Sourdough

I have an 8-cup glass pyrex measuring cup on my counter right now filled with flour, water and lots of microbes.  (Microbes make me happy.)

From this soup I've been making breads.  And it's yummy!

Some folks have asked for the recipe for the breads I've been making.  I modified my recipe a little from here:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4200/sourdough-challah-photos-recipe


For my bread, I start the night before I'm going to bake.  I take 1.5-2 cups of sourdough starter and put it in the bowl of my stand mixer.  I add 1/4 cup of honey, 3 eggs, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, salt, and any other amendments I'm going to add.  Lately I've been throwing in 2 Tablespoons of flax seed meal.  Anything else that you want in your bread goes in now.  Then I add 1/2-1 cup of flour, mix it up well and let it sit out for a few hours to make sure the yeast really likes it in there.

Before I go to bed, I add 2 more cups of flour, put the dough hook on the mixer and mix the whole thing up.  If it's too sticky, I add more flour.  I've been letting the mixer do most of the kneading for me.  Then I turn it out, knead it by hand a little bit, and shape the dough.

Yeah, that's really it.  I'm not letting it rise a second time; I won't re-knead it again in the morning.  Shape it, put it on a baking sheet, stick it in a cold oven (so the cat doesn't step on it) and go to sleep!  When you wake up, it will be puffier than you remember leaving it and therefore more fragile - you won't want to move it from the pan.  Warm up the oven (I'm still working on the right temp/time), glaze the bread with your glaze of choice (honey and egg anyone?) and bake.

And add water.  Once your oven is hot, put the bread in and spill some water (1/8-1/4 cup should do it) on the bottom of your oven, then close it fast.  The steam is good for the bread and helps to make a nice crust.  If you open the door to the oven while it's baking, your glasses will fog up.  If all the water goes away, add more water.

I don't wait for my bread to cool before cutting into it.  I let it rest for about 30 seconds, then throw a towel over it so I don't burn my hand and slice.