Sourdough Starter Bread Recipes

Hi Eric, I just found the spelt recipe and I have been looking for a way to use it - bought a bag this week. I wonder whether adding some bread flour would make it "fluffier"? Am I right in thinking this is a no knead recipe? Would the dough stick to my banneton which is well coated with rice flour? Also I watched your sourdough video and noticed that your starter is much more liquid than mine which is rather stretchy and full of bubbles and smells good. Have I gone wrong somewhere? Sorry to say I am completely obsessed and can't wait to bake the next bread. Recently bought the Bread Baker's Apprentice as well as the KA Wholegrain book and Ed Woods sourdough book - and on and on. Regards to you and Denyce, Ann

Good morning Eric, I'm not sure that enthusiasm is a good thing when it reaches this point! I forgot when I wrote that the last couple of times I made NK bread I used a square of parchment paper in my banneton and lifted the whole thing into the heated pot with great results. I have been reading about people baking the KN bread from cold - have you tried it that way? Ann

Haven't tried from cold but I've heard that works too. I just figure if I'm trying to simulate a hearth oven, I'm going to want to preheat the Cloche. But like everything, there's a zillion ways to do things.

Hi Eric, I made the spelt NK bread and it turned out really well and tastes wonderful. I substituted 1 cup of bread flour and made up the 16 oz. with spelt flour. I baked it on my stone with the base of my stainless steel dutch oven as a cover - not such a good idea because the bread hit the "top" and probably would have risen more. I was trying to use the higher shelf in my oven and the domed lid of the dutch oven is a problem. The dough was wet and spread quite a bit so maybe using a smaller pan would have helped there. I lined the banneton with parchment and lifted the whole deal onto the stone - then found that the dough was too risen to easily cover it with the base. Managed to burn the pad of my thumb in the process, clumsy clot. So while the bread isn't super "fluffy" it has lots of holes and I think the bread flour helped. By the way, the new videos are great and my 6 year old grandaughter is a big fan! Of course she also likes the one of the children… Thanks for all your help, Ann

hi eric..i see that you increased the bread flour by 1/2 cup for the recipe using you sour dough starter…why??

Hi.

I'm not sure which recipe you're referring to. The recipes on this page were contributed by others.

Eric

I am a beginning sourdough baker and have a very basic question. Assume you are ready to bake with a healthy-activated starter that you have just fed. In an example, it takes 8 hours to rise to double and begins to deflate after 12 hours. I realize that I must determine the behavior of my own starter under my own conditions. My question is - during what period of time can I begin mixing my dough and get acceptable results?

Foy

Hi Foy,

That's an interesting question. I've seen quite acceptable results on a number of occasions using my sourdough starter even several days after feeding it. That is when I have placed the starter back in the refrigerator for storage after feeding it.

The starter can look very flat and lifeless but come roaring back to life as soon as it's used in a recipe. My preference is to bake within a day of refreshing my starter, but I think you're asking how wide the window of opportunity might look like.

I've never really tested to see what the limits are. I suspect my results would start falling off sharply beyond that "few day" period.

At the other end of that range, you can begin mixing your dough anytime after that initial doubling.

I'm sure others would have a different take on your question but I hope this helps a little.

Eric

hi, just started reviving sourdough starter but cannot access video (really slow server) can you e-mail instructions
on managing your sourdough starter ect.? thank you

For health reasons I am interested in creating a sourdough using mostly spelt and as little as possible of other higher gluten flours. Ideally, I would like to produce a crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside baguette loaf. In Christina's Spelt No-knead Sourdough recipe she states that the result is a flat-ish loaf.Is this due to the lower gluten content of spelt, or do you think this is because of the no-knead method employed? I also noticed that your Whole Grain Sourdough recipe has some spelt in it. I am wondering what the spelt flour brings to your recipe, and in general, as a low gluten flour, how does spelt behave sourdough recipes? Also, maybe your next video could include how to form baguettes using a flax cloth couche?
My family and I have really enjoyed your instructive videos. I have tried for years to learn sourdough from books with poor results. I am looking forward to taking it up again with better results this time.

Hi Petitechef,

Maybe someone else reading this can address your spelt questions. The only baking I've done with spelt involves such a low percentage of it that it doesn't effect the results much, as is the case with the Whole Grain Sourdough recipe. The creator of that recipe includes spelt in order to duplicate, as closely as possible, what he believes are the ingredients of the famous Poilane of Paris loaves. It is there mostly for flavor reasons as opposed to health reasons.

