Sourdough Bread

This delicious basic sourdough bread recipe is surprisingly easy!  I basically used (with only slight modification) a recipe I got out of Vegetarian Times (which by the way, is a great magazine for healthy vegetarian food recipes -- along with nutrition info!)


Step 1:  Sourdough Starter
Mix 1 cup flour and 1 cup warm (about 90 F) water and a pinch of sugar (<1 tsp) in a glass jar until well mixed.  Cover with a plastic lid (or, saran wrap and a rubber band) and place in a warm place (70-80 F).  Every 24 hours, "feed" the starter by pouring out half, then adding 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup warm water (and a pinch of sugar).  Within a few days, it will start to get bubbly and smell slightly sour (like icky beer).  That's how you know your starter is ready!  The time it takes depends on a lot of factors that are out of your control, so be patient.  Most starters are ready within 72 hours.  You can continue feeding it at this point (to create a more sour or pungent starter) or move forward from here.

When your starter is ready, if you're not going to use it right away, place into refrigerator.  Once refrigerated, starter needs to be fed about once a week.

Step 2:  Sourdough Sponge

1 1/2 cup bread flour
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups starter (from step 1)
2 T light brown sugar

Combine flour and yeast in bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix starter, 3/4 cup lukewarm water, and brown sugar.  Slowly add flour/yeast mixture until well mixed.  Cover loosely, and let sit overnight.  It will start to bubble and rise, so make sure to use a large enough bowl.

Step 3:  Make the dang bread, already!

Sourdough Sponge (Step 2)
1 1/2 tsp Salt
~1 1/2 cup bread flour

Stir 1 cup flour and salt into the sponge until thoroughly combined.  Slowly add in remaining flour until mixture starts to form into a dough -- not too sticky.  Knead in electric stand mixer with dough hook (or by hand) at least 3-5 minutes.  Add additional flour as needed to get proper consistency.

Roll dough into 8 inch cylinder.  Spray 9x5 bread loaf pan with cooking spray and place dough into pan.  Cover loosely, and let rise 1 hour in warm place (for example, turn on an empty oven for a minute to warm it up, then turn off oven and place loaf in warm oven.  You may need to flip the oven on again for a minute later if it cools off too fast).  Loaf should rise to about 1/4" above top of pan.

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Cut 1/2" deep slash lengthwise down the top of the loaf with a serrated knife.  Bake at 375F for about 45 minutes, until bread internal temperature reaches 198 F.  Remove from oven.  Run knife around edge of pan to loosen bread (if necessary) and place on rack to cool.  Allow bread to cool at least 45 minutes before serving.

Step 4:  EAT!  =)
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I used plain bread flour in this recipe, but whole wheat flour or other whole grains could be substituted in (partially or completely) to get breads with more fiber, if desired.

Nutritional Info (based on 15 slices of bread in the loaf):

Amount Per Serving
Calories		112.3
Total Fat		0.0 g
	Saturated Fat	0.0 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.0 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		0.5 mg
Potassium		46.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate		25.3 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.1 g
	Sugars	1.9 g
Protein		3.2 g