about four times the amount of dough, refrigerating it, and baking a portion whenever you want fresh bread. This will work for about a week, with the rise decreasing and a sour flavor developing and intensifying as the days go by.
"No-Knead Sourdough"
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 120 gm) sourdough starter
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 120 gm) water
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces or 170 grams*) of flour, either bread or all purpose
Optional - coarse salt and or sesame seeds to sprinkle on the bread
In a large bowl or large plastic container, mix the salt into the flour to distribute it evenly. Add the water and sourdough starter. Although promoted as no knead, there is a small amount of mixing necessary. You can stir it with a sturdy wooden spoon, or mix it in a processor or mixer with dough hook. It should be pretty well mixed, with no areas of dry flour.
Cover the container with a plastic wrap or a loose lid that allows the gases to escape. Allow to rise at room temperature for a few hours, then place in the refrigerator to rise overnight, or longer.
At least an hour before baking, remove the dough from the refrigerator. At least 30 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F or 230 degrees C. If you have a baking stone or unglazed quarry tiles to bake on, they should be on a rack in the middle position in the oven to preheat as well. These will improve your crust, but the bread will still taste good without it. Do have a pan ready to put in the oven with hot water to provide steam during the baking - this will also improve the crust.
Prepare something to transfer the dough to the oven, best is a pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal or flour. Other grains, such as oatmeal will do in a pinch; the key is to have something that will keep the dough from sticking to the peel, but that you won't mind eating if it gets incorporated into the crust. (I use a peel with parchment paper and sprinkle the paper with semolina left over from a pasta making project. I have enough semolina for many years of bread...) If you don't have a peel, use a cookie sheet or an upside down shallow pan that's large enough for the bread.
Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour. Pick it up and stretch the dough, bringing the ends together so it form a rough ball with the bunched up ends at the bottom. Put the dough, bunched up ends down, on the pizza peel. Let it sit for at least an hour. You can leave it out longer, probably up to 3 or 4 hours, but I'd suggest putting plastic wrap or an inverted bowl or container over it if the dough is out that long - I'd worry about the surface drying out too much.
When it's time to bake, the original recipe dusts the shaped loaf with flour, but I don't. I like seeds on my bread, so I spray it lightly with water and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. I do slash the loaf to allow for the rise, and I suggest you do, too. It's pretty straightforward, use a sharp knife or razor blade to slash the pattern of your fancy into the top. It could be a few straight lines, a "tic-tac-toe" pattern, or a cross - doesn't matter as long as it's about 1/4 inch (about 1/2 cm) deep.
Transfer the bread to the oven and slide it onto the baking stone, tile, or oven rack. Put the pan with the water onto another rack in the oven, top or bottom doesn't matter. Bake for about 30 minutes.
How do you tell when the bread is done?
The time honored way is to thump the bottom and when it sounds hollow, it's done. Of course the crust should also be a nice browned color. I'll make a pitch for the best way to tell - take the bread's temperature with a digital food thermometer. Most bread should have an internal temperature between 190 to 210 degrees depending on the type of bread. If you bake this one to 200 degrees, you should get a good result. There is some leeway, but underbaking will give you a gummy texture, and overbaking will dry out your bread.
Now back to the food porn - the completed sourdough bread
And the interior crumb
Next is a hybrid type bread, using sourdough starter and commercial yeast. Although the original author doesn't say, I suspect that the commercial yeast is there to help the bread rise since the amount of cheese will impede rising.
Cheese Bread
This is modified from Nancy Silverton's Parmesan Cheese Bread. Her original recipe calls for expensive amounts of imported Parmesan, and a process that can take 3 days.
In the past I've substituted Asiago and other cheeses with good results. Any hard salty cheese of good quality should work. I also condensed her process and have never regretted it.
This makes one large round bread.
In advance of baking day, increase your starter so you will have a sufficient amount for this recipe.
1 1/8 cup (9 ounces or 270 g) sourdough starter
1 1/4 cup (10 ounces or 200 g) cool water
1 teaspoon yeast
4 1/4 cups (18 ounces or 540 grams) bread or all purpose flour
2 teaspoons sea salt (you can use regular table salt.)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh marjoram (slightly less thyme or oregano would work. I'd reduce further for sage - 4 teaspoons, and still more for rosemary - 2 to 3 teaspoons depending on how strong you like your rosemary flavor.)
9 to 12 ounces or 270 to 360g (about 3 to 3 3/4 cups) grated good quality Parmesan or other similar hard cheese. (I "grate" chunks of cheese in the food processor for this recipe)
Vegetable oil to grease bowl.