Question: I made a no-knead sourdough bread and it turned out like a flat pizza. I baked it in a dutch oven like the recipe suggested. Can I use my regular sourdough recipe and let the dough sit overnight for the flavor and still bake it on a baking sheet instead of using a dutch oven?

Hi Sambia,

Sure, try that and see how it goes.

I will try it. My starter is about 6 weeks old. Could this be the reason my sourdough doesn't taste sour? It taste more like regular french bread. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am new at baking sourdough bread, but love the stuff!

The age of your starter isn't important. It's how you treat it now that determines its performance and flavor characteristics.

For more sour flavor, I suggest going over to the page on the Sourdough No Knead Method. Near the bottom of the recipe instructions, there's a reference to a technique that Rhine Meyering uses to make his bread more sour. Then scroll down to  the related comment and read that.

I would try that. Let us know if it works for you.

Hi,
I do not have a la cloche or a banneton. Can I just use a bowl with a well floured towel inside? As well for the baking, can I simply use a parchment lined cookie sheet, and place a raosting pan lid on the top? Would that work just as well to create steam like the la cloche? Forgoing all of that, without using a lid of some sort, what about using a pan filled with water in the oven for the first 15 min. of baking? Is it absolutely neccesary to preheat the oven? I have read that placing the bread in a cold oven and then setting the temp. is the best way to go.
One last thing. The temp. that you use for baking with the la cloche seems really high. If you were not using the la clouche (or covering it) would you lower the temp.? I know my bread would burn for sure at that high temp. the recipe calls for in my home oven. The last loaf of sourdough I baked was at 325 C for about 45 min., and the crust was a very nice brown.

I might lower the temp a little if not covered. It depends on the recipe. 325 degrees Celsius = 617 degrees Fahrenheit which is indeed way too hot for any bread recipe I know of.

Hi, I have never baked bread before, and wish to try it out. Have been buying commercial Organic Spelt bread @ $6.60 a loaf!! It states the following ingredients are used - Organic Wholemeal Spelt flour, filtered water, organic Soya Flour, Olive Oil, sea salt and sourdough culture (contains Acidiophilus and Bifidus). It tastes great, but if I wish to try the above recipe, how would I get the sourdough culture 'right' and is there a recipefor the sourdough, which doesn't use honey, milk, sugar, yeast etc? Many thanks.
Denise

I found a great recipe for "soft" spelt dinner rolls that are delicious made without the addition of gluten or wheat flour. I would like use the recipe for loaves instead of rolls. Can I successfully use a dinner roll recipe for loaves? Once a week I cook for a group of 15 to 20 people. Do you have any advice about the best equipment to buy to facilitate making multiple loaves of spelt bread?
Thank you,
Les

I have tried all types of sourdough recipes with my starter, and none of them has the sourdough taste my husband and I are looking for. I have even tried the recipes that say not to use starter and to use yogurt instead. I have been told by several people to leave the dough in the refrigerator overnight and that would make a difference. That did not work either. I don't know if you have ever tried Safeway's Sourdough, but it is wonderful. It is light and has the sourdough flavor. Any suggestions? I am wasting tons of flour trying to learn this technique. Also, would using all purpose flour vs bread flour make a difference in the taste of the sour? All suggestions are welcome. I really love sourdough, but would love a fresh homemade sourdough bread. Thank you, Sambia

My first attempt at no knead sourdough went quite well. I was blown away by the results of the Cajun three pepper bread. I used my own homegrown culture that I have had a few months now. I followed the recipe exactly. Well, I only had the green Tobasco in the house, so that was the only change. I didn't know what to expect when I lifted the cover on my Dutch Oven. I nearly fell over when I saw that beautiful, golden loaf inside. The hardest part of this recipe was waiting for the bread to cool down before tearing into it. The flavor was outstanding.

18 Hour Ferment

Dutch oven at 500°

Friends,

I had some trouble with my first attempt at Cajun Three Pepper bread because I was unfamiliar with polenta. Thanks to those who brought me up to speed–the stuff in the refrigerated tube at my local grocery is not the ingredient I needed. Substituting cornmeal did the trick! Isn't it great that we get to eat our mistakes?

Steve Krause emailed in some shots of his first foray into no knead bread baking. He chose the Cajun Three Pepper (minus one) recipe to kick things off and from the looks of it, he's off to a perfect start.

The "minus one" comes from dropping the red peppers from the recipe for being over priced and low quality. He baked the bread in a glazed ceramic crock pot with an aluminum dutch oven lid.  

He doubled the starter, added a heaping teaspoon of gluten flour and a heaping tablespoon of barley flour to feed the yeast.  

Nice job, Steve.