# Sourdough bread



## KmH (Feb 6, 2017)

I'm making 2 loaves of sourdough bread today.

Here is the dough after mixing flour sugar, salt, sourdough starter, instant yeast, and water together and then kneading for 10 minutes or so. Kneading is good lower back exercise.


----------



## Ron Evers (Feb 6, 2017)

Mine from yesterday but not sourdough.


----------



## Gary A. (Feb 6, 2017)

iPhone

A recent loaf and a pizza crust.


----------



## KmH (Feb 6, 2017)

After rising for 90 minutes:


 

And then gently cut in half and shaped into 2 loaves. Now ready for another hour or so of rising before they go in the oven.
The bright spot is the flash reflecting off a thin layer of oil on the table the dough picked up from the bowl it was rising in.
I put the glass ramekin in the photo to show how much the dough had expanded since the first photo.


----------



## Designer (Feb 6, 2017)

You're having better success than I ever had.


----------



## KmH (Feb 6, 2017)

And my kitchen isn't really that warm.
I have the thermostat set to 67° but they recommend at least 70°.
However, I put what I want to rise on top of the refrigerator which is higher than the thermostat.
Hot air rises, right? Plus my refrigerator is in a corner.

Ready to bake. Just gotta spritz the loaves with some lukewarm water.
They'll be done in 25 to 30 minutes @ 425°
(Did you know you can re-use parchment paper?)
I think it's Miller's time.


----------



## waday (Feb 6, 2017)

Looks delicious!



KmH said:


> And then gently cut in half and shaped into 2 loaves.


Ah. From the first image, I wondered if they split via mitosis.


----------



## KmH (Feb 6, 2017)

Done and cooling and here is the recipe:
Rustic Sourdough Bread Recipe | King Arthur Flour


----------



## Don Kondra (Feb 6, 2017)

A little light but Looks Good enough to eat 

We need to see an end cut !  

Here's a trick, turn the light on in your oven, it's a good place/temperature for rising dough's...

Cheers, Don


----------



## Gary A. (Feb 6, 2017)

I can smell it from here!


----------



## KmH (Feb 6, 2017)

Don Kondra said:


> A little light but Looks Good enough to eat
> We need to see an end cut !


That they aren't more browned is an indication the yeast ate most of the sugar in the dough, so there was less sugar in the crust to caramelize.

I knew about the light in the oven trick.
The stove was here when I got this place, the oven light has never worked, and I've never missed it.

I could brush some milk on the loaves 10 minutes or so before they are done to darken them up some, but they look fine to me. 

I'll cut the loaf on the left tomorrow and make an end cut photo.
The loaf on the right is in the freezer.

I'll be making photos of the sourdough buttermilk pancakes tomorrow too.


----------



## Trever1t (Feb 7, 2017)

Looking good KmH

They say that there's something in the air here that gives San Fransisco sour dough a unique flavor. I don't know but after seeing yours I may have to attempt it myself!


----------



## KmH (Feb 7, 2017)

That's just marketing.
By varying the liquid/flour balance of sourdough starter, the temperature at which it's fed, the temperature and duration of a sourdough loaf's rise, you can make sourdough bread that's truly mouth-puckering.
Or you can just add about 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid (sour salt) to your regular sourdough recipe.


And the end cut:


----------



## Derrel (Feb 7, 2017)

Looks like a darned good bread! No big pockets, nice and uniform top to bottom and side to side. I was not aware of the water on the bread-top trick until your post. I grew up for a couple of years with sourdough everything in the late 1970's...breads, rolls, biscuits, and pancakes and waffles, everything sourdough.


----------



## JonA_CT (Feb 7, 2017)

A sourdough loaf of mine from a few weeks ago...a take on Pain de Champagne. A couple of people here (Gary? Gryph?) recommended Flour Water Yeast Salt by Ken Forkish to me. Game changing . If any of y'all have any interest in making awesome bread, I highly recommend it. I'd offer to loan my copy out, but I use it so often the pages are stuck together


----------

