PERFECTLY PERFECT SOURDOUGH BREAD RECIPE

I know this is 100% whole food blog, but this sourdough bread is sort of the exception.  One of the things that I have learned while researching sourdough over the years, is that white sourdough bread that uses the slow fermentation process people used for 1000's of years prior to the invention of active dry yeast, makes this bread OK for people with sugar issues, like Type II Diabetes, to eat. The sugars in the white flour are pre-digested, therefore gone by the time baking is done, so your body won't treat it in the same manner as other simple carbohydrates.  For Diabetics, this is supposed to be better to eat than 100% whole wheat, but do your research first.  Here's an article about the benefits of sourdough bread in blood sugar control if you want to read more about it.  

Dry ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour (plus a half cup for kneading) (I usually just use 3 1/2 cups and knead it in a bowl by hand or with a KitchenAid and bread hook)
3 rounded tablespoons vital wheat gluten


Wet Ingredients:
1 cup active sourdough starter
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup distilled or bottled water
1 tablespoon agave syrup or honey

In a large mixing bowl, add all of the dry ingredients and mix them together using a whisk.  I like to use a two cup glass measuring cup for the next part.  Add 1 cup water and one cup of starter that you have stirred down prior to remove the air and to measuring to get a more accurate reading.  Add the water and starter to the dry ingredients.  Add the agave syrup or honey and stir all ingredients with a wooden or plastic spoon.  (Don't use metal at any point in the making of bread other than the pan as you want to avoid a chemical reaction due to the long rise period)

Once you can no longer stir using a spoon, I like to just keep the dough in the bowl and knead it there.  You can also knead it on a floured cutting board or granite/marble counter (or using a Kitchenaid mixer with a dough hook).  If you're doing it in the bowl, while you knead it slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup of all purpose flour if you didn't use the extra half cup initially.  If you're doing it on the board or counter, use the 1/2 cup flour to keep the dough from sticking.  Eventually it should all be absorbed into the dough.  When you are done you will have a tacky but not sticky dough ball. If dough is really stiff, add more water.  Different environments cause different results.  Altitude, temperature, humidity all affect the results.

I use a large plastic container with a top, lightly sprayed with cooking oil (the other rule I break but you'll never get it out of the container if you don't use this) to allow the dough to rise.  It will take between 8 and 12 hours to double in size depending on the temperature.  The dough rises best in a 70 degree to 80 degree environment, but it will go faster if it's warmer and slower if it's colder.  The longer the rise, the stronger the sour taste.  (you can actually put it in the refrigerator at this point if you want it to rise later, but I wouldn't do this until you've mastered the process.

After it has doubled in size, deflate it by punching it down and let it rise one more time...should only take an hour to and hour and a half.

Baking:

Pick the container you want to use to bake.  I prefer something that is cast iron like a Le Creuset or cast iron skillet with a lid.  Place the baking pan in the oven and pre-heat to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.This will take about 1/2 hour to heat.  While it's heating, form the dough into a loaf.  I like to put it on a floured counter with the dry side (smooth side) of the dough down and the sponge side (looks like a sponge) facing me.  Pull the 4 sides to the middle and flip it over with the seam facing down and play with it until you get a small loaf.  When the oven is ready, carefully remove the pan and place the dough, seam side down, into the pan.  Use a razor blade or very sharp knife to cut three 3" slashes on the top, and put the lid on it.  Place it back in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

After the first 25 minutes turn the oven down to 375 degrees and remove the lid of the pan.  Bake for an additional 25 minutes. When the baking time is over, remove the bread from the pan, (tap on the bottom of the loaf...it should sound hollow) place it on a cooling rack (if you don't have a cooling rack but have a toaster oven, use one of the racks from the oven for a cooling rack).  Allow the bread to cool for an hour before cutting into it as it's still setting up while cooling.

