The Art of Sourdough Baking

1) You're going to need to grow and/or order a starter! I grew mine. The first [successful] one (the starter I used in this recipe) I just put about 1/8 C. flour and 1/8 C. water in a bowl with about 1/8 tsp of commercial yeast and let it sit (covered with pantyhose to keep bugs and such out) for a while, then fed it every day or so for several days. The second one, which is still a work in process (but is coming along nicely!) I just used flour and water, now that I know more what I'm doing. :) For more info on making your own starter, see this site. You can also buy starter online from places like Sourdoughs International.



2) Take your sleeping starter from the fridge



3) Get your supplies together



This is what the starter looks like fresh from the fridge. I keep mine in an old jelly jar.



4) Add warm (not hot - too hot will kill the yeastie beasties) water and flour in approximately equal amounts (maybe a little light on the water)





How much water and flour you add depends on how large a recipe you're wanting to make. This time, I was making two loaves, so I made about 1 1/2 C. starter. 1 cup for the recipe and 1/2 cup to save and put back in the fridge for next time! It should be roughly the consistency of thick pancake batter.



Cover and place in a warm spot to grow! How long it takes will depend on the strength of your starter - mine typically takes about 3 hours to peak, but that varies a lot depending on the day: heat, humidity, etc. I usually take the starter out the night before I want to bake and feed it, then stir it down, pour some off, and feed it again first thing early in the morning, so I can keep an eye on it and catch it at the right time later that morning.



These pictures were taken when the starter wasn't quite to "peak" but it was close enough, so I went ahead and used it! Notice the little bubbles throughout the entire thing. Ideally, it's best to wait till the bubbles are a little bigger and the whole thing is very glutinous.





Once your starter peaks, it's time to mix up the dough! This is the recipe that has been hanging in our kitchen for a few months now - haha! Once you get used to what to do, you won't even really need a recipe. I doubled the recipe this time for two nice-sized loaves.



3 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 C. prepared starter
Up to 1 1/2 C. water (you'll have to judge by feel as you go... weather + the thickness of your starter, etc can really change how much water you need to add)
1 tsp. salt
1 T. butter

You can get the whole recipe, along with better/more complete instructions here. If you're going to actually make some, I'd definitely read up on it there first, cause I'm trying to be brief here. :)



Oil your bowl and place your dough in it, covered with plastic wrap and a towel. It'll need to rise a lot longer than regular yeast bread. The first rising has been taking around 6 hours for me lately. But our house is pretty warm...





I'm afraid I didn't get any pictures of the loaves rising the second time, after they were shaped! I got lazy and in a rush and was baking these at around 7:30pm or so... But they turned out really well!



Mmmm. :)



So there you go! Sourdough french bread - the real deal. It's great as toast, or for sandwiches, or alongside some soup! Victory tastes so good. :)