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
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Oil a large bowl, place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to double in size.
  4. 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
  5. Allow to rise for about 2 hours, or until the tops are above the rim of the pans (picture above is prior to rise).
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. Carefully take the bread out of the pans and allow to cool on a rack before slicing.
  10. 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