A fresh, homemade sourdough bread is hard to beat! Imagine golden, crisp crust, and an airy inside. Think you can't make it at home? Think again!
With some simple steps you may be baking best sourdough in your kitchen. Sure, cafes and bakeries serve amazing bread. However there's something special about making it yourself.
Ready to bake your very own loaf? Let's get commenced! Here's a basic sourdough bread recipe (super easy!) you could enjoy any time of day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a brief snack.
The most important component to make the bread is a sourdough starter. This dough is made from a mixture of flour and water and saved for fermentation.
The dough incorporates wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria, causing it to rise.
In order to keep the microorganism and wild yeast active, the starter needs to be fed regularly with flour and water.
Bread Flour
The bread flour is filled with protein and is considered good for sourdough bread as it keeps the wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria active, both of which contribute to bread rise.
Water
Water plays an important part in forming a good sourdough. Since water is used to form the dough by hydrating the flour.
Along with this, water also helps the yeast and bacteria to grow and produce gas. As a result, makes the dough soft and full.
Use normal water or filtered water whichever is accessible.
Salt
Salt is one of the components that cannot be neglected in any dish. In the case of sourdough bread it helps to beautify the flavor of the bread by making it slightly salty.
Besides this, it slows down the fermentation method as a result dough gets enough time to expand and rise nicely.
Make certain to apply powdered salt in order that it gets dissolved easily.
Other ingredients
Additional components together with sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and flaxseeds can be added to the dough for greater flavors.
You can also encompass honey, or sugar to add sweetness to the bread.
Besides that, a small quantity of butter or olive oil also can be blended to make the bread greater tender and bring out the buttery flavors.
The baking of sourdough bread begins by preparing the sourdough starter (you guessed it right!). A sourdough starter is an aggregate of flour and water that has wild yeast and useful bacteria.
To prepare the starter, initiate by mixing flour and water right into a bowl or smooth jar and cover it loosely with a wet cloth.
Then leave the mixture for 24 hours in a room temperature. After 24 hours of sitting, the mixture starts forming bubbles. This shows the fermentation process has begun.
To smooth out this process, feeding the starter with water and flour is essential to keep the yeast and bacteria active.
Now discard half of the starter and sprinkle the flour and water on it. Stir well so that flour and water are evenly distributed all over the starter.
Repeat the process of discarding and feeding for a week. By the end of the week, the starter will become double in size and produce more bubbles.
Along with this, it will form a sort of tangy flavor. All of which indicates the readiness of the starter.
Feeding the sourdough starter is prime in keeping the wild yeast and beneficial micro organism active inside the dough.
It is because when those organisms stay active, they assist to raise the dough nicely, giving it a fuller appearance.
To feed, you need to follow the given instructions:
Ingredients
First, you will need wheat flour and filtered or distilled water which is free from chlorine. As chlorine can damage the bacteria and yeast.
Discard the starter
Before you feed the starter, you need to discard half of it to reduce its size. This is done to maintain the dough size so that it does not get bigger and unmanageable.
You can use the discarded starter to prepare other dishes like pancakes.
Add flour and water
After discarding the starter pour same quantity (1:1) of flour and water into the starter.
For one hundred grams of starter, add 50 grams of water and 50 grams of wheat flour.
Mix Well
Now, stir the starter until it turns into a smooth texture. Ensure that the starter has no dry flour bumps left.
After the stirring is done, cover the starter with a breathable kitchen towel.
Rest
Leave the starter to relaxation at room temperature for 12 hours. During this time, the yeast and bacteria generate gas or acid within the starters as a result bubble starts popping.
This is the signal of a wholesome starter.
After 12 hours, come back to it and repeat the same manner of discarding, feeding, protecting, and letting it relax for every another 12 hours.
This cycle repeats till the starter gets double or triple in size inside 6-8 hours.
If the starter gets double or triple in volume in less time, know that it has become ready to move toward the baking procedure.
In case you do not plan to use it anytime quickly, you can store the starter inside the fridge and keep feeding it a few times a week.
How To Cook Sourdough Bread
Ingredient Measurements
Sourdough starter: 100g
Wheat flour: 500g
Water: 1-1.5 cups of water
Salt:10g
As for additional ingredients, you can incorporate them according to your taste.
Instructions
1. Mix the dough
The first step is to combine the dough using the starter.
For this, add 500 grams of wheat flour, and 1 cup of water, then add 10 grams of salt into a bowl and mix all of them to shape a dough.
The dough-forming process should be continued until there is no dry flour. After that leave the dough for 30 minutes to rest.
After the resting period is done, add 100 grams of sourdough starter to the dough and mix them well until the dough is smooth and shaggy.
Let the mixture rest for again 30 more minutes. During this time the yeast and bacteria in the starter help to double the size of the dough by raising the gas within it.
2. Knead the dough
Kneading time! Use your hands and hold the edge of the dough and stretch it, then fold it to its center. Repeat this process for about 5-6 minutes.
Once you're done stretching and folding all the edges of the dough, it starts to become smooth and shaggy.
When the dough is completely smooth without leaving a trace of bump then know it is nicely kneaded.
After kneading the dough, there comes the resting time for the dough. Now cover the dough with a slightly wet kitchen towel for about 4-6 hours at room temperature.
