Sourdough...I Finally Bit the Bullet

I consider myself a comfortable bread baker.  I can churn-out a decent basic sandwich loaf, a pretty delicious no-knead country round, and pretty awesome english toasting bread.  I've done different types of rolls for thanksgiving, pita bread, naan, english muffins, and pizza.  But there's one thing I've never gotten around to mastering.  Sourdough.

For the uninitiated, sourdough is similar to making any other kind of yeast bread except you grow your own yeasts...from scratch.  You do this by creating a "sourdough starter," essentially a slurry of flour and water that encourages the natural yeasts already present in the flour to start growing and crowd-out and kill any bad bacteria.  Once they get going, these natural yeasts ferment, contributing not only the carbon dioxide that you need to bake bread, but a beer-like yeasty flavor, a little alcohol, and lactic acid, which makes the starter taste sour.  It's the very same process used to brew beer and make yogurt.

The main reason I haven't gotten into sourdough before now is time.  It takes a week or more to get a starter going and it can be temperamental to try to do it during the warmer months.  Also, once you have a starter going, you can let it snooze and slow-down in the fridge, but it still must be "fed" with fresh flour and water at least once a week so the yeast doesn't die.  It's a bit of a commitment...kind of like owning a pet that only needs to be fed once a week.

Last week, I happened to be listening to one of my favorite podcasts, The Splendid Table, and they happened to air a segment about sourdough featuring Bridget Lancaster from America's Test Kitchen.  She described it as so easy and casual and I was in the right frame of mind, so that night, I looked-up her method (see link above), gathered the ingredients, and stirred-together the beginnings of a sourdough starter.

I was pleasantly surprised that after just about a week of feeding, I had a starter that smelled divine and seemed to be doubling itself about every 8-12 hours.  So on a whim, I fed my starter one morning before work and used the throw-away portion to put together a sponge for a no-knead sourdough loaf.  I figured if it didn't puff-up like it should, I'd at least have pizza dough for that night's dinner.  However, it turned out to be a smashing success!  My first sourdough loaf:

It was pleasantly tangy, not too sour, and the crust and chew were perfect.  I brought half of the loaf in for my co-workers to try and they enjoyed it every bit as much with a slather of my homemade blueberry jam.

If you happen to be a bread baker who's ready to take the next step, I encourage you to try Bridget's sourdough starter method and the no-knead sourdough bread recipe.  It's an incredibly satisfying achievement to take that first bite of something you truly made from scratch, with nothing but a little flour and water and a whole lot of time and patience.

Fresh Artisan Bread [Update]

In my earlier post about my recent bread making, I hadn't yet taken a photo of the whole wheat "boule" (round loaf). So, here it is:


Again, this is from the Jim Lahey book about the n0-knead method. Unfortunately, this particular loaf had a few issues. First, we had a heating failure overnight that brought the fermentation process to nearly a halt for a bit. As a result, I had to knead it a bit to coax it along so I'd be able to bake it that night. The extra kneading gave it a finer "crumb" (more uniform holes inside).


Then, for some reason I've yet to figure out, the bottom decided to char while the top was largely not cooked. I suspect this was my fault for not thoroughly cleaning the flour out of the pot after the previous batch of bread.

Nonetheless, this loaf came out fantastic and, once again, exceptionally easy (barring unforeseen circumstances like the heat, of course). I highly recommend giving this method a try!

Incidentally, a good friend posted a comment with this recipe that she's been meaning to try. It looks absolutely delicious and basically uses the Lahey method minus the pot. The result will be an easy to make loaf that'll probably have a softer, more sandwich-friendly crust. I love that it's being used as one of those make-it-yourself gift kits that you often see made with quick bread mixes. Great idea!

Fresh Artisan Bread

A few years ago, the New York Times published Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread recipe and it caused quite a ruckus in the food world--especially amongst home and hobbyist cooks. Why? With Jim's unique recipe, home cook's could turn-out authentic artisinal breads with very little work in their home kitchens that rival those made at a professional bakery. The recipe is incredibly easy and generously forgiving, which what is so appealing about it. Unfortunately, it does require a lot of forethought because you trade the hard work of kneading for 18 hours of fermenting time.

For my birthday, my wife bought me Jim's new book, My Bread, and last night, I made my first loaf of Jim's ciabatta. Honestly, it tasted FANTASTIC--as good as any I've ever purchased. And other than time, it took nearly no work!


How does it work? This recipe is food science at its best. There are several components:

• The recipe requires no kneading. Instead, you stir-together a loose mass of flour, water, salt, and a tiny bit of yeast and let it sit for up to 18 hours. During that length of time, the gluten forms on its own, rather than beating it into submission.
• The long ferment also lets the yeast work slower and develop lots of flavor. The concept is similar to making bread with a "sponge starter" or the way you'd make a traditional sourdough, except you aren't making just the starter. You're making the entire loaf.
• The abnormally high water to flour ratio makes a soft, sticky dough that releases its water in the oven as steam. The steam circulates back onto the bread and creates that thick, dark, extra-crispy crust that makes artisan bread so appealing.
• You cook it in a big heavy pot. This method, combined with the high water content, perfectly replicates commercial steam-injection brick ovens found in professional bakeries.

I love making bread. It's such a comforting activity and one that really makes me feel as if I've gotten back to basics. Modern supermarket bread is really an example of how even the most simple, basic foods in our diet have gotten away from their roots.

Do you ever make your own bread? What's your favorite kind? Do you use a breadmaking machine or do it old-school?