Place water and yeast in the bowl of a mixer with a dough hook. Add the salt and flour.
**If you're not using a mixer you can knead it by hand but expect it to take some time and effort. You can knead it in a food processor, but may have to cut the recipe in half or do two batches. While I haven't tried it, I expect you can knead it in a bread machine with a dough cycle. Those with smaller machines may need to halve the recipe.
Add the sourdough starter and mix on low speed for 4 minutes. This is the time for adjustments - your starter may not be 50-50, your flour may absorb more or less water. If the dough doesn't come together after a few minutes, add a little water. If it looks very wet, add a bit of flour. The dough should be soft and feel slightly sticky. Let the dough sit, bowl covered, for about 20 minutes.
Add the marjoram or other herb, and all but 3/4 cup of the cheese (the remainder will be used for topping). Add the oil. Mix on low speed until the oil is incorporated. Turn the speed up to medium, and mix for another 4 minutes. The dough should still feel soft.
Lightly coat a large bowl with vegetable oil. Round the dough into a boule and place it in the oiled bowl. (Those so inclined could use a proofing basket instead.) Cover the bowl (or basket) with plastic wrap.
You now have choices about timing. You can refrigerate the dough overnight or for several hours (probably up to a day). My usual is to make the dough the first day, refrigerate it overnight, and bake the next day. If you want to bake the bread the same day, let the dough sit at room temperature about 3 hours. Either way, the dough should increase in volume to appear about one and a half times its original size.
If you're refrigerating, on baking day remove the dough from the refrigerator and set it out at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F or 260 C at least 1 hour before baking. If you have a baking stone, pizza stone or baking tiles, those should be in the oven to preheat as well. If you don't have a stone or tiles, use the heaviest metal pan you have.
Flour a baker's peel, or better yet a piece of parchment. Gently transfer the boule to the parchment or baker's peel. (If you have neither baker's peel or parchment, try using an upside down cookie sheet. What you're looking for is an easy-to-handle flat surface to slide the bread into the oven.) Gently flatten and pull the boule into a disk, then lightly dimple the surface with your fingertips. Brush (you can use a bit of paper towel for this) the surface with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top evenly. Mine looks like this
Let the dough rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Place a cake pan, old frying pan, or any metal pan you don't care about on the bottom of the oven or a top rack - anywhere it won't interfere with the bread. Pour hot water into the metal pan, slide the bread into the oven (along with parchment paper if you're using it) and close the oven door. Reduce the temperature to 450 degrees F or 230 C and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. The cheese and edges of the bread should be well-browned. If you're using a thermometer, the internal temperature when done should be at least 190 degrees F, 88 degrees C. If in doubt, leave it in 5 minutes longer.
This is fragrant and delicious - hard to wait for it to cool before tearing or cutting chunks to nibble. My neighbors, who got half of the bread, told me it was delicious toasted; my portion didn't survive long enough to make toast.
Here, in all its glory...
(The dark green spot in the middle is a marjoram sprig, which shrank too much to make a good picture.)
No Recipe Bread
When I looked for breads to put in this diary, I found a lot of good ones that I've baked in the past, cottage cheese and green onion bread, Kasha bread, among others. Why did I omit them? I couldn't post them because I didn't have exact amounts for flour, liquid and starter, and there's a limit to how much bread my current weight should allow me to bake and eat in a short time just to get the exact proportions. My recipes were more like general guidelines where I added the flour and liquid until the texture was "right." I encourage any one with Fear of Baking Bread to realize that once you get used to what dough should feel like, you can vary ingredients and throw together dough on the fly. I'll take you through a typical "4fx throw together" bread.
I generaly make small breads since it's just for me, but one can always double or triple the recipe for a more "normal" size bread.
The bread below is fairly basic. I used 1/4 cup starter, 3 ounces of liquid (milk and water mixed), and about 1 cup of flour (white wheat and white bread flour mixed). I added 1 tablespoon of bulghur wheat, one tablespoon of brown sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt.
General bread comment: Some good liquids for bread aside from water are milk, buttermilk or water from cooking potatoes - this last makes for a very tender bread. Other common additions instead of bulghur wheat are oatmeal, rye flour, wheat germ, or seeds or nuts. The possibilities are endless, and if there's interest, I may do a diary on nuts/seeds/nonwheat grain additions to bread.
Back to this bread - stir the mixture a few times, and if it's too wet, add flour. If it's too stiff, add water. When it feels like dough, cover and leave it on the counter. The next morning, shape it into a boule, let it sit for another 40 to 60 minutes, sprinkle with seeds or nuts if desired, and bake. It really can be that simple.
