Last week I had the sudden urge to have sandwiches for breakfast. I decided to bake myself a loaf of bread. I got some fresh squeezed orange juice from Whole Foods to go along with the breakfast sandwiches. I put the sourdough starter out on the counter top to come to room temperature and bubble up. That is when I realized my favorite loaf recipe uses commercial yeast. I don't buy that stuff anymore so I decide to convert my old recipe to use the starter instead.
In case you are not into baking with sourdough here is the original recipe. It is simple and makes a super flavorful loaf. Do not get intimidated with the time it takes. That is what makes it so flavorful.
I followed these instructions that I had written up long ago to convert recipes to sourdough. The original recipe I had was in cup measure so I converted it to weight. I got 560 gm of flour and 430 gm water. Once you have these two numbers you can easily convert the recipe. If you are interested the math is as follows: First I calculated 40% of 560 and got 112 or round to 110. This is the weight of starter needed for this recipe. Since my starter is 50% flour and 50% water I reduce both water and flour by 110/2 which is 55 gm. My new flour by weight is 560-55=505 gm or rounded to 500 gm. The water needed by weight is 430-55=375 gm.
You will need for 1 loaf
110 gm 100% sourdough starter
505 gm flour (I used whole wheat flour, you can use 50% all purpose or any combination)
375 gm water
10 gm salt
3 tbsp. oil (vegetable oil or olive oil)
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and keep aside. After 15 minutes, reach over the far side of the dough and pull it over the top. Turn the bowl 45 degrees and repeat. Repeat two more time and keep aside. Fold and turn every 15 minutes another 3 times. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 4-6 hours.
Keep you loaf pan ready. Remove the dough from the bowl to a floured working surface. Fold over from both sides and place seam side down in the loaf pan. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.
When you are ready to bake preheat the oven to 375 F. When the oven is heated remove the loaf from the refrigerator and take off the cover. Score the top of the loaf with a sharp blade or knife. Sprinkle a little flour over the top to add some interest. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Check after about 30 minutes and if the top is browning too quickly, tent it with foil.
Take the loaf out of the oven and let it sit for a couple minutes. Slide the loaf out of the pan and cool it on a cooling rack.
Slice and enjoy!
In case you are not into baking with sourdough here is the original recipe. It is simple and makes a super flavorful loaf. Do not get intimidated with the time it takes. That is what makes it so flavorful.
I followed these instructions that I had written up long ago to convert recipes to sourdough. The original recipe I had was in cup measure so I converted it to weight. I got 560 gm of flour and 430 gm water. Once you have these two numbers you can easily convert the recipe. If you are interested the math is as follows: First I calculated 40% of 560 and got 112 or round to 110. This is the weight of starter needed for this recipe. Since my starter is 50% flour and 50% water I reduce both water and flour by 110/2 which is 55 gm. My new flour by weight is 560-55=505 gm or rounded to 500 gm. The water needed by weight is 430-55=375 gm.
You will need for 1 loaf
110 gm 100% sourdough starter
505 gm flour (I used whole wheat flour, you can use 50% all purpose or any combination)
375 gm water
10 gm salt
3 tbsp. oil (vegetable oil or olive oil)
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and keep aside. After 15 minutes, reach over the far side of the dough and pull it over the top. Turn the bowl 45 degrees and repeat. Repeat two more time and keep aside. Fold and turn every 15 minutes another 3 times. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 4-6 hours.
Keep you loaf pan ready. Remove the dough from the bowl to a floured working surface. Fold over from both sides and place seam side down in the loaf pan. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.
When you are ready to bake preheat the oven to 375 F. When the oven is heated remove the loaf from the refrigerator and take off the cover. Score the top of the loaf with a sharp blade or knife. Sprinkle a little flour over the top to add some interest. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Check after about 30 minutes and if the top is browning too quickly, tent it with foil.
Take the loaf out of the oven and let it sit for a couple minutes. Slide the loaf out of the pan and cool it on a cooling rack.
Slice and enjoy!
The bread looks so good and yet to try my hands on sour dough.This bread tempts me to try.
ReplyDeleteI have always been a great fan of your breads and this one is no exception . I have never worked with sourdough and it is like a dream .
ReplyDeleteI love your sourdough recipes. I am the only one who loves the flavour of these breads, so I stopped baking. But still it is so good to see such amazing loaves.
ReplyDeleteExactly how I find sourdough starter - intimidating... Looking at that loaf, I think I must try my hand at it... maybe sometime soon...
ReplyDeletethe maths is interesting,but the sourdoigh story at my end is not so :-) loved reading abiut how you could so cleverly adapt to make the lovely looking bread,...
ReplyDeleteHow prefect and good this sourdough loaf looks, would love to kick start my day with few slices without any fuss.
ReplyDeleteYou are a math genius Varada :-) That sourdough bread looks amazing - what a beautifully golden brown crust.
ReplyDeleteI love how mathematically you give your recipes, when I will start on baking these, I will surely fall back on your recipes, thank you very much for recording these. The luxury of baking a bread loaf and having it is simply too great..the bread looks fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThat is a gorgeous loaf varada, that golden crust looks fab!! Though i have the starter from my friend, i m yet to experiment with it! Need to gather my strength and start baking breads again!
ReplyDeleteHow nicely you substituted sourdough in your recipe..such a pretty and perfect bake.
ReplyDeleteThe crumb looks super perfect.. Such a lovely loaf!!
ReplyDeleteSourdough bread is perfectly baked and looks yum yum . Never tried my hands on this .Love the golden crust .
ReplyDeleteIt is ages since I baked with sour dough. The loaf looks very inviting
ReplyDeleteI have to work on sourdough and not sure when I will start. Thank you for giving the detail calculation. It's easier for people like us who wants to start sourdough baking. Awesome bread.
ReplyDeleteMe too have to try sourdough. Nowadays I see a lot of it. This looks so perfect.
ReplyDeleteThat loaf looks lovely, Varada. The word sourdough intimidates me and haven't tried it yet. Bookmarked your post link to go through later.
ReplyDeletelovely bread for sandwiches or french toast breakfast - lovely loaf!
ReplyDeleteTook me 3 readings to understand the math. Thanks for the calculation will check it in my breads. As for the sandwich bread its jus yummy. Will try sourdough yet again. It's cool enough for now.
ReplyDeleteI am still intimidated by sour dough but I have heard how flavorful the breads are! I plan to make the starter someday and then I surely know where to come to when I need recipes :)
ReplyDelete