Reading these missives each week, Gentle Reader, you may have been under the misapprehension that I’m either a paragon who never takes a kitchen misstep, or I think that I am.
Honestly, nothing could be further from the truth. My culinary education was mainly trial and error, with about a 50 percent error rate. But I haven’t killed anybody yet.
And, the latest example of my infinite ability to blow it is something I’ve been writing about a lot lately — sourdough.
I’ve made many loaves of basic sourdough, but lately, I couldn’t turn out a pretty loaf to save my life.
The surface would split during the final rise. And like taking a knife to a balloon, all the air would leak out. I was making gorgeous loaves of egg bread, but my basic sourdough loaves were bricks — good for nothing but bread crumbs and croutons.
The Kid was trying to help. The first thing my child suggested was more kneading. Yeah, I blew it off and kept tweaking little things that made not a bit a difference.
Brick after brick was being produced. It was breaking my heart.
But my starter has been crazy active lately, so the other day I decided to try again. Maybe its strength would produce a beautiful, intact, airy loaf.
Except after kneading it looked exactly the same. Dimpled, pitted, ripping before it even got in the pan. So, I kept kneading.
…and kneading.
…and kneading.
Finally, after about 10 minutes of robust machinations, the dough looked smooth and had a healthy, almost springy feel. With about triple the kneading I had been doing, I had cracked the code.
Yeah. Just like The Kid said.
Great…
Thanks for your time.
Contact me at dm@bullcity.mom.
Classic Sourdough Loaf
If you want to get into bread-making, I highly recommend a bread maker. You can use the dough setting and in 90 minutes or so, it’s ready to knead and put it in a pan. You can pick up a like-new one at a thrift store for as low as $10.
2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups active starter, fed the day before
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Add everything but toppings to bread maker set on dough cycle or mixer fitted with dough hook.
For mixer, mix until fully incorporated and it turns into a ball. Knead dough until it comes into a clean ball and return to bowl which you’ve lightly oiled. Lightly cover and set in warm place until it has doubled in size.
After dough cycle finishes or mixer-made dough has doubled, put on counter and knead until it’s smooth and stretchy (at least seven minutes, and up to 10). The surface of the dough should be smooth and won’t rip when manipulated. Place into greased loaf pan, put a thin coat of oil on dough and lightly cover.
Let rise in warm place. Check it every 20 minutes or so — it will rise pretty fast with a vigorous sourdough starter. Test for baking readiness by pressing in with finger. When the dough springs back, but slowly, start the oven.
Preheat oven to 400° for 30 minutes. Place inside oven a large oven-safe vessel filled with water — steams helps form a good crust. Leave water in oven throughout process.
Before baking, slice down the middle about ¾ inch deep and 1½ inch from either end.
Bake for 15 minutes, then turn oven to 350°. Place probe thermometer into center of bread set to 200°.
When done, remove from pan and place on cooling rack until completely cool or until you can’t wait anymore.