San Francisco Style Sourdough Bread

This recipe uses the starter culture that I originally picked up in the Early 1970s in San Francisco. It produces a very nice moderately sour San Francisco Style Sourdough bread loaf. The bread can be made in many shapes, depending on your desires and tastes. The more surface area your bread has, the faster it will go stale. A round loaf or pan loaf will last the best, with a baguette lasting the least well. Unlike most San Francisco sourdough recipes I’ve seen, I use part whole wheat flour. It makes the bread more interesting in color, texture, and taste:

Author: Jaime Johnson

Recipe type: Breads

Cuisine: American

Prep time: 25 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 1 hour 10 mins

Serves: 1 loaf

The smell of baking bread is indescribable. I have been baking bread forever it seems. I never get tired of the smell or taste of homemade bread.

Ingredients

¼ cup starter
1 cup Whole wheat flour
5½ cups White bread flour (2/3 White Bread Flour and ⅓ White Whole Wheat)
2½ cups water
2 tsp Salt

Instructions

Start by measuring the starter you'll need. Whisk the starter before measuring it, so you'll be measuring starter,not bubbles. Then whisk in the water, the whole wheat flour, and then the salt. Set aside the whisk, and get a wooden spoon. Add the white bread flour a cup at a time, stirring as you go. After a while, the dough will become too stiff to stir. At that point, pour it out onto your kneading surface. Make sure you have floured your work surface before you turn the bread out, and flour your hands before you start kneading. Knead the dough 5 to 10 minutes, or until it is resilient and springy
Once the bread is kneaded, let it rest for 30 minutes. Then form the bread into baguettes, boules, or pan loaves. Cover the loaves and let them rise at room temperature until doubled in size, probably about 12 to 15 hours. Once the loaves have doubled in size, it's time to preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Just prior to placing in oven slash the loaves with a razor blade, slide them into the oven, and put some water into a pan at the bottom of the oven. Allow to bake 45 minutes, or until the inside of the bread reaches 190 F. Remove from oven, and let cool on wire racks before slicing - if your family will let you.

Notes

I often vary this recipe by letting the bread rise once in a mixing bowl, punching it down, kneading it some more, and then forming loaves. The second rise takes about ½ as long as the first rise, and also adds to the flavor.