Now it's time for true confessions. Even though I have, in the past, made my starter from scratch, this time round I used a commerical sourdough starter. This one came from Ed Wood's Sourdoughs International.His book, Classic Sourdoughs, is a goldmine of information about this ancient leavening and has some fine and very easy recipes to help you get started. Since the starter I used is his Original San Francisco Culture, the first bread I made with it was his version of San Francisco Sourdough Bread.
SAN FRANCISCO SOURDOUGH BREAD
(makes two 1 1/2 pound loaves)
- 1/2 cup cold liquid culture
- 6 cups of flour
- 2 cups water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Mix the liquid culture with 1 cup of the flour and 1/2 cup of the water in a large mixing bowl. This is the working culture. Proof 12 hours st room temperature (68 to 72 degrees) or 6 hours in a proofing box at 85 degrees.
Add in cup of the flour and 1/2 cup of the water. Mix and knead until smooth. Proof 8 hours at room temperature or 4 hours in the proofing box. After proofing, this is the fully active culture. (If you want really sour sourdough, repeat step 2, adding another 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water.)
Punch down. Dissolve the salt in the remaining 1 cup water and mix into the dough. Reserve 1 cup of the flour for flouring the board. Mix and spoon knead the remaining 3 cups of flour into the dough 1 cup at a time. When too stiff to mix by hand, transfer to the floured board and knead in the remaining flour.
Form 2 pan loaves and proof them at the same temperature used before until ready to bake (3 to 4 hours). The loaf should have risen just a bit above the rim of the pan.
Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool on wire racks.
Finished San Francisco Sourdough Breads
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