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Am I the only one who finds the time and energy that it takes to make good sourdough bread a bit daunting?
I am looking forward to starting to bake my own breads again in the next week or two, and I just stumbled upon this recipe and demonstration videos by Serene Allison (of Above Rubies). It sounds almost too simple to be true, but I am eager to try it!
If you don't care to watch the videos yet, basically the recipe goes like this:
- add sourdough starter and flour to a large bowl or pot
- either stir it or stick your hands in and knead it for 5-10 minutes
- use a bowl to scoop it out into bread pans
- leave it on your counter a minimum of 7 hours to rise (enough time to neutralize the phytic acid in the grain)
- bake it for 1 hour
That's it!!!
Has anyone tried a similar method to this? It looks incredible to me! I was planning to try mixing it up in my new stand-up mixer, but I just heard Serene say "don't use anything metallic because it kills the bacteria in the sourdough". Hmmm...
Either way, I would half the recipe to make 3 loaves for every two weeks, but this recipe makes enough to bake 6 loaves at a time if you want, depending on the size of your family.
If you don't currently have a sourdough starter like me (I let mine die earlier this winter- bad Stephanie!), follow this amazing tutorial (you have to scroll down- it is a multiple post tutorial) from Heavenly Homemakers to get one going.
Is anyone else as impressed as I am? Want to bake some sourdough bread with me? :)
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
I just received my first starter in a long time from a friend, and we've been enjoying sourdough pancakes and waffles. I'd love to 'bread along' with you! I'll watch the videos once the kids are in bed, and start feeding my blessed starter. Can't wait to see how it turns out!
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wow interesting names! Please let us know if you try this!! It looks really easy!
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Rebekah, I assume you mean her children! :) Yes, both her and her sisters have all named their children very creatively! I confess, though, I love the names Arden and Cherish (nope, that's not a hint as to upcoming baby names!)
And yes, I'll let you all know when I try this and how it goes!
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This is awesome! I once attempted to make bread and failed miserably! I was just thinking a few days ago that I want to try it again!
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HI Stephanie, this looks good, almost too good to be true.
I make our bread the non-soaked way still. I make 100% whole wheat, fresh ground and it is so beautiful. I have for about 9 years. It is so hard to transfer over to even the soaked method from Sue Gregg or Marilyn Moll, because my results haven't been as consistent and pretty. My family assures me the taste is what counts, but when you have big, fluffy, beautiful loaves the old way it's hard to change. I know the nutrition is a little better. Though it still uses yeast, and I guess I don't know what is really wrong with this, I have read Nourishing Traditions, I guess the info didn't stick. ;-)
Have you tried that '5-minute' bread? I have tried that with fairly good results, it has got to be better because it basically 'soaks' for up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Though it starts with some yeast.
http://www.startribune.com/video/11967361.html
I have their book and it is really easy! It is not quite sandwich bread, but the kids love it. What do you think of this? Wouldn't this still be better for you than regular whole wheat bread with yeast?
I posted about my bread here
http://shelookethwell.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-faithful-god.html
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It's been a while (maybe two years) since my failed attempt at sourdough bread. I've stuck with regular whole-wheat since. No, come to think of it, I recently tried sprouted grain and plan to do it again. I'll have to give sourdough another try. Thanks for the tip! (I didn't know one could find Serene on youtube. Good for you!)
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I didn't watch the video, but the recipe I found a month or so ago is similar, starter, salt, water, flour till the consistency is right, knead, let raise in pans till double in size, bake 1 hr. I made it a couple weeks ago & it worked great, made it again today, the loaves are cooling on my counter right now.
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i made the sourdough starter a few weeks ago when heavenly homemaker posted about it, but this is also so helpful!!! this makes the last steps so much easier!
it was also great to see that video as i recently started receiving above rubies magazine...it's always nice to put a face and voice to the names!
have fun baking!
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Hello all...new here. I really love all of the great nutrition information as well as living healthy overall. Very timely for my family right now. But I'm really having a hard time with the whole soaking thing. I grew up on mostly whole foods and 100% whole wheat was a staple in our house. But I've never noticed any ill effects on a non-soaking whole grain diet. I've read nearly every article at WAPF.org and I've searched the internet for additional resources on soaking. All the quotes are a bit circular, but it all points back to Weston A. Price Foundation. Right after I started reading about soaking I tried to start my own sourdough starter. Hehehe...yeah, two seriously failed attempts that never really went much past "active" before they went moldy on me overnight. And I live in the high desert! I never did get to make anything close to sourdough bread. So, I backed it up and now I'm just trying to get down the basics of making bread...without the complications of soaking. Too bad our ubuntu linux isn't cooperating with any video players right now...would love to see the "demo".
