I bought a little jar of starter from King Arthur Flour Co. and am very pleased with it. Feed yours every day as directed or refrigerate it for up to a week between feedings.
Starter:
Throw away all but ¼ cup starter. To the ¼ cup, add 1 cup unbleached flour and 1 cup warm water. Stir. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 4-8 hours. It should double in size and look bubbly. Do this to feed your starter and 4-8 hours prior to making bread.
Prepare to make 4 loaves:
Remove ¼ cup starter and add the flour and water as in the first starter step. Set aside for use another day.
Divide the remaining starter into 2 large bowls.
To each bowl add:
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 cups unbleached flour.
Stir, place in a warm place, and cover for 4-8 hours or until bubbly.
I usually do this late the night before I want to bake. I leave the bowls of dough out on my kitchen counter and add the next ingredients the first thing in the morning.
Bread:
This makes 4 loaves
(For 2 loaves, discard about ¾ cup starter.)
To each of the 2 bowls of starter add:
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 cup spelt flour
- 2 cups unbleached flour
Stir well. Cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 20- 30 minutes.
You may change the mix of flour as you wish.
After the rest period add:
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- ¼ cup warm water
- 2½-3 cups unbleached flour
Knead in additional unbleached flour to make an almost firm dough. It will still be a little bit sticky.
Cover and allow to rise. (At least 1 hour.)
Cover 4 medium-sized bowls with parchment paper.
With wet hands, divide each bowl of dough in half.
Stretch and fold each portion over in thirds at least 3-4 times. You will notice the dough gets firmer with each stretch and fold. Place each ball of dough on the parchment paper to fill the 4 bowls.
Cover loosely with a lid or plastic wrap and allow to rise for about 1 hour or until almost doubled. The dough may be refrigerated at this stage for baking another day. The sour taste will be more noticeable after a few days in the refrigerator.
If you are baking 4 loaves using only one dutch oven, place 2 of the rising dough bowls in cooler places in your kitchen. Shift the next one to a warm spot while another is baking. (The cupboard above the oven is usually warm.)
30 minutes before the hour is up, turn the oven to 450°. Place a cast iron dutch oven with a lid to warm in the oven.
Cut a few shallow slits in the top of each dough. Place the parchment paper and dough into the dutch ovens and cover with the lids. Bake for 30 minutes. The crust should be a light, golden brown.
Remove the lids and bake for another 5-8 minutes, until the crust is dark brown.
The inside temperature of the bread should be 200 degrees.
Remove the dutch oven and set the bread on a rack to cool for 45 minutes. The inside of the loaf continues to bake during this cooling phase so chase the hungry crowd away. Meanwhile, put the dutch ovens back into the oven and bake the other loaves. You will need them about 15 minutes after you slice the first loaf.
If you don’t eat or give away your loaves within a day, slice them and freeze them in small portions. Toast them straight out of the freezer. You may wrap a whole loaf in foil and then plastic before freezing. Remove the plastic before placing the foil-covered loaf in a hot oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes to crisp the crust.
Laurel’s Sourdough Bread
Starter
The morning of the day before:
Feed your starter and leave it at room temperature
That evening:
Put ⅓ of the starter in a large bowl and stir in
1 cup warm water
2 cups of unbleached flour
Cover and let sit at room temperature all night.
(Discard ⅓ of the starter and feed with 1 cup warm water and 1 cup unbleached flour. Place in the refrigerator for up to a week before feeding again.)
The next morning:
Add to large bowl:
3 cups warm water
1 cup spelt flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 heaping tablespoon salt
Up to 4 cups of unbleached flour to make a dough that is soft and sticky but not runny.
Kneed for 5-10 minutes. Return to the bowl and cover.
Allow to rise in a warm place for at least 1 ½ hours.
Divide the dough in half and shape it into two round balls. Place in parchment paper-lined bowls. Cover and allow to rise for 1-2 hours.
Heat oven and 2 empty dutch ovens to 450°.
Slice dough with a sharp knife or razor along the top. Grip the parchment paper and place both paper and dough in each dutch oven. Cover with lid and bake for 30-35 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Remove the lid and bake for another 2 minutes until the edges are darker brown. (The inner loaf temperature will be 190° to 200°) Remove from the oven, place on a rack, and allow to cool for 45 minutes.
Notes:
If you have only one dutch oven, either cut the recipe in half or do the final rise of half of the dough in a warm place and the other half in a cooler place, then bake them one after another.
Unbleached flour can be substituted for the spelt and whole wheat flour.
More whole wheat flour may be used but add 1 Tablespoon gluten flour per cup of extra whole wheat used.
King Arthur Baking Company has many more recipes including some that make loaves with larger holes throughout.