Let's Start Baking! (3)
- bridgetscooking
- Feb 3
- 3 min read
1. How about starting with a more traditional sourdough loaf? This recipe is one of the best I've found for ease in baking and resulting in a great loaf. It's on the King Arthur web site with a great step by step video. I have tweaked the recipe in a way that works best for me. I'll outline if for you, but don't hesitate to go straight to the source! The bread is called "Pain De Compagne (Country Bread)". This recipe makes two loaves, but you can easily cut the recipe in half if you want to start with one loaf. Just be sure you accurately divide all the ingredients by 2. I have made the mistake of not cutting the water in half, epic fail!
Click on the link above step 1 and you can see this is a pretty straight forward recipe. We use bread flour here, rather than all purpose and some whole wheat flour as well. Bread flour has a higher protein content than all purpose flour and is the recommended white flour for this recipe. You will find that various bread recipes call for different types of flours. I try to use the recommended flours, especially when making a recipe for the first time. Later on you can tweak if you want to experiment.
Note: I have adjusted the ingredients in this recipe a bit that worked better for me. You can use the recipe as stated on the web site or give my "tweaked" version a try:
750 grams of King Arthur Unbleached Bread flour
250 grams of King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour or King Arthur Golden Wheat Flour (I have used both, they both work great)
750 grams of tepid water (75 to 90 degrees F)
1 tablespoon table salt
100 grams of sourdough starter (unfed/discard is in the recipe, but I've also used ripe/fed starter
Mixing all the ingredients in one bucket or bowl makes clean up very easy. I recommend putting your water and starter in the bowl first and then add the flours and salt. Makes mixing a bit easier, I've found. After you've completed your "folds" as outlined in the recipe (3 folds in 45 minutes) you just leave the dough in the bucket, tightly covered, at room temperature for about 12 hours. I monitor the the height of the dough with a piece of painters tape on the outside of the bucket. That helps you gauge how much the dough is rising.
When the dough is ready for the next step, just follow the directions on the recipe. When I first started baking sourdough, I used bowls and tea towels (linen works best) and they worked fine. I do prefer the brotforms (bread baskets) with liners and use those now. https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/brotform-and-liner-set Either works. Just be sure to dust lightly with flour before you put your dough rounds on the tea towel or liner. Shower caps work well to cover the dough, gives room without sticking to the dough. You can buy those in bulk from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B4M7G8H/ref=syn_sd_onsite_desktop_0?ie=UTF8&pf_rd_p=4500617b-0cc7-45a9-8bde-f455bfff54d3&pf_rd_r=H0RMZRRW6NQQMTHHX1QR&pd_rd_wg=L8IEi&pd_rd_w=vrn6w&pd_rd_r=217eda01-a788-4dc6-945c-23d81198c575&aref=IfuL7EifS4&th=1
When you are ready to bake, it's important to use parchment paper to move the dough from the basket or bowl to the dutch oven. Remember the dutch oven will be hot as you have preheated for 45 minutes. I think the preheat step with the bread pan/dutch oven in the oven helps ensure a better rise. You may see guidance that says that step is not necessary. I am not willing to risk it! The first 20 minutes in the oven is with the lid on the pan. Then you will remove it for the remainder of the bake. After the 20-25 minutes, I use my instant read thermometer to make sure the temperature within the loaf is at 205-210*F. Even if the bread looks a lovely golden brown, I always check the temperature. If it's not at 205* then I put it back for another 5 minutes or so and check again. You don't want a "doughy" center. Another important point is to not cut your bread too soon. It will be tempting, but waiting several hours (at least 3 hours) for the loaf to cool will help ensure it's not dense and compact as opposed to the texture we want in a loaf of fresh bread.
Congratulations! You have just completed your first loaf of sourdough. You are on your way!
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