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I love above rubies!!! :D So thankful for them! And YOU! :D
Thanks for the encouragement!
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I love baking and have been dying to try sourdough bread. I can't wait to hear how it goes for you. Maybe I'll give it a try tomorrow.
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This might be a dumb question, but was the pot she was stirring it in considered metallic? I ask b/c I think the only thing that I have big enough to stir it up in is my big stock pot and just wanted to make sure that would be ok?
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In my experience with various sourdoughs, you don't want to store your starter in a metallic bowl, but I've never had a problem with mixing up the bread dough in a metal bowl.
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Neat! I just keep bookmarking neat things on your blog I want to try later LOL typing is fairly easy with a baby attached but baking sourdough might not.
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I've always wanted to make sourdough bread, but for whatever reason I've always been a little intimidated. I'll have to give it a try! Thanks for the info!
~Kate
"Which Proverbs 14:1 Woman?"
http://proverbs14-1.blogspot.com
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Michelle, I hadn't heard of that 5 minute bread. My thoughts are (that is, without reading the book or knowing too much about it) that I wouldn't want to make bread with the dough on the first day, but after that I think that it would be sufficiently soaked. Only thing is, it doesn't include any acidic medium (ie. buttermilk, whey, lemon juice, etc.) so I would want to try adding some of that in. It's a really neat idea, though!
Stacey, I also thought the pot she was using would be metallic, so I am wondering if she was referring to what you use to store your starter in (I was a bit distracted when I heard her say that, so I might have missed the context). Other seem to agree with that though, so I will probably go with that.
Megan, I think making your own bread is totally the first step anyways, soaked or not! It's too bad you've had a hard time getting a sourdough starter to work. Have you considered purchasing one online? I am most likely going to try that myself, although I have made successful starters before.
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This is fabulous! You totally read my mind! I phoned my Mom just yesterday asking if she could tell me how to make sourdough bread (she couldn't)! Thank yoU!!
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I am soooo grateful for my sourdough starter and recipe. I had wanted to start making yeast bread but was intimidated by the thought of it. A friend said I should try her sourdough recipe. This is what I do.
I feed the starter with water, flour and honey in the morning and set the jar out on the counter. Then at night I put some more water, flour, sugar, salt and oil and a cup of starter with 6 cups flour (4 white and 2 wheat). I stir it in the bowl with a wooden spoon, then leave it over night. In the morning I separate it into two loaves and bake for 30 minutes!!! It is soooo easy!!! So much easier than Seren's method. Check out my blog for pictures.
http://susanshomespunlife.blogspot.com
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Hi there! I've been lurking around for a few months. Love all your tips! I decided to try out Serene's sourdough recipe this past weekend. I actually cut down the recipe 1/6, because there's just the two of us (plus I really didn't want to be stuck with a huge sticky glob of dough if it didn't work out!) I mixed the starter, whole wheat flour, water, and salt, then used my Kitchen Aid mixer to knead with the dough hook. I was going to use my hands, but I guess I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to messes :) Once the dough was really stretchy, I poured it all into a greased pan and left it out overnight. The next morning, it had raised beautifully, I stuck it in the oven for an hour, and ended up with FLUFFY whole wheat sourdough bread! No white flour, dough enhancers, or sweetener! My husband was so excited that I had finally found the "perfect recipe." Thanks so much!
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I just started making Serene's bread. The first time I added extra water and it came out aweful.
The second time I followed the recipe and it was OK, but wet-ish.
The third time (for a half recipe) I used 2 1/4 c. water instead of 3 c. and I think it came out perfect. :)
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Hi there! I'm hoping to try this recipe this week. Finding rye was a challenge for me as I wanted to get the whole berries to grind. I have what I need except the starter so hopefully I can get that going today. How is it going for you? I know two people who have made this and have tried both of theirs. The dough was definitely sour, but it was good.
I noticed that Serene mixes in a large metal bowl which contradicts what she said about mixing in metal. I'm not sure that it would make too much of a difference due to the amount of time the batch would actually be touching metal. I plant to try the Bosch plastic mixing bowl though.
Take care,
Jolene
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Gotta love the simplicity of this bread! I'm definitely going to try it, since my first attempt at sourdough created bricks :( So thanks so much for posting this!
Blessings to you and your lovely family,
Peg
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