Most sourdough bread recipes make a boule, which is great for dipping into soups. However, I prefer to have my bread as toast or for sandwiches.
Making sourdough bread for sandwiches also means that you do not have to use a dutch oven. It is baked in a loaf pan.
Store bought bread is almost always an ultra processed food. Occasionally it is possible to find sourdough bread at a grocery store that is not ultra-processed, but not always. At a bakery, a loaf of fresh sourdough can be quite expensive. My favorite local bakery charges $9 per loaf of sourdough sandwich bread. If you are making sourdough regularly it can be a very effective way to save money on groceries.
If you do not have a stand mixer, you can make the recipe without one, but kneading dough by hand is much more difficult than using a mixer. If you are making bread regularly you will probably want to invest in a mixer eventually. To make the dough by hand you will combine the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix with a spoon until everything is incorporated together. Then dump the dough out onto a clean counter or workspace and knead by hand until the dough is smooth and comes together easily into a ball.
Sourdough is one of those things that takes some time to get going, but once you get in the routine of it is pretty easy. The timing of making sourdough can require some planning ahead. The biggest issue with sourdough is that the bread has long rising times, so you will have to figure out a way that fits with your schedule. Once the sourdough starter is ready to use – about 4 hours from its last feeding – the dough will require an overnight rise and then in the morning a second rise of about 2 -3 hours.
If you are trying to make the bread on a weekday, prepare the dough the night before and let it rise overnight. In the morning put the bowl with the dough into the refrigerator to prevent it from over fermenting. In the evening when you get home from work take the dough out of the refrigerator and proceed with forming it into a rectangle and letting it rise in the loaf pan.
Equipment:
Bread loaf pan
Measuring cups
Stand mixer or mixing bowl and spoon
Tea towel or lid for bowl
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sourdough starter
4 tablespoons salted butter, plus more for buttering pan
4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups water, plus extra if needed
1 tablespoon sugar, or other sweetener such as honey
Oil for greasing bowl
Instructions:
In the bowl of the mixer add the sourdough starter, butter, water, and sugar. Use the paddle attachment for the mixer to combine the ingredients. Start with the mixer on the lowest setting, so the flour does not spray everywhere. Then when the flour is more incorporated, increase to a medium setting.
The dough should be fairly dry. If it is way too dry add about a teaspoon or two of extra water to help it mix together. Be very careful adding water and only add a small bit at a time because you can’t take it out.
Once the ingredients are mixed together, switch to using the dough hook.
Put the mixer on one of the slower, but not the slowest, settings.
Set a timer for 7 minutes and let the mixer knead the dough.
The dough should start to come together and look smooth.
Shape the dough into a round ball.
Lightly grease the inside of the bowl you are going to let the dough rise in. If you don’t need to use your mixer again, just use the bowl of the mixer. Place the dough back in the bowl and cover with a towel.
Leave the bowl with the dough out on the counter overnight. It will need to rise for about 10 – 12 hours. When it is done it will have doubled in size. If it starts to turn to liquid, it was allowed to rise too long.
The next morning the dough should be double the size it was when you put it in the bowl.
Take the ball of dough out and flatten it into a large rectangle roughly as wide as your loaf pan. The larger air bubbles will pop as you flatten the dough out.
Roll the dough into a large log, and tuck the ends down underneath.
Use butter to grease the loaf pan that you are going to use.
Put the dough roll into the loaf pan, making sure that all seams are on the bottom.
Let the dough rise inside the loaf pan, until the top of the dough is well above the top of the pan. This may take a few hours.
You can speed this process up by using your oven. Set the oven to the lowest temperature it has – mine is 175 degrees Fahrenheit – and put the bread in the oven with the oven turned on for ten minutes. After the ten minutes turn off the oven. Leave the bread in the warm oven and do not open the oven door. After about twenty more minutes check to see if the bread is risen sufficiently. Remove the bread from the oven while you preheat the oven to bake the bread.
Set the oven to preheat to the highest temperature it has. Mine is 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
When the oven comes to temperature put the bread loaf in the oven. Immediately drop the temperature back down to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Set the timer for 45 minutes.
At the end of the baking time the top should be golden brown.
Carefully remove the pan from the oven to cool.
Do not attempt to cut into the bread right away, as this can ruin an entire loaf of perfectly nice bread. Instead wait for the bread to cool at least an hour before cutting into it.