Easy sourdough bread recipe

[ericbakes]

I wanted to share a recipe that I have been using lately to make naturally leavened bread. In an effort to make baking fit into our busy life, I borrowed from the popular Five Minutes a Day[i] series, as well as Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread[/i].

With this recipe, there is no preshaping, proofing, rising, etc. You just throw everything into a bucket, store it in the refrigerator, and use as needed. I like to mix it at night and bake first thing in the morning, although the longer you leave it in the 'fridge, the tastier it gets.

Here goes!

Part I: Liquid Levain
4.8 oz of bread flour
6 oz of water
1 oz of starter

Mix ingredients and let sit for 12-16 hours in a covered container on your kitchen counter. After 12 hours, it should be frothy and bubbly.

Part II: Final Dough

1 pound 8 ounces bread flour
3.2 ounces of rye flour
15 ounces of water
0.6 ounces of salt (about 1 Tablespoon)
10.8 ounces of prepared levain from above (use the remainder in your next batch)

Mix the levain and water first, then mix in the flour and salt. You're going for a loose dough, and depending on the absorbency of your flour, you might have to a little more water. You want the dough to be too loose to knead on the counter, but it still needs to be must stiffer than a batter. Mix it up for a few minutes with a spoon or wet hands (wetting your hands keeps the dough from sticking). Then put it in a container with a tight lid, or cover with plastic wrap. The dough may double in volume while fermenting, so make sure it has enough room to grow. Put the container in the refrigerator at least overnight.

When you want to bake, cut off a grapefruit-sized chunk of dough and, with wet hands, form it into a ball. You might want to tuck it under into itself (if that makes any sense?). Place it on a piece of parchment paper, dust heavily with flour, and cover with a lint-free cloth.

Heat your oven to 450F. If you have a pizza stone or baking stone, use it. Otherwise, a baking pan will work. The time it takes my oven to heat up (15-20 minutes) is long enough for the dough to warm up a bit. You can leave the dough out up to an hour if needed.

Just before putting the dough in the oven, cut a cross into the top using a sharp, wet, serrated knife. Then, toss the dough into the oven for 35 minutes. Be sure to spritz the sidewall of your oven with water, or toss a cup of water into the bottom in order to provide moisture.

I know this seems like a long recipe, especially if you're not used to baking. However, it has a few advantages over a typical baking schedule.

1) You don't have to knead for 10 minutes. Just mix everything up until homogenous.

2) You don't have to let the dough rise, punch it down, let it rise, etc for 2-3 hours.

3) You don't have to preshape the dough and let it proof for an hour.

4) You can bake what you need when you need it (although I usually end up baking six tiny loaves at once and give it away).

The end result is a tangy, crusty boule with an open crumb (but not too open!).

[melanie92106]

I LOVE this and want to try...

I'm so very new...

Pardon the dumb question, but what is the starter and where do I get it?

[ChristinaLogan]

Oh that was an easy baking experience then. I will try it, that's for sure. I'm into baking but I just find it time consuming to really focus on it, since I got to do lots of things at the same time. This is really a good suggestion. Thanks for sharing.