SOURDOUGH CHEF, STARTER, BASIC BREAD RECIPE, AND VARIATIONS
All of my sourdough breads start with this rye chef and starter, which I got from Daniel Leader's book Bread Alone: Bold Fresh Loaves From Your Own Hands. With this chef and starter, you can make rye, wheat, or multigrain sourdoughs, depending on your whim, the season, or what's in your pantry. It takes four days to build the chef, but once it's ripe, you can keep it alive to make fresh starters forever. My chef is five years old.
BUILDING THE RYE CHEF
Day 1:
4 fl. oz. water
3 oz. stone-ground rye flour
pinch (about 1/16 t.) dry yeast
Stir water, flour, and yeast in a 3 qt. clear container. (You could use any 3 qt. container, really, but it's fun to watch the chef bubble and expand as it ferments.) Cover with plastic wrap. Leave at room temp. for 24 hours.
Day 2:
Add to container:
4 fl. oz. water
3 oz. stone-ground rye flour
Stir, cover with plastic wrap, and leave at room temp. for 24 hours.
Day 3:
Add:
4 fl. oz. water
3 oz. stone-ground rye flour
Stir, cover with plastic, and leave at room temp. for 24 hours.
Day 4:
Add:
4 fl. oz. water
3 oz. stone-ground rye flour
Stir, cover with plastic wrap, mark the level of the chef, and leave at room temp. for 8 hours, after which time the chef should have about doubled in volume.
The chef is now ripe. Half of this ripe chef will be used to make your starter. The other half will be fed to maintain the chef for future starters.
MAKING THE SOURDOUGH RYE STARTER
9 oz. rye chef
4 fl. oz. water
5 oz. rye flour
Mix the chef, water, and flour in a clear container. I use a 1000 ml Pyrex beaker. Mark the level of the starter. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temp. for 8-10 hours, until about double in volume. You now have 18 oz. of starter that is ready to bake a two-loaf bread recipe.
MAINTAINING THE RYE CHEF
9 oz. rye chef leftover from making starter
5 fl. oz. water
4 oz. rye flour
Mix in second clear glass container. Mark level and cover with plastic wrap. Leave at room temp. for 8-10 hours, until about double in bulk. Refrigerate and use within 7 days to make another starter or feed the chef to keep it alive until your next baking session.
FEEDING THE RYE CHEF
Discard 9 oz. of the rye chef. To the remaining 9 oz. of rye chef add:
5 fl. oz water
4 oz. rye flour.
Mix, mark level, cover with plastic, leave at room temp. 8-10 hours. Then make your starter or store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
TO KEEP YOUR RYE CHEF ALIVE FOR YEARS:
Every seven days--
Use half the rye chef to make a starter and feed the remaining half to keep it alive.
Or, if you don't have time to bake or don't need bread yet, discard half the rye chef and feed the remaining half.
BASIC SOURDOUGH BREAD RECIPE:
18 oz. starter
3 C. liquid
2 lb. 3 oz. whole grain flour (I usually use whole hard red winter wheat flour)
1 T. fine sea salt
Mix dough:
I use a 6 qt. Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix starter and liquid. Add flour and salt. Mix on low until fully incorporated. Switch out paddle with a dough hook. Knead on low/medium for 10 min.
Ferment dough:
Transfer dough into a greased dough doubler or large bowl. Grease surface of dough. Cover container and allow dough to double in volume, about 4 hours. (Or dough can be retarded in the refrigerator overnight and shaped and baked the next day.)
Shape loaves:
Grease two 5 1/2" x 9 1/2" loaf pans and dust with corn meal. Handling the dough gently to prevent degassing, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough in half, and shape the halves to fit in your prepared loaf pans. Grease loaf tops, cover with plastic wrap.
Proof loaves:
Let loaves rise until double in bulk, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Preheat oven:
45 minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450°. Place a large cookie pan with raised edges on the oven floor. This will be used for steaming the oven.
Slash, steam, and bake:
Just before loaves are ready to go into the oven, slash the loaf tops in whatever pattern you desire. This prevents the loaves from bursting at the edges during oven spring. Pour 1 cup boiling water into the cookie pan. Do this as quickly as possible to prevent heat and steam from escaping.
Bake:
Bake the loaves for 20 minutes at 450°. Then reduce the temperature to 400°, cover the loaves with foil to prevent overbrowning, and bake for another 35 minutes. The internal loaf temperature should be between 185° and 195° when done.
Cool:
Turn loaves out onto a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool overnight for best crumb structure. Do not slice when warm or the bread will be gummy.
This bread is dense and moist and will keep in the cupboard for 1-2 weeks. I never refrigerate the loaves as the sourdough naturally retards mold growth. Loaves freeze very well.
TURMERIC AND BLACK PEPPER MULTIGRAIN SOURDOUGH
18 oz. starter
3 C. buttermilk
1 lb. spelt flour
1 lb. 3 oz. whole wheat flour
1 T. sea salt
1/2 C. honey
1 T. turmeric
1 T. Tellicherry black pepper
1 C. rye flakes
1 C. millet
1 C. quinoa
Follow basic sourdough recipe above, mixing the honey into the starter and milk, and mixing the turmeric and black pepper into the flour and salt. After switching from the paddle to the dough hook, mix on low for only 5 minutes. Then drape a towel over the mixing bowl and let the dough rest for 10-20 minutes. This allows the dough to relax a bit so that it will accept the mix-ins more easily. After the rest period, add the rye flakes, millet, and quinoa. Knead on low to medium a few minutes until fully incorporated. Follow the rest of the basic recipe to complete the loaves.
VARIATIONS:
By altering the liquids and flours used, and by adding a variety of supplements and mix-ins, you can make many kinds of bread. Here are some of my favorites:
LIQUID:
Water
Milk
Buttermilk
Goat's milk
Apple cider
Orange or other fruit juice
Beer
Beer wort
Coffee
FLOUR:
Hard red winter wheat (more tannic)
Hard white winter wheat (less tannic)
Rye (Usually used in combination with wheat flour because rye has no gluten. 25% rye and
75% wheat works well.)
Spelt (nutty)
Soy (sweet) (Usually used in combination with wheat flour because soy has no gluten. 20% soy and 80% wheat works well.)
SUPPLEMENTS:
(These help feed the wild yeast and give a better rise to the loaves.)
Molasses
Honey
Malt powder
SPICES AND FLAVORS:
Cinnamon
Ginger
Ginger nibs
Black pepper
Turmeric
Rosemary
Cardamom
Orange zest
Candied orange peel
Anise seeds
Fennel seeds
Cocoa powder
Espresso powder
MIX-INS:
Millet
Quinoa
Rye flakes
Pressed barley
Corn grits
Oatmeal
Amaranth
Teff
Dried fruit--peaches, pears, cherries, raisins, dates, currants, figs.
(Dried fruits can be soaked in juice, rum, brandy, wine to soften and add depth of flavor.
Use any leftover soaking liquid as part of the 3 cups liquid required for the dough.)
Olives
Cheese
Sun-dried tomatoes
Nuts--walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, peanuts
Seeds--sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, poppy, flax.
(Nuts and seeds have best flavor if toasted before mixing into dough.)