The dough will start to rise as a result enhancing its size. For the first 2 hours, stretch and fold the dough edges every 30 minutes.
This will make the dough slightly firm, helping you to shape the dough easily.
4. Shape the dough
Here comes the 4th step, shape the dough. First, sprinkle some flour and spread it on a clean surface.
Place the dough there and lightly shape it into a round by folding the rims into the middle of the dough.
Once you're performed, cover the dough with a fabric and leave it to rest for half-hour. After resting, re-shape the dough in a round or oval form.
The re-shaping is the final form of the dough. Now, place the re-shaped dough facing the seam side in a bowl with a floured cloth.
The step requires you to place the re-shaped dough facing the seam side in a bowl with a floured cloth.
Cover the dough and leave it for proofing for about 3-4 hours a normal room temperature or you can also put the bowl in a refrigerator for 12-18 hours.
The final resting process allows the dough to form deep flavors and slows down the fermentation process.
6. Bake the dough
After giving the final rest, it is time to move towards the baking process.
Before you continue baking the dough, preheat the oven to 475°F (245°C) and place a Dutch oven into it for approximately half of-hour.
In case, you do not have a Dutch oven, you may use a huge roasting pan with a lid, or a baking sheet.
After the preheating phase, region the dough on a chunk of parchment paper and spread a few flour at the dough.
Take a pointy knife and slightly cut the higher surface of the dough to create a decorative appearance.
Now, take out the Dutch pot from the oven and carefully transfer the dough with parchment paper into the pot.
Cover the pot with its lid and next allow it to bake within the oven for approximately 20-25 minutes.
After the expected time passes, eliminate the lid from the pot without taking out the Dutch pot from the oven and again leave the dough to bake for 10-15 mins.
By that time, the loaf will change into a deep golden brown color, indicating its readiness.
To take a look at for the doneness, you may use a thermometer to read the temperature and it should be approximately 205°F.
By the time you attain this step, your kitchen might be full of the aromatic fragrance of the bread.
Now, you may take out the Dutch pot from the oven and let the bread for cooling for about 1 hour.
Throughout this time, the steam releases making the bread crispy and crusty (yum!). After the cooling time, take a sharp knife and slice the bread to your desired size.
The sourdough bread is all ready to be served and enjoyed.
The usual time required to bake the sourdough bread is somewhere around 40 to 50 minutes. Besides that you may need 30 extra minutes to preheat the oven before you bake the dough.
The overall baking time is split into two elements. For the primary 20-25 mins, you need to bake the dough with a lid on.
It will help to save the steam from escaping and the steam facilitates to develop moisture within the dough to rise properly.
Then, the last 20-25 minutes is to bake the dough without the lid. Here, you need to remove the lid and leave the dough to bake.
This will let the steam escape and help to make the bread crisp and crust from the outside and soft from the inside.
The time to cook sourdough bread is greatly influenced by the size of the dough and oven you have.
For a bigger dough, you will need a larger oven requiring more time to bake. Whereas for smaller ones, less time will be required.
However, keep in mind the mentioned time is only for baking the sourdough in the oven after doing all the preparations and arrangements.
You will need weeks or days of preparation to make this bread from scratch.
The making of sourdough bread indeed is a lengthy process and requires dedication. This is one of the reasons, it is prepared in a larger amount to avoid making it frequently.
The fact is you can't just keep the bread in the kitchen to last it for days, as it may increase the development of harmful bacteria or mold.
To avoid this, the bread can be stored in these ways:
1. Store at room temperature
The first manner to keep the bread is at room temperature for up to three-four days.
In this situation, first, make sure the bread is all cool, then you could wrap the bread in a paper bag, cotton bag, breathable plastic wrap, or in a clean kitchen towel.
Make sure the wrapping is not tight and allows a bit of airflow. This will help to retain the crust and crispiness of the bread for a longer time.
2. Store in the freezer
The 2nd way is to keep the bread within the freezer. For this, you could reduce the bread into slices and wrap them in a plastic bag or aluminum foil.
Now, region the wrapped slices in a resealable bag and put it inside the freezer. Instead of reducing it into slices, you could store the whole loaf.
This way the bread can be stored for up to 6 months. In both of these methods, it is important to ensure the bread is cool and free from steam.
If warm bread is stored, it may get spoiled due to the steam causing mold formation.
Slices of sourdough bread may be served with roasted garlic and butter (delicious!).
The wealthy flavor of garlic and creamy butter perfectly blends well with the crispy, crusty, and soft texture of the bread.
All these flavors and textures when combined, provide your tastebuds a relaxing and mouthwatering revel in.
2. Avocado toast
Love avocado? Think of combining your sourdough bread with mashed avocado. It is delicious and super healthy too.
The earthy, creamy, and salty flavor of mashed avocado enriches the crispy and crusty texture of the bread.
3. Tost with almond butter and fruit
The mixture of fruits, bread slices, and butter brings a creamy, candy, and savory flavor to the palate.
To experience this dish, chop some fruits together with strawberries, bananas, kiwi, or any produce you want.
Then, spread the almond butter over the bread slices and upload chopped fruits as toppings. Now you can serve the flavor-rich and healthy toast to the table.
