When I first began baking bread a few years ago, I absolutely fell in love with it. It’s soothing, mindful, heart-warming, and for the recipients, it’s always a delight. There’s nothing like the aromas and flavors that come from freshly baked, warm bread.
During the quarantine and COVID crisis, one of my good friends decided to take on bread baking as well. And, I can confidently quote her now in saying she is “obsessed.” Completely and utterly.
Fortunately, she took on the burden of creating her own sourdough starter for her bread, as well.
This is fortunate for ME in that she gifted me some of her sourdough baby. AND, we are all fortunate for this gift due to the fact that yeast is no longer (and has not been) available since March! Courtney saved the day!
This REAL sourdough is super sour, yay, and seriously the best bread I’ve ever made. It’s amazing.
The “baby,” or starter is slower to rise, but it’s so worth it. Trust me.
Of course I did not follow Courtney’s bread directions – I never have any intention of following anyone else’s recipes – I only create my own.
But I came up with some great changes and am over the top pleased.
We’ll be baking bread out of our ears soon enough!
Now, excuse me, I need to go feed my “baby.”
Thank you, Courtney!
Stay at Home Sourdough
3/4 cup homemade sourdough starter**
3 1/2 – 4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. sea salt
After feeding your starter for 12-24 hours, reserve 1/4 cup for the next batch and the next time to feed (1 week) and add the flour (3 1/2-4 cups, depending on the humidity, you know what dough feels like), warm water, oil, and salt. Mix well.
Allow the dough to rest for 15-20 minutes.
Mix again.
Rest and cover with a loose towel for 3 hours.
With flour dusted hands, FOLD the dough to remove the air bubbles. DO NOT KNEAD or PUNCH. Fold 5-10 times.
This Sourdough Bread recipe calls for you to “fold the dough” a couple of times during the bulk fermentation (first rise), and I thought it might be helpful to some people if I explained what that means. (If you are a seasoned dough-folder, you can skip this section.) The folding helps to encourage those long gluten strands, and create those lovely sourdough bubbles.
Many, if not most, bread recipes call for you to punch down the dough after rising. Punching down the dough does a number of things. Most importantly, it removes some of the gas bubbles from the dough and redistributes the yeast cells, sugars, and moisture so that they can ferment and rise again during the proofing stage.
-Renée, The Good Hearted Woman, Easy Sourdough Bread
Folding yields similar results: it too expels the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation, strengthens the dough by stretching the gluten strands, and redistributes cells, sugars, moisture and heat spots in the dough to even out the rising.
Transfer to a flower dusted proofing bowl and cover loosely with a towel for another 1-3 hours. (If you do not have a proofing bowl, transfer to a parchment lined Dutch oven and cover with a towel to proof).
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Transfer the proofed loaf to a parchment lined baking dish.
Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown.
OR, place the Dutch oven in the hot oven and bake until golden brown.
BEST BREAD EVER!
**FEED your starter. This starter is fairly fresh, fed only 12 hours previously. To feed: 1/4 cup sourdough starter + 1 cup warm water + 1 cup all purpose flour. Mix the three ingredients together in a large (non metal) bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and ferment in a warmish, well ventilated area for 12-24 hours. The longer you ferment, the more bubbles, and the more sour. YES!
