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Sourdough Bread Tweaks (Before I Forget)

Yesterday I baked a delicious loaf of sourdough bread. I even bragged about it to family and friends. Rick suggested that all things considered it would be prudent to make a record of the new tweaked recipe. He's right. And for the record, bread and motorcycles have this in common, if you don't tweak them, they're not yours. So, tweak my tweaks.

Yesterday I baked a delicious loaf of sourdough bread. I even bragged about it to family and friends. Rick suggested that all things considered it would make sense to make a record of the new tweaked recipe. He's right. And for the record, bread and motorcycles have this in common, If you don't tweak them, they're not yours. So, tweak my tweaks. Sourdough Bread First things first: How to make The Starter and the basic recipe is found in the food blog of The Clever Carrot. She's good, very good. If you follow her basic recipe and take her advice to not go down the rabbit hole you'll get a good loaf. The tweaks that follow just make the bread more to my taste. start the starter with coconut flour make sure to buy your flour at the best local bakery (in the Philippines store bought can be stale) add 2 tablespoons of chia seeds to the flour and salt mixture, mix well. add 2 tablespoons of molasses to the liquids. Remember not to pour all of the liquid in at once. Pour it in slowly and use 3 pours. The last pour is done carefully so as not to over wet the flour. my starter may be a bit weak yet, so I am using 1 cup starter to 3/4 cup warm water. the water is warm when you can stick your finger in it, and it feels body temperature I use a Mixmaster for mixing and most importantly for kneading. knead the dough between every step. You will know the final kneading done properly when it looks like playdough and if you stick your knuckle in it, it slowly pops the indent out or nearly out. I use 45 minutes first rest, 3-hour first rise, 1-hour final rise. I keep the dough stiff enough to hold its shape when I put it in the Dutch oven. in our turbo oven the temperature is set to just a bit under 200C. I leave the lid on for 15 minutes and then bake for another 30. the bread is done when you can tap it with your fingernail, and it sounds hollow on the bottom. It will be very close to ever so slightly burned on the top. These of course, are my tweaks for an open-air house in a tropical rain forest. They work for me, and they just might work for you too. Final caution, my dough is four weeks old and has just become strong enough. Sourdough bread is not hard to bake but it is not for anyone that needs instant gratification. Outlier.
Sourdough Bread 

First things first: How to make The Starter and the basic recipe is found in the food blog of The Clever Carrot. She's good, very good. If you follow her basic recipe and take her advice to not go down the rabbit hole you'll get a good loaf. The tweaks that follow just make the bread more to my taste.

  • start the starter with coconut flour
  • make sure to buy your flour at the best local bakery (in the Philippines store bought can be stale)
  • add 2 tablespoons of chia seeds to the flour and salt mixture, mix well.
  • add 2 tablespoons of molasses to the liquids. Remember not to pour all of the liquid in at once. Pour it in slowly and use 3 pours. The last pour is done carefully so as not to over wet the flour.
  • my starter may be a bit weak yet, so I am using 1 cup starter to 3/4 cup warm water.
  • the water is warm when you can stick your finger in it, and it feels body temperaturish
  • I use a Mixmaster for mixing and most importantly for kneading.
  • knead the dough between every step. You will know the final kneading is done properly when it looks like playdough and when you stick your knuckle in it, it slowly pops the indent out or nearly out.  
  • I use 45 minutes first rest, 3-hour first rise, 1-hour final rise. 
  • I keep the dough stiff enough to hold its shape when I put it in the Dutch oven.
  • in our turbo oven the temperature is set to just a bit under 200C. I leave the lid on for 15 minutes and then bake for another 30. 
  • the bread is done when you can tap the bottom of the loaf with your fingernail, and it sounds hollow. It will also be very close to ever so slightly burned on the top.   
These of course, are my tweaks for an open-air house in a tropical rain forest. They work for me, and they just might work for you too. 

Final caution, my dough is four weeks old and has just become strong enough. Sourdough bread is not hard to bake but it is not for anyone who prefers instant coffee!

Outlier.

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