Our first sourdough

We've been tempted to get into sourdough for a while now. The bread and the rest are super tasty but going down that road can be a little intimidating. When we got back from Alaska, where my sister-in-law bakes with it with regularity, my wife finally got over her uncertainty. She, with excitement, found someone nearby to provide some starter and we began our sourdough journey.

I knew beforehand sourdough starter is akin to a living thing, requiring keeping alive and some forethought for its use, but that was about the extent of it. I've mentally compared it to kombucha, with which I'm still familiar though I've fallen off with regular brewing. This was part of the reason I wasn't chomping at the bit to dive into sourdough, I didn't want to be the one in charge of it considering its time and planning constraints. But I am happy to use it as well as enjoy what comes from it.

When we got it home my wife had big plans to keep it on the countertop, at room temperature, and feed it twice a day like clockwork. As with kombucha you're dealing with active cultures, and by giving it flour and water (the 'food') it will grow and make more of itself. You can use the active product in bread or 'discard' it by putting it in the fridge and more or less putting it to sleep. This refrigerated starter has other uses, like pizza crust or waffle, where you don't want the process to be working as quickly. I admit I was confused about what was going on, and more so the terminology, the first couple days of this but think I have it down now. We have however, it should probably be noted, already put our jar of starter in the fridge. There you can get away with feeding it like once a week when you're not using it or you can take it out to speed everything back up.

Right after getting the starter I was encouraged to bake some bread, and it went really well. This recipe from King Arthur Flour uses both active sourdough starter and instant yeast. Both products make the dough (and therefore the bread) rise but the combination allows much less time to accomplish this and that was appealing, especially for a first try with this type of bread. If (when) I bake again I plan to do only sourdough and know the rise time with be more like 24 hours, not 3. Here's how to do the quick(er) one.

Not much here

What you need:

Bread ingredients -

228g active (fed) sourdough starter

600g all purpose flour

1+1/2 cup lukewarm water

1 instant yeast packet (.25 oz)

2+1/2 tsp salt

Other items -

Liquid/dry measuring cups

A digital scale

Some mixing bowls

Some spatulas for stirring

Kitchen towels, like for drying dishes

A baking sheet

Parchment paper

A bread knife

A note from the start. I don't usually provide weights but I followed these in the recipe pretty precisely and I'm glad I did. 5 cups of flour would've been a lot more than 600g. I would've used more starter too if trying to fill a whole cup. This is the usefulness of a digital scale and should provide a more consistent product.

Quick version:

1. Combine ingredients in a large mixing bowl, mix and dump on the countertop

2. Knead until the dough is smooth, it was very sticky

3. Place in lightly greased bowl and cover with a towel, let rise for ~90 minutes

4. Divide in half and form two balls by pulling edges to center then shaping with cupped hands, cover again for ~15 minutes

5. Form loaves by gently rolling to desired shape, can be fat ovals or longer logs (max 10-11"), then cover one last time for ~60 minutes

6. Near end of last rise, turn on oven to 425 degrees, dough should be quite puffy

7. Uncover and spray with water, then make two long deep-ish diagonal slices with a serrated bread knife across the top

8. Bake for 25 minutes, want it to be golden brown, and let it cool before eating

This closer one was stretched more than rolled, and I wouldn't do that again

Notes:

When I first did the 'Easiest Loaf of Bread' kneading was really tough and, while I've gotten better at it, this one was far easier. With the starter there's more moisture and it ends up, as noted above, being some sticky dough.

I did not follow the timing above precisely. The first rise was an hour longer than 90 minutes, doing this in the middle of the day when I'm occupied with kids and their errands makes this piece of it a challenge, but it worked out fine. Don't stress the exact number of minutes here.

Feed the sourdough right after you take and use most of it. Not something you want to forget!

For the second and third rises I did this on the sheet they'd eventually be baked on, with parchment paper in between.

The dough did puff nicely, using active starter and instant yeast almost felt like cheating.

Be gentle with the dough when forming it. You don't want to smash it down and lose too much of the rise you've gained.

I did longer logs for the shape. Next time I'll keep the same length (10-11") but attempt to make them consistent in width all the way through. There weren't any problems with mine but that's a stretch goal, as much for aesthetics as anything else.

On coming out of the oven the loaves looked fairly golden brown at 25 minutes, though perhaps not as much as I might've thought. I knocked on the bottom and it sounded hollow and they were indeed good enough. A couple more minutes would've been fine too.

The bread was really good! It tasted like sourdough, not super tangy but enough, and was a quality bake job. We ate the first loaf in the first day or so. I should probably freeze the second one as soon as it's cool unless we have an immediate plan for them both. With no preservatives these don't last very long.