Sourdough

Video

Images

Ingredients

• dough

Instructions

Step 1

Put 1 piece of dough on a floured board. Stretch it into a square shape.
Turn the dough over, so the dry side is up.

Step 2

Roll the dough into a roll shape, sink side down.

Step 3

Sprinkle some cornmeal on a baking pan. Let rise and double in size.
Spray some water on the surface of the dough. It takes about 5 hours to rise.

Step 4

Use a knife to make some slashes across the surface of the dough, half inch deep.

Step 5

Place a pan of water on the bottom of the oven. Spray some water on the dough.
Set over to 425F. Bake the dough in the oven for 10 minutes. Then take the dough out, and spray water on it. Keep spraying water every 10 minutes for 3-4 times.Bake until well-browned. It takes about 40 minutes.

Step 6

Then remove, cool on a rack.

Comments

• John - Fri 04 Jun 2010 @ 12:40

  Here it is, the culmination of a week's worth of work and play. The video is pretty self-explanatory, so there is no need for any long explanations of what you're about to see. I will mention that near the end of the clip, I joke that your sourdough probably didn’t work. This should not be taken as any lack of confidence I have in your ability to follow directions, or your lack of cooking skills. It's from the simple fact that the first time you try to make sourdough, it doesn't come out as well, as the 10th time, if it comes out at all.

• John - Fri 04 Jun 2010 @ 12:40

  The first batch of starter I ever tried looked fine, and yet the sponge sat there stubbornly refusing to grow. Undaunted, I started over and my second batch worked perfectly, and I've been successful ever since. I hope this series of posts and videos has, at the very least, inspired you to give it a try (or two), and experience the joy and taste of homemade sourdough bread. Enjoy!

• John - Fri 04 Jun 2010 @ 12:40

  In yesterday's post I mentioned to refrigerate the leftover sponge. Now that you have a living, growing sourdough, you can use this to make unlimited batches of new sponge. Simply repeat the feeding step we did each day at the beginning of the series, but you only need to do this once a week.

• John - Fri 04 Jun 2010 @ 12:40

  When you are ready to make bread, let this come to room temp, and repeat the sponge making step. After you use the 2 cups to make the sponge, store the leftovers and so on, and so on. Some bakeries claim to have starters that are decades old. I poke a pin hole in the plastic lid I use to store it, since it produces carbon-dioxide and you don't need any explosions in the fridge. While it's being stored, any dark liquid that forms on your starter (called hooch) can be stirred in or poured off.