Sweet Sourdough Bread

So a couple weeks ago, I ended up at this guy Ben's house for a Boggle night. And when we got there, lo and behold, Ben had two loaves of sourdough bread rising in the oven.

As you've all probably figured out by now, I got into bread baking at the farm over the summer. And sourdough is delicioousssss. So I mentioned how awesome it was that he baked it. To which he replied with an offer I couldn't refuse: free 20-year-old starter that his mom had given him.

Score!!!

So here's the recipe, illustrated with some sporadically taken photos:

(Keep in mind that this recipe is specifically for my starter, and I don't know if it varies with others, but it's probably a good reference point regardless)

Feed the starter:  
1) Add to the starter

    --2 1/2-3 c warm water

    --1 c sugar

    --1/2 c potato flakes OR 2 T flour

2) Mix it up and let it sit in a warm place for 4-6 hours, or until it gets a bit of a frothy layer on top and starts to smell nice & alcoholic

Make the dough:

1) Mix the following

    --2 1/2 c starter

    --1/2 c canola oil (or any other non-olive oil)

    --6 c flour (all-purpose is actually fine here)

    --1 T salt

2) Pour the rest of the starter into a sealed jar and stick in the fridge

the leftover starter

3) Knead the dough until it's smooth and not sticky, adding water or flour as needed

4) Once you have a nice ball of dough, transfer it into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel

5) Let the dough sit for however long it takes for it to double in size (mine took about 8 hrs, but my house is kind of cold)

the risen dough

 

    --When you can press it with your finger and the dough doesn't heal (spring back), that means it's ready

Baking the bread:

1) Punch the dough down (literally) and knead it a little bit more, then cover it until the oven preheats

punch it, punch it, punch it!

knead it, knead it, knead it!

the risen and then kneaded dough

2) Preheat the oven to 550° and (optional) put a cast-iron skillet on the bottom

3) Fill a spray bottle of some sort with cold water and a cup with hot water (also optional, but preferred)

4) Turn out the dough onto a cookie sheet that has been sprinkled with some polenta or greased

5) When the oven has been preheated, pour the hot water in the skillet, put the dough into the oven, and spray the sides of the oven with the cold water. Spray it again every 30 seconds for 2 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 350°

dough in the oven

**The hot and cold water bit is optional, but it really gives the bread a nice crunchy crust, so I recommend it. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, don't worry about it--you can just skip that part.**

6) Bake the bread at 350° for about 30-35 min, or until the bottom crust is solid and sounds hollow when you tap it.

Yum :)

the finished product

The bread didn't come out quite as I expected: it actually was pretty sweet, and not very sour at all. The strange thing about this is that the longer you leave a starter out to proof, the more sour the bread gets. I had my starter sitting out for...about 18 hours, and it still came out pretty sweet. Curious. Maybe next time I'll leave it out for like 2 days, hah. But it's all good, it was still delicious. I also left the bread in the oven for about 5 minutes too long, so the crust was a bit burnt in some spots, but nothing you could really taste. 

As for the texture, that came out amazing! The loaf rose a lot better than I had expected, and I swear it weighed like 5 lbs. It was suuuupper dense and moist with a crispy crust. When I cut it open, steam rose with a delicious aroma. Mmmm. 

Try it! Not everyone can score sweet 20-year-old starter, but there are several recipes for it online :-)