The chewy loaf is full of deep, rich, flavor and moderate sourdough flavor. Because it contains commercial yeast in addition to starter, you’ll be guaranteed an excellent, solid rise, even if the starter you use isn’t enough.
Ingredients
1 Cup (227g) fresh (fed) starter for sourdough
1 1/2 cup (340g) water and at least lukewarm
1. 2 to 3 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons (15g) salt
Five cups (600g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Instructions
Measure your flour by weighing it; take a measurement by spooning it gently into a cupand cleaning off any excess. Combine all ingredients and mix until you have a soft dough.
Let the dough rise in a lightly coated, covered, greased bowl until it’s doubled in volume approximately 90 minutes.
Make sure to divide the dough in half. It will deflate slightly. Make each piece of dough into a shape with the help of pulling edges towards the middle, then turning it over so that the seam is located on the bottom, then roll it in your cupped hands to create an oval. Allow the dough to rest covered for about 15 minutes.
To create fat oval loafs make each ball of dough with a soft rolling around on an unfloured surface multiple times. For loaves that are longer, keep rolling until they’re around 10-” to 11″ long.
Set the breads on a lined baking sheet or parchment that has been greased. Cover them and let them rise until they are very fluffy, around 1 hour. At the close of the rising prepare the oven at 425degF.
Spray the bread with lukewarm water , then dust them generously with flour.
Create two very wide diagonal slashes an arc. A serrated bread knife held with force, or a lame works great for this.
The bread is baked for about 25-30 minutes, or until it’s a extremely deep golden brown. Remove the bread from the oven, and allow it to cool on the rack.
Advice From the Bakers
What’s the reason for the variation in yeast amounts? If you’re certain that your starter is strong and healthy and you’re not worried about having to extend a little bit the rise times mentioned above, then use 1 teaspoon of yeast. If your starter appears a somewhat drained (or you’d like to keep your rise time to a shorter length) you can use 2 teaspoons.
Naturally Leavened Sourdough Bread
This bread with its dark golden crust and rich deep flavor, and mild tang, relies on a ripe active starters for its rising. In absence of commercial yeast, it’s truly a Sourdough-only loaf for the purists. Are you just beginning to become a baker who bakes sourdough? Begin by making the Rustic Sourdough Bread recipe, that comes with the added safety that commercial yeast provides. Once you’ve mastered that recipe then, you can proceed to this loaf that is better suited for intermediate bakers of sourdough.
Ingredients
2 cups (454g) 254g of ripe (fed) starter for sourdough
Five cups (602g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup (85g) King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/4 cups (397g) water that is at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
Instructions
When measuring your starter by volume, rather than weight, you should stir it before you measure. Mix your starter and flours as well as the water into a big bowl. mix until the flour is damp and the dough has morphed into an elongated mass. Add additional flour or water as needed to create a tacky, soft dough.
Cover the dough with a towel and allow it to rest for about 20 minutes. This time of rest, also called autolyse, lets the flour absorb the water and begins the formation of gluten in the dough and makes it much easier to mix.
Then, you can add salt and then mix the dough until it’s soft and smooth, yet still a little tacky and soft. After the dough has been fully kneaded the dough in the bowl and cover it, and let it rest for one hour.
Fold the dough to turn it onto an unfloured surface. Then, using the bowl scraper or bench knife, fold the dough in the shape of the letter of a business. The dough should be turned 90 degrees. Then gently flatten it and then repeat the fold of letters. The dough should be returned to it’s bowl. Cover it, and let it rest for an additional one hour.
When you’ve finished the rising, turn the dough onto a lightly sprayed surface and cut it in half. Form it into two rounds Cover with a towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
After that, form the loaves into round shapes and put them with their seams facing up on bowls covered with floured fabric or on a couche. Cover them and let them rise until they are light and airy, around 2-1/2 hours.
Around 60 minutes prior to when the bread is set to bake, heat the oven using a baking stone (if you own a stone) to 450°F. To bake the bread with the most perfect crust, put an empty cast iron skillet on the oven rack underneath the stone, and allow it to heat.
After the loaves have risen and ready to be served, gently lift them out of the bowls onto parchment paper, cut the loaves using a sharp knife or lame, and then slide straight onto the stones oven. If you don’t have the stone, simply turn them out on a parchment-lined (or slightly greased) baking tray, then slash them, and then put the baking sheet into the oven.
Place 1 cup of water that is boiling into the cast-iron skillet. Be sure to put on good oven gloves to avoid steam burning.
The bread is baked until golden and crusty around 35-40 minutes. Take the bread out of the oven and let them cool on a rack before cutting.
The bread left over can be stored in a bag of paper or loosely covered with plastic for up to a day, or two at room temperature. Wrap and freeze to keep it for longer storage.
