Recipe: Basic White Sourdough Bread

[Walter Sobchak]

{ redacted }

[falafel]

I am planning on making this (especially since you sent me the starter), but I'm not sure how I'm going to measure 310g of anything. Isn't there a more American measurement I can use?

[Pheidippides]

SG, this is magnificent. I have recently been having issues with bread with my start (mostly because I'm not as experienced when it comes to letting it rise - sourdough is a tricky animal!) and I am going to definitely try this out this weekend.

[Solon]

What a great post. Pictures and all.

I was going to tease you as well about the precision of 310 grams of anything, but falafel beat me to it.

[Fiyero]

Some people claim that Boudin in San Francisco has been using the same start since 1849.

Word.

[Jarid in Cedar]

You can probably round it down to 300g if you want to work with numbers that are easier to remember (250g water, 500g flour, 300g starter, 10g salt).

My basic white sourdough bread recipe is based on one I found in my favorite sourdough baking book, Local Breads by Daniel Leader (see "French Country Boule" recipe on page 90). In that recipe, Mr. Leader calls for 310g of starter, 250g of water, 10g of salt, 440g of white flour, 30g of whole wheat flour, and 30g of rye flour (500g of flour in total). He calls the mishmash of flours a "French Country blend". The blend of flours makes a great loaf of bread, but my kids prefer the straight white.

cheers.

My wife does a similar recipe with 50/50 blend of White and home ground whole wheat(we skip the rye), that is to die for. Unfortunately, she doesn't really have a recipe per se. She just adds and omits the basic ingredients until the dough is "just right" to her. I don't have the hardwiring to even tolerate such behavior, but the outcome is delish!

[The_Tick]

I just can't bake bread.

I am interested in trying this. Can someone just "create" a starter?

And I need to get a digital scale.

And FTR...I think the US should go metric.

[pellegrino]

Kudos Space Ghost!

Now that it's fall and I can bake with impunity I'll have to give this one a try. I've been perfecting my pizza technique (for those interested in the recipe google Jeff Varasano) and now I want to work more on breads. I've got a mind to try this one out this weekend.

The inclusion of ice cubes is a particularly good trick. I've always struggled with a simple way of incorporating steam and this seems quite nice.

My wife does a similar recipe with 50/50 blend of White and home ground whole wheat(we skip the rye), that is to die for. Unfortunately, she doesn't really have a recipe per se. She just adds and omits the basic ingredients until the dough is "just right" to her. I don't have the hardwiring to even tolerate such behavior, but the outcome is delish!

This is the way all great bakers do it and it's the same with pizza, when kneaded and prepared correctly, the dough has a certain feel to it. Depending on the weather and the flour the composition may vary dramatically from the prescribed percentages.

And FTR...I think the US should go metric.

I couldn't agree more.

[cowboy]

My wife does a similar recipe with 50/50 blend of White and home ground whole wheat(we skip the rye), that is to die for. Unfortunately, she doesn't really have a recipe per se. She just adds and omits the basic ingredients until the dough is "just right" to her. I don't have the hardwiring to even tolerate such behavior, but the outcome is delish!

This is the way I cook everything. The only time I keep track is when I plan to give the recipe to someone.

Also, try adding rolled oats. It gives the bread body without the sawdust texture that often comes with coarse ground wheat.

Good post, SG. I've definitely found the secret to SD bread is letting it rise for a long time in a warm place. Warning to all, though - you're wife will get pretty pissed when she doesn't know you have bread rising in the oven and she pre-heats it to bake cookies. Sometimes the bread can be saved, but the dish towel it's rising under is always toast.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I am definitely going to try this. But it may be a few weeks before I have time. How long do the chips last? I.e., should we delay the mailing?

[cowboy]

I have tried oat flour, but never oats.

However, your solution kind of begs the question... if coarse ground wheat begets sawdust texture in your baked bread, then why not grind the wheat into a finer grit? Maybe that is a question with an obvious answer to someone (like myself) that does not grind their own whole wheat flour. The stuff out of the bag that I buy at the supermarket works great! No oats required!

cheers.

Oats don't have as much fiber as wheat, so they offer a chewier texture and still keep the whole grain body. It's all just a preference thing.

[cowboy]

Ah.

I only brought it up because I just pulled out two very fine loaves of whole wheat sourdough bread from the oven... and they are nothing short of divine. I use my "stiff dough" sourdough starter for the whole wheat bread and not my liquid starter... that may make some difference, I don't know. I also make a ten grain sourdough bread that offers a magnificent texture that I'm sure you would love. I think of all the varieties of bread I bake, the ten grain is my favorite because of its unique texture. I'll post the recipes (whole wheat sourdough bread and 10-grain sourdough bread) sometime in the near future.

cheers.

I'm interested in the 10-grain recipe. Also, do you add any oil to help moisten the bread?

[Jarid in Cedar]

Oats don't have as much fiber as wheat, so they offer a chewier texture and still keep the whole grain body. It's all just a preference thing.

My wife overcomes this with adding extra wheat glutein. It gives it a spongy feel. I think her grinder gets the flour fairly fine though.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I keep a spare set of sourdough chips on hand in a freezer-safe ziploc bag in the "no defrost cycle" freezer out in the garage. The shelf life is probably indefinite, but I rotate mine out about every six months or so. I have (inadvertently) ruined my starter a few times, so keeping the "chips" as a backup is a nice thing to have.

The first time I ruined my starter (by using a bowl to refresh my starter that I did not thoroughly rinse after washing), I had to get a replacement from my mother. This involved admitting to her what a bonehead I was for ruining it. I felt deeply ashamed. The second time I ruined my starter I couldn't go back to my Mom, but got a replacement from one of my brothers instead. Now I keep dehydrated chips on hand to insure against future mishaps. I need to make some more, I sent the last batch to falafel.

cheers.

Man, if that is the worst thing you had to confess to your mother then you have lived a pretty charmed life.

Send me some chips when they become available, por favor.

[cowboy]

I keep a spare set of sourdough chips on hand in a freezer-safe ziploc bag in the "no defrost cycle" freezer out in the garage. The shelf life is probably indefinite, but I rotate mine out about every six months or so. I have (inadvertently) ruined my starter a few times, so keeping the "chips" as a backup is a nice thing to have.

The first time I ruined my starter (by using a bowl to refresh my starter that I did not thoroughly rinse after washing), I had to get a replacement from my mother. This involved admitting to her what a bonehead I was for ruining it. I felt deeply ashamed. The second time I ruined my starter I couldn't go back to my Mom, but got a replacement from one of my brothers instead. Now I keep dehydrated chips on hand to insure against future mishaps. I need to make some more, I sent the last batch to falafel.

cheers.

How do you make the chips?