San Francisco Sourdough Bread

This recipe for Basic San Francisco Sourdough Bread comes from Peter Reinhart’s book, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. I’ve had great success with it and I hope you do too!

You may use the recipe for Sourdough Seed Culture and Barm from the previous post, or your own active starter. Please keep in mind this is at least a two day process, possibly three, depending on how long you choose to ferment the dough. As I always advise, read through the entire recipe before proceeding.

Here is a list of ingredients and equipment you will need for San Francisco Sourdough Bread.

barm (mother starter)
bread flour or other high-gluten flour (like whole wheat)
salt
cornmeal or semolina flour (for dusting)
olive oil
medium and large mixing bowls (glass, plastic, stoneware, acrylic, stainless steel are all okay, just avoid uncoated metals like copper or aluminum)
food scale (optional)
proofing bowls OR sheet pan lined with parchment paper (I use the sheet pan)
pizza stone OR sheet pan for baking (I have a pizza stone so I use it sometimes, not always.)
spray bottle for water
heavy-duty pan to fill with water for steam; should fit on the bottom of the oven

San Francisco Sourdough Bread

(makes 2 loaves)

Firm Starter

2/3 cup (113 g) barm (mother starter)

1 cup (128 g) bread flour or other high-gluten flour

2 – 4 tablespoons (28 – 57 g) water, lukewarm

olive oil

Final Dough

4 1/2 cups (574 g) bread flour or other high-gluten flour

2 teaspoons (14 g) salt

Firm Starter – use all (approximately 269 g)

1 3/4 cups water ((397 g)

Day 1: Make the Firm Starter

(Begin with an activated barm/starter: The standard rule for refreshing and activating the barm is to discard half, then double the remaining half with equal parts bread flour and room-temp water. You may triple or quadruple the amount for a less sour tasting dough. Afer the discard I weigh the remaining barm, add half its weight in flour and half its weight in water, stir and cover. You may be far less precise and eyeball it for a similar result. Cover and allow the refreshed starter to ferment at room-temp until it becomes bubbly. It’s now ready to use, or you may refrigerate it overnight for a more developed fermentation.)

If your activated barm is refrigerated, remove it 1 hour before you measure it out for the firm starter. Dip the measuring cup in water to prevent the barm from sticking when you scoop it out into a mixing bowl. Allow the measured barm to sit, covered, and warm up for an additional hour.

Stir the barm, flour, and 2 tablespoons of water together in a mixing bowl. Using your hands, continue to work it into a smooth ball, adding more water if necessary. Lightly oil a small bowl and turn the dough to coat it. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to ferment for 4 – 6 hours, or until it has doubled in size. (sorry, not pictured doubled). Place it in the refrigerator overnight.

Day 2: Make the Final Dough

Remove the firm starter from the fridge and cut it into 10 pieces. Allow it to sit, covered, for one hour to take the chill off before proceeding with the final dough.

Mix the flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir in the firm starter and water with a large metal spoon or the dough hook of the mixer until the dough is fully combined and forms a ball.

To knead by hand: Transfer to a counter or large cutting board and knead the dough for 10 minutes. To knead in mixer: Mix on low with the dough hook for 4 minutes. Allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes, then mix for an addtional 4 minutes.

The dough should be smooth and a little tacky as shown, but not sticky. Add a little more flour or water as needed. Place the dough in an x-large mixing bowl; coat with oil and cover with plastic wrap.

San Francisco Sourdough — **Too Sticky**

STRETCH & FOLD: Set a timer for 20 minutes. After the time is up, take the dough out and stretch and fold it as shown, repeat until it it feels to tight to continue and place it back in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Repeat this stretching process two more times, then leave the dough to rise, covered, at room temp for 4 – 6 hours.

When the dough has risen to approximately twice its size, it’s time to shape it for the final rise. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and sprinkle it with cornmeal to prevent the loaves from sticking to the paper. (If you have fancy proofing bowls, by all means use them instead!)

Turn the dough out onto a cutting board and cut it in half with a sharp knife, being careful to not deflate the dough any more than is necessary. Gently shape into two loaves, round “boules” (as shown), oblong “batards” or baguettes. Place them on the prepared sheet pan, drizzle or spray olive oil on top of the loaves and cover with plastic wrap.

Same day bake: Allow the loaves to proof for 2 – 4 hours. They should be 1 1/2 times their size.

Next day bake: Refrigerate the loaves overnight and take then out to proof 4 hours before baking.

Bake

Preheat oven to 450ºF – 500ºF. (Use the higher temp if you have good ventilation – Mine isn’t ideal, so I adjusted from the original recipe down to 450ºF). If you are using a pizza stone, put it in the cold oven and preheat it as well. Place a heavy-duty pan on the bottom of the oven to use for steam.

You may also bake the loaves on the sheet pan you proofed them on – which is what I did this time. I also like to use the baking stone, but this is a bit easier (and, frankly, less likely to set off my smoke alarm because the transfer can cause the cornmeal to fall to the bottom of the oven and smoke).

Score the dough by making a few slits on top with a sharp knife or use kitchen shears (as shown) to make crisscross designs.

To create the crusty, chewy crust we love about artisan sourdough, we need to create steam in the oven. The method in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice uses both a steam pan and spray bottle at the beginning of the bake to achieve a beautiful color and texture.

Place the bread in the preheated oven on the sheet pan or slide it off the paper onto the pizza stone.

With the oven open, drape a kitchen towel over the glass door to prevent shattering (rare, but it can happen when hit with water) and pour 1 cup of hot water into the steam pan. Be very careful, use oven mitts to protect your hands. Close the oven.

Keep the oven closed for 30 seconds then open it and spray the oven walls with water, a few good sprays on the sides and back, not directly on the bread (it’s okay if some hits the bread). Close the oven and repeat this 2 more times in 30-second intervals.

Allow the bread to bake for 12-14 minutes, then rotate it 180 degrees. Bake another 12 – 20 minutes, until the loaves are a rich golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when thumped.