THE STARTER
*  Feed the starter
By this time you have an active starter.  You should always keep 1 cup of starter.  Before you bake, if the starter has been in the refrigerator, remove it for two hours so it warms up to room temperature.  Add 1 cup of All Purpose Flour and 2/3 cups of filtered or bottled water (equal volume by weight) to the existing starter.  Stir with a wooden or plastic spoon or spatula until you have a fairly smooth consistency.  Mark where the level amount of starter is on the side or your container with a piece of tape so you can tell when it's about doubled in volume.  When this happens, stir it down and use it in the bread recipe.  Sometimes you may have to dump out all but a cup and repeat this process a couple of times if you haven't used the starter or fed it for awhile.  It's pretty hard to kill the starter if you keep it in the fridge.  It's pretty easy to kill it by leaving it on the counter without feeding it constantly.  If you're making bread on a semi regular basis, feeding before using makes it all you need to do to keep the starter going.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to leave a comment below and I'll get back to you right away.

SOURDOUGH THE BREAD (Part 3) (my 100th post)

So here's where we get to see how all our hard work plays out.  This is my recipe for sourdough white bread and 100% whole wheat sourdough bread, both with no added oil.  As I've said before, during the slow fermentation process the yeast eats the sugars in the flour and even diabetics can eat this bread.

White Sourdough:

3 cups All Purpose Flour (plus 1/2 cup for kneading)
3/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
4 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten (optional, but I highly recommend after trial and error.  Adds to the bite)
1 Tablespoon organic honey or agave syrup
1 cup filtered water (or bottled)
1 cup active sourdough starter.  Stir the starter down before measuring.  If you're taking your starter out of the refrigerator, allow it to sit on the counter for a couple of hours to take the chill off of it.

(For a Wheat Sourdough alternative, substitute 1 cup of All Purpose Flour with 1 cup 100% whole wheat flour)

In a mixing bowl or the bowl of a mixer if you're mixing with a dough hook, add the first three (just the 3 cups of flour, not the extra 1/2 cup) dry ingredients of flour, salt and vital wheat gluten, and mix them together with a whisk.  Add the starter and water together and stir.  Add the honey or agave syrup to the water/starter mixture.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and begin either mixing with a dough hook or by hand.  If you're doing it by hand, knead it in the bowl for about 5 minutes before putting it on the counter or a cutting board to kneed it with the additional 1/2 cup flour.

If you're kneading it with dough hook, knead it for about 5 minutes.  Let it rest for about 10 minutes, then add half of the remaining 1/2 cup of flour.  After about 3 minutes, if it still seems too sticky to the touch, add the additional 1/4 cup of flour.  It should be tacky to the touch, but not sticky to where it won't come off your hands.  Adding more flour is sometimes necessary because of the weather and humidity.  You'll get to where you can tell if it's ready by the touch, but this will come with practice.

Find the container you want to use for the rising dough.  I like to use a 4 quart plastic container with straight sides because it makes it easier to gauge when the dough has doubled, but a ceramic bowl works just as well.  I do lightly spray the inside of the rising container or bowl with either Pam or I lightly coat it with olive oil.  If you don't do this step you'll never get the dough out of the container once it's risen.  If you have a silicon bowl that you can rise it in, you don't need the lubricant.  Don't use a metal bowl for this as it may react with the starter.

Once the dough has doubled in size, deflate it.  Put it back in the plastic container and put it in the refrigerator for another 5-6 hours.  When you're ready to bake it, take it out of the fridge a couple hours before.

This is the dough with a view from the top and the side.  Notice that it's just below the 1 quart line.

This is the dough after it has risen to the 2 quart line.  Roughly doubled in size.

