Sourdough Starter and Bread

Mike Avery has a wealth of information on sourdough over at http://www.sourdoughhome.com/. I used his starter method with much success. The basic idea is to mix 0.25 cups of water with 1.875 oz. of flour. Do this every 12 hours. You should see bubbles forming and a observe a yeasty smell within the first two days, toss it and start over if you do not. Continue to feed the starter every 12 hours for a week but start removing some of the existing start to keep the size of it manageable. Once the starter double or triples in size consistently, you can make bread with it and store it in the fridge. Once in the fridge, you can reduce the feeding to every one or two weeks as the yeast will slow down. However, ensure the starter comes to room temperature before using it. I used Bob's Red Mill unbleached white flour which worked on the first try.

Once you have a good starter, you can make some bread with the following recipe.

10 oz. bread flour

10 oz. starter

1 tsp. kosher salt

0.25 cup water

1. Mix flour, starter, and salt in an electric mixer using the dough hook
2. Add the water as needed, the dough should be wet enough to create a smooth dough but not too wet that it is sticking to the sides of the bowl
3. Once the dough is smooth, knead the dough by hand or with the dough hook
4. Once the dough appears to be elastic, test it using the window pane test
5. When the dough is ready, put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap
6. Let the dough rise until at least double its size. At room temperature, this can take 2 or more hours.
7. Punch the dough down and knead the dough into a sphere on a lightly floured surface
8. Pinch the seams of the dough together and set seam side down to rise again
9. Cut an X into the top of the dough with a sharp knife
10. Mist the top of the dough with water to help develop the crust
11. Dust a pan or stone with cornmeal and bake at 400° F
12. Bake the bread until it is golden brown and has a hollow sound when thumped from the bottom, 45-60 minutes
13. Let the bread cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes

This is my first ever loaf of bread and I am extremely pleased with the results. The bread had a good chew to it, just like you would expect from french bread but more dense then I would have liked. It also had a nice sourdough taste. My starter was only a week old and expect the flavor to continue to develop. The bread did puff up some like a mushroom due to inadequate pinching and tucking of the seams but that is my only real complaint. Next time I will add a bit more water and have a bit more patience and allow the bread to rise longer, hopefully this addresses the density issue.