Basic But Beautiful Sourdough Bread

Total Time: 3 hrs 5 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs 20 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups sponge proofed sourdough starter
• 3 cups unbleached flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or 2 tablespoons softened margarine
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt

Recipe

• 1 pour the sponge in a bowl and add the sugar, salt and oil or margarine.
• 2 mix well and then knead in the flour a half-cup at a time.
• 3 knead in enough flour to make a good, flexible bread dough- you may use slightly more or less than the three cups indicated, depending on how runny your starter is.
• 4 just keep adding until it looks like any other bread dough.
• 5 you can add the flour by hand, with an electric mixer, a bread machine on dough cycle or a food processor.
• 6 find a warm place and let the dough rise, covered loosely by a towel (i use my airing cupboard but a slightly warm oven works well too-- don't keep it on, just turn it on for a moment to warm it up before turning it off and putting the dough in).
• 7 if you're using a bread machine's dough cycle, let it rise in the machine.
• 8 note that sourdough rises more slowly than yeast bread.
• 9 just let it keep going until it's doubled in bulk.
• 10 punch the dough down and knead it a little more.
• 11 make a loaf and place it on a lightly greased baking sheet.
• 12 slit the top if you like, and cover the loaf with a paper towel and place it in a warm place to rise again, until doubled in bulk.
• 13 place the pan with the loaf in your oven, and then turn your oven to 350 f or 190 c and bake the bread for 30-45 minutes.
• 14 do not preheat the oven.
• 15 the loaf is done when the crust is brown and the bottom sounds hollow when thumped with a wooden spoon.
• 16 turn the loaf out onto a cooling rack or a towel and let it cool for an hour before slicing.