Sourdough all the time

My new obsession these days is homemade sourdough bread. Tough, crunchy crust, and soft, tangy, chewy middle- topped with what Jeremy has nicknamed a "Bekah-amount" of butter, and sometimes jam on top of that.

YUM.

I've been interested in making sourdough for a while now; my love for fermented food is never-ending, and I've been buying loaves of delicious but not "real" sourdough bread at the grocery store for far too long. Most of my other food is homemade, and so it was time to add to my repertoire.

True sourdough bread is made with a starter that involves flour, water, and wild yeast. You can maintain a starter for years and years and years once you get it going- and pass it down through many generations! Thanks to the starter, and the length of time you wait for the dough to rise, sourdough bread is more easily digestible, as the bacteria and yeast in the starter pre-digest the starches in the flour. Some sourdough breads, while made with wheat flour, lay claim to being entirely gluten free for this reason.

Now, I am not yet at the place where I know how to "do" sourdough as well as I do kombucha, and my first attempt at a sourdough starter was a true fail- I grew mold instead. But I've a lovely friend who has been taking care of her starter for two years now, and she shared some with me. And I found a seemingly fool-proof recipe from one of my favorite blogs, and for five weeks now our home has had delicious loaf after delicious loaf.

Hopefully later this year I will be able to write about some variations on this method, and learn some troubleshooting, but for now- here are some iPhone pictures and the method I am using to make real sourdough bread on a weekly basis. I start on Wednesday night and bake on Friday morning. If I can manage self-control, Jeremy and I share the first bites of a new loaf when he gets home from work on Friday evening. Start to finish is truly a lesson in patience.

The evening of day one:

1. Take sourdough starter out of the fridge and pour off all but 1/4-1/2 cup into a large glass bowl (my 4qt pyrex works great for this).

2. Feed the separated stater with one cup of water and 1.5-2 cups of flour. I mix white and wheat flour.

3. Feed your original starter with 1/2 cup of water and 1 cup of flour.

4. Let both starters sit in a warm place with a towel draped over top for 12-24 hours.

The morning of day two:

1. Cover the original starter and put it back in the fridge until next week.

2. Feed the new starter with approximately 3 cups of flour, 1.5 cups of water, and 1 teaspoon of salt.

3. Cover with a towel and leave undisturbed once more for 12-24 hours.

The morning of day three:

1. Preheat the oven to 450°

2. Place a large lidded french oven (or in my case, a stainless steel pot, as it is all I have), into the oven and let it get hot for 20 minutes.

3. Liberally flour a large tea towel- 3/4 to 1 cup of flour will do. Pour the sourdough batter on top of the towel and flip it all around to ensure it is covered in flour on all sides.

4. Take the pot out of the oven (carefully!!!), and transfer the dough/batter into the pot. Put the lid on and bake for 30-35 minutes.

5. After the first half of baking time, take the lid off and bake for another 30-35 minutes.

6. The bread is done once the crust is nice and hard. Carefully dump it out of the pot and let cool- it is crucial to not cut into it until it is cool, the heat will release all of the moisture.

For the next few days:

1. Indulge in exorbitant slices of sourdough with even more exorbitant amounts of butter, jam, cheese, anything delicious.

To store, just keep the bread on a cutting board, cut side down on the counter. The crust will get crunchier as the days go on, but it protects the middle and keeps it soft. You can throw a towel over if to keep pests away.

At least once a day, you can find me in the kitchen, slices of sourdough in hand, butter not forgotten. Harrison will often join me, and as I'm enjoying my bread and butter, he enjoys his butter and butter- one of his current favorite foods- and giving him pieces of butter to eat greatly increases the amount of time I am able to relax and enjoy my homemade goodness.

fresh out of the oven

holes are good- they show the yeast has done its job

a Bekah amount of butter