The Best Sourdough Bread

I usually make my Whole Grain Sourdough.  But pasta still calls for a white sourdough.  My old recipe was OK - I tweaked the sourdough bread recipe from one of my cookbooks to come up with a bread we liked.  Mainly I think I just didn't use packaged yeast, because why would I want to use packaged yeast in my sourdough bread?  That kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?  And I let it raise longer, to develop the sourdough flavor.

Well, this time I tweaked it a bit more, and I think it turned out perfect! 

The Best Sourdough Bread

The night before you want bread:

• bring starter to room temperature
• measure 1 cup starter
• in large bowl, mix starter with 1 cup lukewarm water, then stir in 1-1/2 cups unbleached flour.
• mix well, cover, and let sit overnight

The next morning:

• your mixture should be all bubbly
• mix in: 1/2 t. salt and 2 T olive oil
• add 2 to 2-1/2 cups unbleached flour, mixing in as much as you can with a spoon and then kneading the rest in
• knead on a floured surface until you have a smooth, elastic dough
• put into greased bowl, cover and set in warm place to rise

When dough has doubled in size

• Punch down and turn out onto floured surface
• Cover and let dough rest for 10 minutes, then shape dough into a ball
• Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more cornmeal; cover with the other end of the towel, or another towel.
• Let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
• About a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450°. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 5 to 10 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

The flavor is so good, and the texture is perfect.  The crust is that perfect chewy crust I have been trying to achieve since the beginning of my sourdough adventure. What did I do differently?  I omitted the sugar, and I baked it in a covered pan, the same way I bake the Whole Grain Sourdough.  Can it really be that simple?  Maybe. It certainly turned out well this time.  I will definitely be making this bread again.