Homemade Sourdough Bread

It is a shame to buy bread at the mega-mart when it is so easy to make. Here is my recipe for homemade sourdough bread. I have been fine-tuning the recipe for the last 6 months to make sure it was "foolproof". While I'm still a fool, no one will consider you as one if you make them some of the best sourdough they have ever eaten. Unlike the commercial breads you buy in the store, this will have none of the unpronounceable preservatives in it.

Sourdough starter

Every sourdough recipe starts with the creation of what is known as a "starter" dough. So - be brave and let's get baking!

Combine in a large glass bowl:

2 cups warm filtered* water

2 cups bread flour

1 Tbsp. granulated white sugar

1 ea. ¾ oz. packet active dry bread yeast

Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl and stir until thoroughly combined. Cover with a clean dish towel and leave out on the counter for four to five days, stirring twice per day. Once the starter is finished "doing its thing" on the counter, it will have that unmistakable "sour" smell sourdough is so famous for. If your starter turns strange colors or barks at you from the next room, bacteria has spoiled your batch - pitch it out and try again. Once it is complete, pour into a quart jar and stash in the ‘fridge until needed. Good starter should have a creamy complexion with a slightly sour smell.

Making Sourdough bread:

In a glass measuring cup, measure out 9 oz. of starter and allow it to come to room temperature. Replace what you have used by adding back to the starter: 2/3 cup filtered water, 2/3 cup bread flour and 1 Tbsp. granulated white sugar. Stir in well and place back in ‘fridge.**

Add the following ingredients (in the order they are listed) into your bread machine set to DOUGH setting.

9 oz. room-temperature sourdough starter

½ cup warm filtered water

2 ½ Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 ½ tsp. kosher salt

2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

2 Tbsp. pure honey

3 cups bread flour

3 Tbsp. dry milk powder

1 ea. ¾ oz. packet active dry bread yeast

Allow your bread machine to do its thing and make the dough. DO NOT let the machine cook it, however, as this will result in an inferior product.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

When the dough is finished, turn it out onto a floured surface and remove the bread machine paddle, if it is still in the dough. Roll the dough gently to coat it evenly with flour, and press it into a large non-stick loaf pan. (My loaf pan inside measurements are 9 ¼ inches long, 5 ¼ inches wide and 2 ¾ inches deep.) Press down on the dough to evenly distribute it into the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area to rise for 1 hour, or until the dough doubles in volume.

Carefully remove the plastic wrap and place in your oven - bake at 375 degrees for 27 minutes - no more, no less. When the timer goes off, remove the bread from the oven and its pan and allow to cool on a rack, uncut (if you can stand it!) for about 1 ½ hours or until cool. ( My wife likes to cut of the end, or "dog's nose" and spread KZFM butter on it while it is still warm) Wrap up and place in a 2 gallon zip-top bag (it will be too big for the bread bags in the store).

Enjoy the best bread you'll ever eat!

Now, where did I leave that KZFM Chicken Salad?

* It is important to use filtered water for the bread. Chlorine is poisonous to yeast!

** Do not leave the quart jar of starter out at room temperature unless it is in a large glass bowl - I have created a dough "volcano" by adding the replacement ingredients back into the starter while it is at room temperature - the sugar feeds the yeast, and...kablooey!

See http://hubpages.com/hub/Kitchen-Zen-for-Men-Master-Hub--Recipe-Links-and-Important-Tips for all the KZFM recipes for breads, fish & game, important tips and home brewing recipes for wine and mead.