Normally I make boules but the last two times I made bread I have been too lazy so instead I used my nice long Norpro pans my daughter bought me. Came out fantastic.
I have mentioned the recipe several times before in this blog but I'll repeat it for those who would rather just see it now and not have to search for it.
Ingredients:
1 batch fresh Starter (at least 8 hours after feeding)
3 cups water
8-10 Cups Unbleached White Flour. DO NOT USE BREAD FLOUR.
1 Tablespoon salt
When I say one batch I mean dump it all into your mixer bowl. Do not scrape the jar. After dumping most of it out go ahead and feed it. You do not have to save half like most Traditionalists will tell you.
Mix the starter, water and salt together until blended. Start adding flour one cup at a time. Until AFTER the dough comes away from the bowl. Knead for ten minutes.
Place the dough in a greased large plastic bowl and lightly cover and let it sit for twelve to sixteen hours in a cool place. I like to use our basement because it is always cool enough down there all year long. You can place it in the fridge but be prepared to let it sit for at least 24 hours or more until the dough hits the top of the bowl. I use one of those large Tupperware bowls. We have the older and the newer Tupperware bowls. The older bowl is wider and not as deep and the dough always hits the lid. The newer large bowl is deeper and the dough never hits the lid.
When the dough is ready to divide into loaves I like to turn on the oven at 350 for a minute and turn on the light. This prepares the oven for the loaves to sit and rise until ready to bake.
I usually divide the dough in thirds. On my scale that's about 850 grams per loaf. Divide the dough and place in loaf pans. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place for a couple hours.
If you used the oven to let your bread rise take it out and move your oven racks to the bottom two slots and heat your oven to 450 F. Place a small pan on the bottom rack. You are going to pour two cups boiling water into this pan after the oven is heated up and after you put the bread in the oven,
Be sure and use a Lame to score the tops of your bread before placing them in the oven. This is really easy if you make boules. If you use bread pans like I did it's more of a challenge unless you use more dough per pan.
Boil two cups of water.
Place your bread in the hot oven.
Wearing oven mittens, pour the boiling water into the pan and close the oven door.
Reduce the heat to 400 F and set your timer to 55 minutes. It takes a a lot longer to n=bake a loaf of sourdough.
When done, remove from the oven and let it sit for 20 minutes, The bread will continue to bake in the middle of the loaf.
Enjoy!
To order one of my sourdough starter packages click here for more info.
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