Rev 0.20 last revised: 26-Jan-06
[Caution: This recipe is both a test recipe AND still under construction--steal at your own risk!]
This recipe is for a plain, white, sourdough bread. It's a simple, dead-easy, never-fails recipe modeled after Dick A's "Billowy Sourdough Bread". It was intended as a test case for Craig Ponsford's "no-knead" bread method, so don't expect to find any claims to greatness here...yet...
Prep time: Less than 24-hours
Style: High-hydration (up to ~95%) sourdough
Yield: 1-medium loaf weighing about 1/2 a kilogram
2-4 Tbsp (~1/8-1/4-cup) active sourdough starter
1/2-cup bread flour (70g) [70g] (I always use UB AP)
1/2-cup water (113gr/ml) [113g]
Mix together the ingredients listed above to create your initial sponge. This is best done by hand with a whisk. Cover the bowl and allow to ferment for 8-12 hours at ~85F (29C). I use 85F, but cultures vary, so use the temperature best suited for yours.
1/2-cup (70g) bread flour [140g]
1/2-cup (115gr/ml) water [226g]
Mix the ingredients listed above into the sponge created in the previous step. Whisk or mix with a mixer. Let rise until frothy, foamy, and doubled (2-4 hours or so).
1-1/2 cup (210g) bread flour [350g]
> 1/2-cup (100g) water [333g] (about a tablespoon less than 1/2 cup)
1-tsp (~7g) non-iodized salt [7g]
Measure out the flour into a dry mixing bowl, keeping back about 1/8th of a cup (~20g) of the flour for "tuning". Add the salt and dry mix the flour/salt mixture. Add the sponge from the previous steps. Follow the "no-knead" method found here, and PLEASE keep me posted on your results. Alternatively, you can dissolve the salt in the water, and mix the flour and water (now with salt) before adding the sponge from the previous steps.
I do my final rise in and bake into a COLD OVEN. Bake at 450ºF (246ºC) for 30-35 min. Those that can't conceive of baking bread unless their oven is lined with 2-tons or more of stone or tile that have been pre-heated for upwards of 16-hours to a temperature just short of molten lead will have to apply their own finishing methods. The simple, cold-start baking used here works just fine.
The flour quantity, 2-1/2 cups (~350g), was chosen to yield a manageable amount of bread. Volumetric measurements are given in order to permit as many bakers as possible to participate in this test. Those that look down their noses and eschew volumetric measurements will just have to deal with it.
Dough hydration is adjusted by varying the amount of water used. Use about 2-tablespoons less than a cup (~200g) to get 55% hydration; and up to 1-tablespoon less than 1-1/2 cups (~333g) to get 95% hydration.
Ref, water: 1-cup ~224 grams; 1/2-cup ~112g, 1/4-cup (4-Tbsp) ~56g; 1/8-cup ~28g; 1-Tbsp ~14g.