First Leaven Sourdough Recipe

Leaven Timeline 7:10

The First Sourdough Recipe used a combination of the wild yeast in the sourdough starter and some commercial yeast. This recipe is good for when your starter is not mature yet. The sourdough is acting mainly as a poolish or pre-ferment to give more taste and flavour to the loaf. Now my starter, Fido, is getting very feisty and bold. Twelve hours after a feeding, it has doubled in size and is very frothy. Another difference is time. This recipe takes 7+ hours while adding some commercial yeast lowers the time to 3 1/2 hours.

Now it is time to make our first bread using only the starter as the leavening agent (rising agent.) Commercial yeasts are fast. They is why they are popular in commercial baking. Sourdough starter is much slower so the ferment and proofing times are measured in hours not minutes. Also you can not predict these times as all starters are different. We will rely more on dough appearance, size and the ripe test.

I love the look of this loaf. It is the olive oil wash.

Recently I decided to rework this recipe. First I prefer pulling 1 cup of sourdough starter. I also made the latest batch with my favourite pan, the USA Pan Hearth Pan.


First Leaven Sourdough Recipe
 
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Nice recipe for your first sourdough bread that relies on the starter for all leavening (rising) agent. No commercial yeast is used.
Author:
Recipe type: Bread
Cuisine: Leaven Sourdough
Serves: One loaf
Ingredients
  • Sourdough Starter - 1 cup (300 g)
  • Flour - 3½ cups (455g)
  • Fine Sea Salt - 1½ tsp (9 g)
  • Warm Water - ¾ cup (175 g) (~95oF/35oC)
  • Olive Oil - 2 TBSP (27g)
Wash
  • Olive Oil - 1 TBSP (14g)
Pans
  • (9") Pie Pan OR
  • (12x5.5) Hearth Pan
Instructions
  1. Measure starter into mixer bowl.
  2. Measure flour and salt into a large bowl and stir.
  3. Measure water and olive oil to a measuring cup.
  4. Mix flour/salt and water/olive oil into mixer bowl, alternating between dry and wet. Start with beater on your mixer - not hook. When the mixer begins to labour, switch to dough hook.
  5. Knead 6 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Dough may seems dry at first. Give it time.
  6. Place in a large bowl sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. I use the one I measured the flour in.
  7. Cling wrap
  8. Ferment 3 - 6 hours Ferment Ripe Test

  9. Punch dough down. Form on a pie plate or hearth pan. Spritz some water on the dough to help prevent drying. Cover with the bowl you fermented in. If using a hearth pan, spray cling wrap and dough top with nonstick spray. Lay clink wrap on. Don't connect the sides
  10. Proof 2 hours Proof Ripe Test

  11. Preheat oven 15 min to 400°F/200°C/Gas 6
  12. Wash dough with olive oil. Score loaf.
  13. Bake for 35 minutes
    
or until a thermometer inserted into the center registers at least 190°F/88°C.
  14. Cool on a wire rack.

Baker Rich with starter and Leaven Sourdough Bread

2 Comments

  1. Polly August 10, 2020

    If my starter is ready (it floats) and it is 12:00 noon can I still start making bread (mixing it up) and letting it ferment 4 hours, punchdown form in to loaf, then at this point put it in fridge to slow down the rising till next morning … then take it out and let it finish rising till it is reading to bake

    • Rich August 10, 2020

      Polly

      With sourdough the ferment and proofs are slow. Especially is the starter is not that mature.

      Putting it in the fridge overnight is a good plan

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