Baking sourdough bread during the pandemic results in happy results like this one.
Lots of new folks are finding their way to Burnt My Fingers these days, and many head straight for our post on how to make sourdough bread in your Instant Pot. But it’s a bit of an (intentional) misdirection because we use the IP for proofing, not actual baking. If you want to get serious about baking sourdough bread during the pandemic, there are better places to start.
Do you need a sourdough starter? This post tells you how to get one including buying, borrowing or creating your own from scratch. Or try the paper bag method which seems quirky, but it works. Once you have a lively starter—one that produces bubbles within a few hours of feeding—you’re ready for your first loaf.
This recipe is what we used for years for a basic sourdough bread, and it has all the steps you want to follow plus measurements are in cups, not grams so you don’t need a scale. We later took a few classes at King Arthur’s wonderful baking school in Norwich, VT, and graduated to this more complex recipe which we use day in and day out; we shared it (along with our favorite starter) with a neighbor and she was able to achieve success on her very first loaf.
Our very favorite sourdough recipe? It would have to be this one for olive bread. It’s unusual because it requires a very large amount of rye starter (made the same way as a white flour starter, but with rye flour) but the recipe is not hard to follow and you are going to end up with a loaf you can be proud of.
Please do invest in one special piece of equipment, the Lodge 5-qt dutch oven which will give you professional quality loaves, with a beautiful crust and perfect crumb, in your home oven. You probably shouldn’t attempt baguettes on your first attempt, but when you’re ready check out this post for an equally successful home steaming method for baguettes.
Following all the above advice, we whipped up the sesame sourdough shown at the top which is probably as good a loaf as we’ve made. Try some of the many bread formulas already on the blog, and we’ll share the recipe next time.
