Sourdough Bread (1)

 

This is the sourdough bread that I made using the sourdough starter I made in my previous post.

This bread is very different from the normal white bread that we used to eat.  Sourdough bread is supposed to be tangy and has a more dense texture.  However, mine isn't as tangy as my sourdough starter is still young.  From what I gather, the tangy flavour will intensify as the sourdough starter matures.  Having said that, this bread tasted very good especially toasted and eaten with a smear of butter.

I made this bread using my stand mixer as my first attempt using bread machine did not turn out well.  The bread was soggy and didn't raise as I have expected.  I think it could be due to the pre set timing of the bread machine that did not ogre well with the sourdough bread making process timing. 

By using my stand mixer to make this bread makes me realised that bread making really isn't that difficult after all.   In order to get a crusty bread I place a few pieces of ice in the dripping pan while baking the bread. 

Below is the recipe that I used to make this sourdough bread. 

1 1/2 cup sourdough starter
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp. sugar
3 cup bread flour

1) Place sourdough starter, water, yeast, salt, sugar and 2 cups of flour in the mixing bowl attached with dough hook.  
2) Start the mixer at low speed and slowly add in enough flour until the dough comes together.  The dough will be very sticky.
3) Knead dough for 10 minutes then transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl.  Leave the dough to rise covered with a cloth or cling wrap until double in size.  This can take between 60 to 90 minutes.

4) Once the dough has double in size, deflate the dough slightly and shape into round.

5) Place the dough on a baking pan dust with flour.  Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 200C.

6) Make slashes on dough with a sharp knife. 

7) Place a tray with some ice cube in the bottom shelve of the oven.

8) Place the dough in the oven to bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until it is golden brown. Remove from the oven, and cool on a rack.

 

Note : The amount of flour required depends very much on the thickness of the sourdough starter.