At this point I put the dough on a cutting board with additional flour to keep it from sticking and I shape it into the type of loaf I want.  I'm doing an oblong loaf and I will bake it in my LeCruset cast iron pan (see pic below)

At this point I preheat the oven to 450°, with both the pan and lid for the pan in the oven.  While it's preheating, you can deflate the dough a bit and shape it as seen above.  Cover it with a towel or cloth as the oven will take about a 1/2 hour to preheat.  Once the oven is ready, using oven mitts, remove the pan and lid from the oven.  Carefully add your dough to the pan, seem side down.  Cut a 1/8th inch deep slit along the top of the loaf using either a razor blade (I prefer this) or very sharp knife.  Make the cut about 7 inches long.  Cover the loaf and place it back in the oven.  Set your timer for 25 minutes.  After 25 minutes, remove the top of the pan, reduce the heat to 375° and bake for an additional 25 minutes.  After the total bake time of 50 minutes, remove the loaf from the pan to a cooling rack.  With my pan I can just flip the pan over and the loaf will fall out.  Tap the loaf on the bottom and if it sounds hollow, it's done.  

***Let the bread cool for at least an hour.  It continues to set up while it's cooling, so though you may want it warm out of the oven, this is a crucial step.

To Continue with the 100% whole wheat recipe, see Read More? below.....

100% Whole Wheat Sourdough  (Mostly the exact same as the white flour sourdough, but I'll repeat here as well)

 Before the Rise

After the rise

3 cups 100% Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (plus 1/2 cup for kneading)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 Tablespoons vital wheat gluten (optional, but I highly recommend after trial and error.  Adds to the bite)
1 Tablespoon organic honey or agave syrup
1 cup filtered water (or bottled), heated to between 100° and 110° Fahrenheit
1 cup active sourdough starter.  Stir the starter down before measuring.  If you're taking your starter out of the refrigerator, allow it to sit on the counter for a couple of hours to take the chill off of it.

In a mixing bowl or the bowl of a mixer if you're mixing with a dough hook, add the first three (just the 3 cups of flour, not the extra 1/2 cup) dry ingredients of flour, salt and vital wheat gluten, and mix them together with a whisk.  Add the starter and water together and stir.  Add the honey or agave syrup to the water/starter mixture.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and begin either mixing with a dough hook or by hand.  If you're doing it by hand, knead it in the bowl for about 5 minutes before putting it on the counter or a cutting board to kneed it with the additional 1/2 cup flour.

If you're kneading it with dough hook, knead it for about 5 minutes.  Let it rest for about 10 minutes, then add half of the remaining 1/2 cup of flour.  After about 3 minutes if it still seems too sticky to the touch, add the additional 1/4 cup of flour.  It should be tacky to the touch, but not sticky to where it won't come off your hands.  Adding more flour is sometimes necessary because of the weather and humidity.  You'll get to where you can tell if it's ready by the touch, but this will come with practice.

With the whole wheat bread,  I like to let the bread rise in the same container I'm going to bake it in.  I do lightly spray the inside of the rising container or bowl with either Pam or I lightly coat it with olive oil.  You might also want to cut out a piece of parchment paper to place on the bottom of the pan so the loaf doesn't stick.  Whole Wheat dough is stickier than White dough.  If you don't do this step you'll never get the dough out of the pan once it's baked.  If you have a silicon bowl that you can rise it in, you don't need the lubricant.  Don't use a metal bowl for this as it may react with the starter.  Whole Wheat sourdough doesn't rise as easily or nearly as much as the white bread, so you're only going to get one rise out of it, which is why I let it rise in the container I'm going to bake in.

Unlike the White sourdough bread, you start this bread with a preheated 425° oven.  Place a metal pan in the bottom of the oven when you're preheating (more about this later).  When you're ready to bake the bread, using either a razor blade or sharp knife, cut a 6 inch long, 1/8th inch deep slit along the top of the bread and place the pan on the middle rack of the oven.  Grab about a 1/2 cup to a cup of water and pour it into the heated pan in the bottom of the oven.  Be careful as it will steam up immediately.  Close the oven and you've created an atmosphere similar to bread baking ovens.  Immediately turn the oven down to 375° and after 25 minutes, rotate the pan 180 degrees.  Bake an additional 30 minutes.

Just like the white sourdough, once you remove the bread from the pan, a tap on the bottom of the loaf should indicate whether it's done.  Let it cool on a cooling rack for at least an hour before cutting.