White Sourdough Sandwich Bread
CATEGORIES
INGREDIENTS
- Cooking Time: 1 hour
- Servings: 3 loaves of bread
- 3 - 5" x 8" loaf pans
- 2 3/4 cups sourdough starter at 100% hydration
- 3 3/4 scalded milk, cooled to below 115' F
- 10 1/4 cups bread flour
- 1 1/2 TB salt
- 1/4 cup melted butter plus more to brush the dough
- Butter or shortening to grease pans
DIRECTIONS
- We're going to start off by making a poolish by combining your starter with milk and half of the flour, in a large bowl.Set aside for 1 hour.
- Once that hour is up, add in 1/4 cup melted butter, salt and as much of the remaining flour as you can while still mixing with a spoon. Then turn it out onto a well floured surface and knead in more of that flour until you have a soft, non-sticky dough.
- Oil a large bowl, place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to double in size.
- Prepare your loaf pans by brushing the insides with melted butter. Turn the dough out onto a floured surfaceDivide into 3 equal parts and shape into loaves. Place them into your prepared loaf pans. Brush the tops with melted butter, cover with plastic wrap
- Allow to rise for about 2 hours, or until the tops are above the rim of the pans (picture above is prior to rise).
- Preheat your oven to 450' F. Place a large pan on the bottom rack in the oven and careful pour in a cup or two of boiling water.
- If you'd like, slash the center of each loaf with a sharp knife, down the center (I forgot to do that...no big deal). Also, this next stage I didn't do which is to mist the tops of the loaves with water. (I don't have a water mister in my kitchen...silly me). Then spray them a few more times, every 2 minutes during the first 15 minutes of baking.
- Place them on a rack that is positioned in the center of the oven. After the first 15 minutes, turn the oven temp down to 350' F and bake for 40 more minutes or until the inside temperature of the bread is 190-195' F.
- Carefully take the bread out of the pans and allow to cool on a rack before slicing.
- For softer bread: As soon as you place the bread on the cooling rack, before it cools.....brush all the sides with melted butter. Cover with a damp paper towel and plastic wrap and allow to cool before slicing
RECIPE BACKSTORY
It's one thing to make great artisan type breads, baguettes, rolls, etc. I love them all. But the Frugal Franny in me (or maybe it's the Little House on the Prairie character in me.... and no, I refuse to be Nelly although Nelly was pretty hysterical as a stand-up comedian but that's a story for a different time) I have this desire to make sandwich bread. Loaves that look like the kind of bread I grew up on...only I made them. Something you wouldn't think twice about when grabbing a slice for toast in the morning