The just mixed dough looks like this
After a night in the refrigerator (actually after work the next day, so more like 20 hours)
And the finished small bread
Have I had failures? Of course, but not that many once I knew what the dough should look and feel like. And since fresh baked bread tastes so good, even the "not perfect" breads are usually tasty enough. The only disasters would be leaving out the sourdough starter or leaving out the salt - no one forgets the liquid or flour. You can always adjust the flour and/or liquid to get a good dough - and if your dough comes out too wet, put it in an oiled, heavy pot and bake it as a "casserole" bread. Still good, if different.
And finally Sourdough Biscuits
These are my standard biscuits: leaner than most, with butter used only to grease the biscuit cutter and brown the top. (They taste good anyway.)
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 120 gm) sourdough starter
1 cup (8 ounces or 240 gm) buttermilk
2 1/2 cups (10 ounces or 300 gm) flour. This is where you want a lower protein flour - Gold Medal or Pillsbury all purpose would be OK, White Lily would be excellent. I often mix all purpose with pastry flour to get a "softer" flour for biscuits.
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
Melted butter - about 2 tablespoons
Seasoning of choice - black pepper, crushed fennel, chopped chives etc.
Mix the starter, 1 cup of flour, and the buttermilk together in a bowl; cover and leave it on the counter overnight.
Preheat the oven to 375 F or 190 C. Get a baking sheet ready, with or without parchment paper.
The next day, mix any desired seasoning into the starter mixture. Combine 1 cup of flour with the salt, sugar and baking powder. On a work surface - preferably nonstick - turn the starter/buttermilk mixture out and gently combine the flour mixture and the starter/buttermilk mixture. Add the additional flour as needed, only as much as necessary to get a dough you can cut or "pinch off." Gently pat the dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick. Best is to use a biscuit cutter dipped in melted butter, but you can cut or pinch off the biscuits. As you cut each biscuit, place it on the baking sheet. (I sprinkled mine with the leftover grated cheese from the Cheese Bread above.)
Let the biscuits rise at least 30 minutes. Bake until the biscuits are golden, about 30 minutes. Eat as is, or slather with butter or jam.
While bread should sit at least an hour before cutting and eating to develop the best texture, biscuits should be eaten hot.
Resources –
Some excellent sourdough baking sites:
Mike Avery’s Sourdough Home
FAQ from the newsgroup Rec.food.sourdough
The Fresh Loaf A community for amateur artisan bakers and bread enthusiasts
Sourdough links
Sourdoughs International, has 13 different sourdough cultures for sale
Geek Baker stuff - read only if interested
*There is some variability in flour measurements because books vary in what weight they assign to a cup of flour, whether it is sifted, scooped, etc. I've seen it listed as anywhere from 4 to 5 ounces per cup. I like wetter dough, so I go with 4 ounces per cup and adjust as the dough seems to require. Peter Reinhart, guru of American bread, uses 4 1/2 ounces per cup.
*An ounce to metric conversion is here. Although it's not exact, I generally use one ounce = thirty grams, which works OK for recipes I've tried.
*Flour varies by protein content. It ranges from bread flour with the highest protein content down through all-purpose flour, pastry flour, with cake flour as the lowest. Note that brands also vary - King Arthur all purpose flour has a higher protein content than others such as Gold Medal or Pillsbury. White Lily, a southern flour with a lower protein content, sells bread flour with an equivalent protein content to King Arthur's all purpose flour.
High protein or "hard" flour makes good gluten strands, especially important for artisan-type breads, but softer flours are supposed to have better flavor. For a while I tried to use the softest flour that would work with that particular bread. I couldn't see that much difference and stopped worrying about it. Now I use bread flour or King Arthur all-purpose for most breads; I save the Pillsbury or Gold Medal all purpose for cookies and cake. If you're accustomed to While Lily flour, their all purpose flour will not make good bread; save it for biscuits and cakes. (On the other hand, high protein flours make leaden biscuits.)
Extreme Geekery - protein contents*
High Gluten Bread Flour 13-14%
Bread flours, most brands 12-13%
King Arthur All purpose flour 11.7%
White Lily bread flour 11.7%
Heckers all purpose 11.5%
Hodgson Mill all purpose 11%
Pillsbury and Gold Medal all purpose flour 10.5%
Pastry Flour about 9%
White Lily all purpose flour 8%
Cake Flour 7-8%
* These are culled from various sources, and there is some variability.