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The basics | Feeding | Making the dough | Kneading & Rising | Baking | Dips & Tricks | Have a sourdough tip or recipe? |
Sourdough
An intriguing and flavorful bread that's been made for centuries
The only interaction I ever had with sourdough was when I was at my aunt's house. Slowly but surely, I developed an appreciation for it. Since I only liked making dessert, I never seriously thought about making it myself. But, when I suddenly found myself stuck at home back in March 2020, I started becoming more of a baker than I was before. After Pesach, when I realized I was back to eating heavy Challah, I started seriously thinking about making sourdough. Don't get me wrong, I love my mother's Challah, but I wanted something healthier. And time-consuming. After researching it for a short time, Hoiby was born.
Sour Dough
Sourdough. Just the word makes my mouth start to water and images of the fluffy interior and crusty exterior of this amazing bread pop in my head. Then I quickly run to to feed my starter so I can pop sour, fresh bread in my mouth that day. Just a little while ago, I would wistfully think about this bread without actually making it. I was under the impression that it was extremely time-consuming and you needed to be a professional at it. But then March of 2020 came, and, stuck at home with nothing to do, I started craving sourdough again. I wasn’t able to go to my aunt’s house, which boasts the world's best sourdough bread, and needed that bread again. It wasn’t until late April that I decided I would make it. My aunt generously gave me some of her starter, and I got to work. This bread is incomparable to any bread at all, and I’m going to show you how easy it is to make it.
The basics before you start
It all starts off with, guess what, a starter! It’s essentially just flour and water. Feeding it is also just flour and water. Now you know how to make sourdough bread. Well, almost. Two things to remember during this process: try to keep the starter and dough covered whenever possible, and never use metal-it will kill the bread. There’s just four steps to making it. Here are the steps: Feed, Make the Dough, Kneading & Rising, and Bake it. In the beginning, you might also want dips. I don’t make dips anymore, so I left out this step.
Step 1
Feeding
Feeding a dough? If that scared you, like it did to me, think of it as keeping your dough good by adding flour and water. Feed it whenever you want it to be active. It can stay in the fridge for weeks without feeding it, but try to feed it once a week to keep it active. Just pour in about one cup of water, or until it looks like a runny pancake batter. And the same amount of flour, until the texture is of a thick brownie batter. Cover. Depending on your starter, you may have to do it multiple times until it reaches the desired amount. Once it’s bubbly enough, it’s time for the next step!
Step 2
Making the Dough
The dough just has five ingredients. Four if you don’t count the starter (starter is just flour and water), and two if you don’t count a bit of salt and oil...so it basically boils down to just flour and water. But 100 times fluffier than matza, don’t worry. One cup of starter=one loaf. Half, double, or triple accordingly. I usually have four cups of starter, so that’s how my recipe goes. Pour your starter into the biggest bowl (I actually use a 12 qt bucket) you have in your house, and pour in a little more than half your starter (2 cups). Add 2 cups+2 tbsp warm water. Then add 3 tbsp of olive oil. Mix. Pour in 3 tsp of salt. You will be adding 8 cups+2 tbsp of flour. To make mixing easier, add just 1 cup of flour at a time, and mix after each cup. When your dough starts looking faintly like a dough, you're ready for the next step.
Step 3
Kneading and Rising
Start kneading the dough until it forms a nice ball of dough. My tip for kneading is to use gloves. The dough doesn’t stick as much to gloves, and is much easier to handle. Grease the dough with olive oil (you don’t need to, but it’s prettier and crustier that way). Then, cover it and let it rise. You’re going to be doing a lot of rising. If you don’t let it rise enough, it won’t be fluffy, so proceed accordingly. Cover the dough (make sure it has tons of space to rise) and leave it in a warm spot to rise. Once it rises enough, you have two options, I like the second one better. One, you could leave it to rise overnight. You would choose that option if by evening it needs more rising time. Or, you could put it in the fridge overnight. It’s healthier that way, and tastes a whole lot better. The next morning, let your dough get to room temperature before proceeding. If you didn’t put it in the fridge, you can just go right ahead to the next part. Split your dough into two non-metal pans, and, as gently as possible, form it into a ball. If you deal with it too roughly, the dough will deflate and not be fluffy. Cover the dough while giving it plenty of space to rise. What my aunt taught me is to put the pan in a cardboard box, and then cover the box-it gives us lots of space to rise! Once that dough has risen, it’s time for the last step.
Step 4
Baking
Now it’s time to bake the dough! Preheat the oven to 450°F. Once it reaches the desired temperature, put in the oven, covered-with space to rise even more. I use foil to cover it at this step. It’s metal-but I can’t help it. Bake it for 25 minutes. Once 25 minutes are up, uncover the pan and bake it for another 30 minutes at 425°F. Then...it’s time to take out your hard earned bread! It’s best served warm, but it’s equally delicious served at room temp. In the beginning, when my bread wasn’t as good, I made a garlic-oil-tomato dip, pesto dip, and lots more. It’s optional but yummy. I hope you enjoyed this! Sourdough bread is a great alternative to conventional bread. Its lower phytate levels make it more nutritious and easier to digest. Sourdough bread also seems less likely to spike your blood sugar levels, which makes it an option for those monitoring their blood sugar. Plus, it's so delicious! Highly, highly recommended. If you make it, please send me a review that you did or (even better) a picture!
Step 5
Dips & Tricks
Coming Soon!
Have a sourdough tip?
We'll take any trick we can get! And starter recipes too. Or just some feedback. We'll put it right here.