San Francisco Sourdough by macy

[rottiedogs]

San Francisco Sourdough
Submitted by macy on December 30, 2002 at 4:10 pm

DESCRIPTION
San Francisco Sourdough

SUMMARY
Yield 0 File under sourdough

INSTRUCTIONS
This may not be authentic or as sour without the SF culture, but I got really good sourdough tang with it using just my local strains. It calls for a seed culture or "chef" maintained at 100% hydration, i.e., with equal parts water and 20% bran wheat flour* by weight, not by volume (see below for info about the flour). Feed the chef and let it sit 1 to 3 days at room temperature before making the levain. I only gave mine 24 hours because I was afraid the critters wouldn’t make it through all the long fermentations, but they did fine. Just make sure your starter is active before you begin. The amount of levain used in most of the sourdoughs in this book (Bread Alone) is 18 ounces, but the SF recipe only uses 8, so you might want to scale back on the volume there. Maybe 8 ounces of seed culture and 2 ounces flour? The point is to end up with a stiff dough. This bread takes advance planning because it can’t be made in one day.
-Macy

"This famous light and airy California bread gets its tang from the traditional French technique of using some ripe levain mixed with a little flour and water to develop a poolish before mixing the final dough. A very long fermentation of the poolish develops the highly acidic acids that give the popular bread its pronounced flavor. But remember, the older your chef, the stronger sour punch your bread will have."

Makes 2 long 14-inch loaves or 2 round 9-inch loaves

24 ounces chef (seed culture or starter)
6 ounces (1 1/4 cups) 20% bran wheat flour*

8 ounces (2/3 cup) Levain
8 fluid ounces (1 cup) Spring water
8 ounces (1½ cups) Organic white flour with germ*

the entire Poolish
16 fluid ounces (2 cups) Spring water
27-32 ounces (5½-6½ cups) Organic white flour with germ*
3/4 ounce (1 tablespoon) Fine sea salt

Add the flour directly into the container with the full batch of room-temperature, batterlike ripe chef. Stir vigorously to add fresh oxygen to the mixture. This will form a stiff consistency more like a stiff dough than a batter. This firm texture is important for ripening levain, because a dense rather than loose levain creates delicious sour bread without an overpowering tangy bite. Scrape down the sides, cover tightly, and let stand in a cool to moderate (about 70ºF) draft-free place for 8 to 10 hours.

The levain should have doubled in volume. The texture will be somewhat light, with many tiny bubbles throughout. Do not let the levain stand for longer than 10 hours, or the yeast will become exhausted and not raise the final dough.

Combine the levain and water in a 2-quart clear plastic container with a lid. Break up the levain well with a wooden spoon or squeeze through your fingers until it is broken up. Stir until the levain is partly dissolved and the mixture is slightly frothy. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until very thick and sticky. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a moderately warm (74-80ºF) place.

Measure the ingredients and calculate the temperatures. Combine the poolish and water in a 6-quart bowl. Break up the poolish well with a wooden spoon and stir until the poolish becomes loose and the mixture slightly frothy. Add 2 cups (10 ounces) of the flour and the salt; stir until well combined. Add just enough of the remaining flour to make a thick mass that is difficult to stir. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding remaining flour when needed, until dough is firm and smooth, 15 to 17 minutes total. Or make in a heavy-duty mixer. The dough is ready when a little dough pulled from the mass springs back quickly.

Shape the dough into a ball and let it rest on a lightly floured surface while you scrape, clean, and lightly oil the large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Take the dough's temperature: the ideal is 78º. Cover with a clean damp towel or plastic wrap and put in a moderately warm (74-80ºF) draft-free place until doubled in volume. Note: If the dough temperature is higher than 78º, put it in a cooler than 78º place like the refrigerator until the dough cools to 78º. If it is lower than 78º, put it in a warmer than 78º place until the dough warms to 78º. The point is to try to keep the dough at 78º during its fermentation. If you have to move the dough, be gentle and don’t jostle it, or the dough may deflate.

Deflate the dough by pushing down in the center and pulling up on the sides. Cover with a clean damp towel or plastic wrap and put in a moderately warm (74-80º) draft-free place for 30 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board and knead briefly. Shape into a tight ball. Cover with a clean damp towel or plastic wrap, and put in a moderately warm (74-80º) draft-free place for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Flatten each with the heel of your hand on a lightly floured board. The dough may be very soft and loose at this point. Shape into 12-inch-long torpedoes. The torpedo is the classic San Francisco sourdough shape. You may also choose to shape the dough into rounds.

Place the torpedoes, seam side up in a well-floured couche. Cover with a clean damp towel or plastic wrap. Put in a moderately warm (74-80ºF) draft-free place until increased in volume about 1 1/2 times, or until a slight indentation remains when the dough is pressed with a fingertip. (Place rounds on a cornmeal-dusted surface to rise.)

Forty-five minutes to 1 hour before baking, preheat the oven and homemade hearth or baking stone on the center rack of the oven to 450ºF.

The oven rack must be in the center of the oven. If it is in the lower third of the oven, the bottoms of the breads may burn, and if it is in the upper third, the top crusts may burn.

Gently roll one loaf from the couche onto a lightly floured peel so that it sits seam side down. Using a very sharp, serrated knife or a single-edged razor blade, score the loaf by making quick shallow cuts 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep along the surface. Using the peel, slide the loaf onto the hearth. Quickly repeat the process with the second loaf. Quickly spray the inner walls and floor of the oven with cold water from a spritzer bottle. If there’s an electric light bulb in the oven, avoid spraying it directly-it may burst. Spray for several seconds until steam has filled the oven. Quickly close the door to trap the steam and bake 3 minutes. Spray again in the same way, closing the door immediately so that steam doesn’t escape. Bake until loaves begin to color, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 425ºF. and bake until loaves are a rich caramel color and the crust is firm, 15 to 20 minutes.

To test for doneness, remove and hold the loaves upside down. Strike the bottoms firmly with your finger. If the sound is hollow, the breads are done. If it doesn’t sound hollow, bake 5 minutes longer. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Daniel Leader has a preference for unbleached, organic stone-ground flours for their superior flavor. Both flours specified in this recipe are 12-14% protein, which puts them into the bread flour category--a suitable substitute if you don’t want to fuss with specialty flours. If you would like to approximate these flours without mail ordering, here’s how to do it:

For each cup of bread flour, add 1 tablespoon raw or toasted wheat germ.

Mix 3 parts white flour with germ to 1 part stone-ground whole wheat flour (medium or fine grind).

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• This topic was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by rottiedogs.

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