Sourdough bread (was: How to keep bread safe?)

[Guest guest]

Susan, Irene....

 

Have you heard of Daniel Leader and his Bread Alone Bakery in the Catskills

of NY? Daniel went to France to study how the master French bakers made

their famous sourdough breads, and wrote a book which in part describes his

experiences there and knowledge gained. The result is a great book

co-authored with Judith Blahnik called 'Bread Alone; Bold Fresh Loaves From

Your Own Hands'. The recipes in the book are superb and step-by-step

instructions so clear that viewing a video or watching someone actually make

the bread is certainly unnecessary. I've been making the sourdough recipe

Daniel Leader got from Basil Kamir in Paris for about 15 years now, and it's

mouth-watering delicious. The French call it " pain au levain " , literally

'bread from leavening.' The only commercial yeast used is at the very

beginning of the process of making the 'chef' from which the " levain

starter " is made, and that is just a small pinch of traditional yeast. The

starter can then be kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to

a week, so when you bake weekly you use up a good portion of the starter,

then add more flour and water only to feed the starter the necessary

nutrients to keep it alive. Wild yeast captured from the air is the only

other 'ingredient' the starter needs to perpetuate itself.

 

I highly recommend Leader's book. apart from the great recipes it offers

many useful tips when baking bread, from using a large earthenware mixing

bowl, for example, since the yeasts will permeate clay or earthenware as

opposed to, say, stainless steel, thus giving a better rise and thus lighter

dough. Things like lining your oven with firebrick which, when preheated

for 45-60 mins at 450 degrees, will give the dough " oven spring " and a

better rise.

 

I can't always get the temps I need with my solar oven (on cloudy days for

example!), so I've done as Leader recommended and layered my center oven

rack with six firebricks. My breads come out just as he's described them,

and just like the amazing photos in his excellent book.

 

Richard Menec, Winnipeg

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6a.

Sourdough bread (was: How to keep bread safe?)

Posted by: " irene " irene lireneb Sat

Mar 14, 2009 4:11 pm (PDT)

 

I've been looking for a really great bread recipe. Can you share this

recipe?

 

Susan, the easiest way for you to learn to make good sourdough is by

watching someone else do it. Here's the link to Breadtopia and Eric's

wonderful videos. I make a version of his whole grain sourdough.

<http://www.breadtopia.com/>

 

I got La Cloche baking bell from the website and it is the answer to a

baker's prayer, if what you're after is a delicious chewy crust.

 

Hope that helps,