I love sourdough! I grew up in California and was raised on it! When my sister moved
to Tennessee she would always stock up on loaves whenever she came home for a visit.
I especially love it served hot with garlic butter! OMG! It is soooo good!
About a year ago I decided to try my hand at making it. I had to search through
several websites until I found something that worked for me. Unfortunately I lost my
bookmarks and have not been able to re-locate them! But the good thing is it was so
easy that I remembered how to do it! Yeah! I just wish I could find the guy who
offered this easy sourdough bread recipe and folding technique as I would like to give credit where it is due. If you happen to know the site this recipe came from please do email me!
Yesterday when I tried to find his site again I found a ton of sites offering how-to
tips on making sourdough and they were all so complicated! I just couldn't believe
how much more difficult they were than what this guy had taught me to do to make
sourdough bread just like you get from the store!
So I decided to create a webpage to share how easy it is to make sourdough bread!
What I love best about the recipe is that there is essentially no kneading and only
ONE rising.
All the sites I visited recently have so many restrictions in making the starter and
the bread itself, such as only using non-metalic spoons, adding yeast to the bread,
two or three risings, special baking tiles, bread ovens, etc.
This one doesn't require any of the above. I even remember that I used a metal tablespoon to mix the dough and an old cool whip container for my starter and it worked perfectly.
The only thing I added to the tips I originally learned is the heat/humidity for rising by making a simple low-cost proof box to raise the dough in, but I'll be honest with you when I first made the sourdough I just had it in a bowl with a towel over it overnight, then I folded it at put it directly in the 500 degree oven - no special "temperature" pre-treatment and it came out wonderful! So if you don't have a warm spot in your house to let it rise don't sweat it - it will still turn out right as long as you don't miss one important step: bake it in an oven-safe up to 500 degrees F pan with lid. The lid is vital as it is what allows the moisture from the bread to create the fantastic crust we love on sourdough!
One note do not use your corningware pan - that's what I originally used and after a couple times in the 500 degree oven it literally cracked in half. Apparently bakeware made after 1960's is not as sturdy as the old quality stuff!
That's why this time I went online and bought a 1950's roasting pan with glass lid from ebay. The glass lid is great because it lets you confirm the bread's crust is done without opening the lid or the oven!
So check out my sourdough webpage for the complete Five Simple Steps to Making Fantastic Sourdough Bread and in no time flat you'll be wowing your family and friend with your great looking and tasting loaves of bread!
