Sourdough Bread

Nice but not a high riser

Oops - a little stick-age

The Sous Chef got me this great bread book (Gee how did he ever know?) for Christmas. In case the name sounds familiar - Paul Hollywood is one of the judges on the Great British Bake Off (a really great show). Am I using the word great a lot or what? These measurements are conversions.

Sourdough Bread (Adapted from Paul Hollywood's Bread)

13.2 oz bread flour
8oz sourdough starter
1 3/4 t salt
4-6 oz water
olive oil
1T semolina flour
1T flour

In a large bowl, mix flour, starter, and salt. Add 4 oz of water. Mix, adding additional water as necessary. The dough should be sticky but soft. On a clean surface pour a little oil. Knead dough for 10-15 minutes until elastic and smooth. Place dough in a oiled bowl, and let sit until doubled (this took about 10 hours for me*). The original recipe says about 5 hours.

Mix the semolina and flour together. Dust a mixing bowl (ovenproof-just in case you can't get it out of the bowl) with the mixture. Tip out the dough onto a work surface (you can also use the semolina/flour mix here). Punch down the dough. Fold the dough onto itself. Rotate the dough to form a tight round. Place in bowl dust with semolina/flour mixture. Cover and let rise until doubled - about 4-8 hours). Slash the top of the dough. Place a roasting pan on the bottom rack of the oven. Heat oven to 425. Place dough in oven, and pour water into the pan to create steam.  Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven to 400. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until browned. It should sound hollow when tapped. Cool before eating (so difficult).

Decent but was hoping for more air bubbles :-(

This was such a flavorful loaf and the crust was so crusty. The long rise time really enhanced Bertha's flavors. She is 3 years old now.

Thoughts for next time around:

• I might add a pinch of yeast to lessen the initial rise. 
• The dough was so soft and loose, I opted to bake it in the "bowl" I had it rising in. My bowl was made of that baking stone material. I think I will dust the entire loaf for the second rising. I think this will help with the stickage. I'm not sure that I will be able to get it out of the bowl without deflating it

*It depends on how active your starter is. Mine seems pretty active. I had the "fed" starter sitting right next to it and it was puffing up like mad. The bread was just slow going for some reason. He did not specify whether the starter should be straight from the refrigerator - mine was.