I forgot to mention yesterday that I've settled on "Stinky" as a name for my sourdough. After all that smelly excitement during the first days of fermentation, it seems fitting.
Anyway, after giving Stinky a good feeding Saturday afternoon, he was all set to go on Sunday.
I went with a simple recipe from Ruth Allman's Alaska Sourdough book. Since I'd used one of her starters, I figured I'd give a few of her recipes a whirl also. The recipe is described as "Quick and Easy" - and it was, mainly because of the addition of both yeast and baking soda, both of which gave the sourdough a boost.
First I put 2 1/2 tsp dry yeast in a bowl and added a cup and a half of warm water.
To that I added a cup of the sourdough starter, 2 T of sugar, half a teaspoon of salt, and about 4 cups of the flour.
After that was combined well, I scraped it into a large, greased bowl,
covered it with a lightweight, no-lint towel (I love those)
and let it rise until it had doubled.
Then I whisked together another cup of flour and a half teaspoon of baking soda and started to mix that into the dough (which, at this point, was more like a thick batter than a dough).
I ended up just dumping the whole thing onto the (floured) counter and kneading it for a while.
It was sticky and floppy and goopy at first, but as I worked in that cup of flour/baking soda, and then some of the remaining cup called for in the recipe, it began to transform into a nice, soft, elastic, workable dough.
At that point I divided the dough in half,
shaped it into two balls, and let it rest, covered, on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
My only concern about this book is that Mrs. Allman doesn't tell you to let the dough rise after you've shaped it into loaves. In reading the directions, it seems like you just shape it and pop it right in the oven. I was skeptical, so I compromised - I only let it rise for about fifteen minutes. Then I slashed them across the top three times each with a very sharp knife and into the oven they went.
The resulting loaves looked kind of like baby mushrooms
because of the rapid "oven spring" once they went from about 80 degrees (room temp in my kitchen in the afternoon) to 400 degrees.
The bread, however, is a dream.
It's got a soft, tight crumb - almost like pound cake.
And there's a very faint (desirable) sour aroma, which, as Stinky ages, will become more pronounced.
The kids had grilled cheese and tuna sandwiches with the first slices, and Alex in particular REALLY liked the bread. Even though I'd DOZED OFF (which I've never done before and I'm still sort of in shock about it) and slept through the timer going off, so the loaves stayed in the oven a tad longer than I would have liked. The resulting crust is thicker than I'd planned, but that also gave it an old world kind of feel, and while Julia didn't eat her crusts, Alex crunched away with great gusto.
I'll use Ruth Allman's other basic sourdough recipe next - it's an all-sourdough/no additional leavening recipe, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how that one behaves. I'll probably make that tomorrow or the next day, I'm thinking. The two loaves I made yesterday will very likely be gone by then!
That bread looks absolutely fantastic! Great job Jayne and hooray for Stinky!! lol
Posted by: Holly @ PheMOMenon | August 25, 2008 at 05:37 PM
This looks like an AMAZING loaf of bread! I'm definitely saving this to try soon!
Posted by: Erin | August 25, 2008 at 05:57 PM
These look incredible! I can't wait to try sour dough.
Posted by: Chelle | August 25, 2008 at 07:29 PM
They look delightful! Good to hear your having fun with Stinky. :)
Posted by: rainbowbrown | August 25, 2008 at 08:26 PM
I feel like i'm on a radio show--- long time reader first time commenter :) Have you ever tried King Arthur Flour's sour salt? It gives it a bit more zing-- (once I loved a stinky too, but had to give her a little help for some big time kick)
Love your blog!!!!
Posted by: Weezy | August 25, 2008 at 09:17 PM
Well Hi, Weezy, thanks for your call! I haven't tried King Arthur's sour salt - but now I really want to. Fortunately for me, (huh? It's WAY past my bedtime) I need to order a few other things from King Arthur and I think I'll be adding the sour salt to my list. Thanks for the tip!
Posted by: Jayne | August 25, 2008 at 11:28 PM
Oooh, the first loaf looks amazing! Thanks for posting this. It's a great ride! I feel like I baked my first sourdough too.
Posted by: [eatingclub] vancouver || js | August 26, 2008 at 02:28 AM
I love the step by step photos. Looks so good. The only thing that stops me from making a sourdough bread is a starter! Don't get any here. :( any way out?
Posted by: coco | August 26, 2008 at 04:15 AM
coco, you can make your own starter, if you really want to make a sourdough - that's what I did. It may not be as sour as an established starter that's been around for decades, but over time the flavor will develop and you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you made that starter yourself. If you don't want to do that, I know King Arthur Flour Company sells a sourdough starter. I've never used it, but I have enormous faith in King Arthur products, so I figure it should be a good, strong starter.
Give it a try - it's fun!
Posted by: Jayne | August 26, 2008 at 07:23 AM
Mmmmmmm! I have some starter in my fridge and am dying to make some bread. I may do that this afternoon - I have a recipe for an Italian sourdough bread. Thanks for the kick in the pants. Those loaves look wonderful!
Posted by: Gina | August 26, 2008 at 02:00 PM
Great post!
Check out how tight the crumb is. God, I love fresh baked bread. Especially sourdough. I really should attempt my own wild sourdough starter. How hard could it be?
Posted by: Nate | August 26, 2008 at 02:56 PM
Wow that is one eager starter. Love the step by step progression as always :)
Posted by: Jude | August 26, 2008 at 11:04 PM
What a beautiful looking starter!!! I've killed several and I never saw such huge pretty bubbles.
Posted by: Maggie | August 27, 2008 at 03:21 AM
Yes, I'll say it again...LOL, the Stinky name is hilarious! Glad to hear that it worked out for you!
~ingrid
Posted by: Ingrid | August 27, 2008 at 11:09 AM
Such a helpful blog!
I am new to baking so I'm clueless!!! My friends have all recommended Sourdough's International's sourdough starter to me, so I'm going to give it a go!!!
Posted by: Rachael | July 17, 2013 at 04:55 PM