My friend GeeZee gave me some sourdough starter in 2018. I was making decent batches of bread and managed to keep the starter alive for almost two years until I accidentally knocked over the container in the fridge. The whole batch spilled and by the time I discovered what happened, the starter had solidified. I was told I could have still revived the starter but by then I had already thrown the starter bits in the bin. Besides, I don't think I would have wanted to bake bread with fridge germs. Fortunately, when I mentioned my starter's demise to GeeZee last year before the lockdown, she offered to give me a fresh batch.
I wanted to try a new sourdough bread recipe I had chanced upon on YouTube. I had written out the recipe on a notebook last weekend and I asked MyGirl to mix up the initial batch of dough while I was getting some grocery on Saturday. When I got back, she said that the dough seemed a bit dry so she had added some water to the recipe. I told her not to worry and that I was sure it would turn out fine.
The next part of the breadmaking process was mostly waiting for the dough to double in size. (In other words, MyGirl had done most of the hard work.) I found the dough easy to handle. When I got to the baking part of the bread on Sunday, I was happy to see that the oven spring was pretty good.
The bread was pretty good although we could definitely tell that there was salt in the recipe. In fact, I had specifically bought non-iodized salt which The Ultimate Food Geek shared as one of the tips in his sourdough bread video. The texture and the smell of the newly baked loaf reminded me of the sourdough bread that Father used to bring home when we were younger.
I had compared the usual recipe I used with this new one. The basic ingredient amounts were not significantly different so perhaps the secret of a great sourdough loaf is the use of non-iodized salt.
Ingredients:
4 oz (113 g) starter
12 oz (340 g) filtered water; not warm
1 lb 4 oz (567 g) flour; if using 8 oz whole wheat flour, add 10oz water
3/4 oz (21 g) salt; not iodized
Combine starter and water in a big bowl
Add flour and salt and mix until all moist
Cover and let rise until double in size (12 - 24 hours)
Turn out dough on lightly floured surface (do not punch down)
Shape the loaf by using lightly floured hands and tucking the edges of the loaf underneath the loaf to get a smooth surface.
Generously flour the surface of the dough.
Cover and let rise until double in size (2 - 4 hours).
a) If using loaf pan, form into loaf and let dough rise in oiled loaf pan.
Then bake 40 minutes in preheated 500F oven.
b) If using dutch oven, let dough rise in separate bowl covered with heavily floured cloth.
Place dutch oven inside oven then preheat oven to 500F.
Carefully place dough inside the dutch oven then score top.
Reduce oven temperature to 425F. Cover dutch oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove lid and bake additional 15 minutes.
Let cool before slicing the bread.
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