I've read dozens of blogs about sourdough bread, because I was on a quest to find the best, simplest recipe. The most helpful information I found was on little blogs, where people showed how they combine flour, water and starter to make their bread. I'm adding another because I couldn't find any that met my requirements for bread: sourdough, whole wheat, simple recipe. The simple ones are mostly for white flour loaves, while whole wheat loaves are full of honey, molasses, sugar and oils. King Arthur has a good recipe that's almost right, but it's for white flour and I couldn't get the water/flour ratio right for whole wheat. I also wanted it to have no sour flavor -- I use sourdough for the health and simplicity factors, not the sour taste! Most recipes are tangy, which we can tolerate but don't enjoy.
I make bread at least twice a week. People seem to think it's a huge, time consuming task that would leave them exhausted. It's not! Sure, some bread recipes require lots of kneading. Some are a lot of work, and the bread comes out crumbly and dry. But there's a simple way to have reliable, easy bread. It only uses 3 ingredients, only dirties one bowl, and won't require much kneading!
If you don't like how precise you must be in baking (a bit too much flour or water can throw off the recipe), sourdough is for you! There are no hard and fast rules for how much flour or water to add, because you slowly add flour until it looks and feels right. If it gets dry, add a bit more water. If it's sticky, throw in a spoonful of flour. One of the best things in sourdough bread baking is its adaptability to your schedule. You can leave it rising until tomorrow if you want, and it won't over-rise like my yeast bread dough did whenever I forgot it in the midst of my kids' antics. Sourdough is so easy! I've tried a lot of recipes, and ended up melding a bunch of recipes together to make a bread we like. (For an even easier version of this recipe, look at the update at the end of the post!)
Here's how the kids and I make our bread:
1. Mix 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup starter, 1/2 cup water. Rest 1 hour or more.
2. Mix in 1 1/2 cups water, then about 4 cups flour (or more) slowly until it's not sticky. 20 minutes later, a spoonful of salt and knead a bit. Rest 3-5 hours or more.
3. Shape and let rest another hour or so.
4. Bake at 450 degrees for about 40 minutes.
It's really simple compared to most bread making! If you've made sourdough bread, you'll be fine with that recipe. If you want some commentary, here goes...
1. Mix:
1 cup starter
1/2 cup water
1 cup whole wheat flour
Let it rest for an hour, or up to 24 hours (I do an hour or two).
I make bread at least twice a week. People seem to think it's a huge, time consuming task that would leave them exhausted. It's not! Sure, some bread recipes require lots of kneading. Some are a lot of work, and the bread comes out crumbly and dry. But there's a simple way to have reliable, easy bread. It only uses 3 ingredients, only dirties one bowl, and won't require much kneading!
If you don't like how precise you must be in baking (a bit too much flour or water can throw off the recipe), sourdough is for you! There are no hard and fast rules for how much flour or water to add, because you slowly add flour until it looks and feels right. If it gets dry, add a bit more water. If it's sticky, throw in a spoonful of flour. One of the best things in sourdough bread baking is its adaptability to your schedule. You can leave it rising until tomorrow if you want, and it won't over-rise like my yeast bread dough did whenever I forgot it in the midst of my kids' antics. Sourdough is so easy! I've tried a lot of recipes, and ended up melding a bunch of recipes together to make a bread we like. (For an even easier version of this recipe, look at the update at the end of the post!)
Here's how the kids and I make our bread:
1. Mix 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup starter, 1/2 cup water. Rest 1 hour or more.
2. Mix in 1 1/2 cups water, then about 4 cups flour (or more) slowly until it's not sticky. 20 minutes later, a spoonful of salt and knead a bit. Rest 3-5 hours or more.
3. Shape and let rest another hour or so.
4. Bake at 450 degrees for about 40 minutes.
It's really simple compared to most bread making! If you've made sourdough bread, you'll be fine with that recipe. If you want some commentary, here goes...
1. Mix:
1 cup starter
1/2 cup water
1 cup whole wheat flour
Let it rest for an hour, or up to 24 hours (I do an hour or two).
2. Mix in 1 1/2 cups water, then add about 4 cups whole wheat flour, a half cup at a time until it starts to hold together and isn't terribly sticky. You don't want it very wet OR very dry. I usually stop at 3 1/2 cups, but sometimes need more. I don't measure the flour carefully like I do for other recipes -- I just scoop it without making the cup exactly even. You're going for the right texture here, not an exact amount! If you do measure carefully, you may use more flour than I do.
Now, here's your choice: you can flour your counter, knead the dough there, put it back in the bowl and then spend the next ten minutes scraping the dough off your counter. OR you can knead it right in the bowl that's already covered in dough, which you already need to wash later. Hmmmm, it's a tough one, but I pick the latter! (Why does every single bread recipe assume that we want to create extra work? Maybe those people don't have kids creating messes in other rooms while this is going on.)
I don't knead much at all. Maybe a minute. It's not long! Just pick up an edge, fold it over the rest and smush it in. Then turn it, kneading like that until it's smooth like this:
I don't knead much at all. Maybe a minute. It's not long! Just pick up an edge, fold it over the rest and smush it in. Then turn it, kneading like that until it's smooth like this:
After a quick kneading, the dough is soft and smooth. About 2o minutes later, throw a spoonful of salt in (I don't measure, but aim for a teaspoon), and give it another little kneading until you don't feel pockets of salt anywhere. By now, the dough is softer and a bit sticky.
Let it sit for 3-5 hours, or up to 24 hours. You can fold its "corners" into the middle at 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 90 minutes for extra good rise. But if you don't, the bread will still be fine. I do this step sometimes because America's Test Kitchen touts its benefits, but any difference I notice may be the power of suggestion!
Let it sit for 3-5 hours, or up to 24 hours. You can fold its "corners" into the middle at 30 minutes, 60 minutes and 90 minutes for extra good rise. But if you don't, the bread will still be fine. I do this step sometimes because America's Test Kitchen touts its benefits, but any difference I notice may be the power of suggestion!
3. Shape it! I usually cut it in half for two smaller loaves, since I can freeze one for a couple days while we eat one. I make a long baguette, or shape it for a bread pan (flatten it to a rectangle, then roll it up and put it in an 8x4 bread pan with seam down), or make a round loaf. Let this rise again for an hour or so.
4. Bake it at 450 for 40 minutes, maybe a bit more or less depending on shape. And you have bread that's 3 simple ingredients, flour, water and salt. It's fermented, so the nutrients are easily absorbed and the anti-nutrients are reduced.
4. Bake it at 450 for 40 minutes, maybe a bit more or less depending on shape. And you have bread that's 3 simple ingredients, flour, water and salt. It's fermented, so the nutrients are easily absorbed and the anti-nutrients are reduced.