Many people create beautiful sourdough loaves that are round or long and domed. I love round breads, too. The taste is also great - the longer you leave the dough to ferment, the more sour it will be.
But sometimes we want just basic 'sandwich bread'. A loaf of square shaped bread that is quick to cut and a good shape for regular sandwiches. And also one that is not so sour - just basic bread like we could buy in any supermarket.
I want to make my own bread at home, and I also want to use sourdough as the levening agent (the ingredient that makes the bread rise). I could use dried yeast, but I want to use my sourdough starter.
One more important thing in spring of 2020 is that the world is upside-down with the COVID-19 pandemic. We must be careful not to waste flour as it is difficult to buy, and many stores don't have any dry yeast, even if you want to buy it. Plus, we are washing our hands so much in daily life that I don't want to wash my hands over, and over and over as I make bread. (What is mean is I want to wash them for a shorter time - not give up washing them completely while baking!) I love touching the dough to 'feel' what stage it is up to, but for now, less touching, more looking.
So yesterday I modified a basic yeast sandwich bread recipe and made my own new idea to make a loaf using only sourdough. This was my first attempt, so I kept the original ingredients except the yeast. Also, I don't use milk so I exchanged it for soy milk. Most sandwich breads have sugar, and this one does too. (But I used light cane sugar, not white sugar.)
I didn't know how I should handle the dough or for how long, so I just looked at the dough for hints. I didn't do any 'autolyse' (mixing the flour and water first) and my shaping was very simple.
The result was great! A simple white flour sandwich loaf with good texture and it tasted wonderful. Perfect for sandwiches and toast. I will continue to use this basic recipe and change the steps and types of flour.
Very simple recipe for now (but I will update it in future blog posts):
300g white bread flour, 3T = 36g of sugar, 1t = 6g salt, 200g sourdough starter, 160ml/g soy milk, 65ml/g of water (liquid at about 35degrees C)
Bake final dough for 35 minutes in a 180 degree C preheated oven (fan), using a Japanese 1.5 size bread pan. 230×140×130mm
(Size 1 would be best but mine is bigger.
Size 1 = 220×120×110mm )
This loaf was baked with the lid on for 30 minutes, lid off for 5 minutes.
Please watch this video for how I made it.
Commentaires