King Arthur Sourdough ..No Knead for Patrick

 Pandemic bread was a thing these last few years.  It has the benefit of tasting pretty good and also of being pretty foolproof.  My biggest issue was keeping the starter alive since I don’t bake frequently enough to keep the starter alive without wasting a lot in discard.  I found a cheater recipe for the starter that has worked well for me.  I can get a starter going and ready to use in only two days.  Once I have a starter going, I usually keep it going for a few months….but eventually I forget it, or go on a trip …..and I’ve left it too long…..so I just start over. I use this quick starter from over here at Cappersfarmer.com.  Once you have an active sourdough starter…..I really liked the instructions and recipes from King Arthur Flour right here.  The basic recipe makes a nice traditional sourdough.  If I want to make a little more of a European Rye…..I alter their basic recipe as below….

Light Caraway Rye

1 cup (227g) fed and active starter

1 3/4 cup (397g) water Luke warm

4 cups (480g) unbleached flour

1cup (120g) dark rye flour

1 Tbsp (18g) salt

2 tsp molasses 

1 Tbsp caraway seeds

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and follow directions for stretch and fold as per King Arthur site.  This amounts to…pulling all the ingredients together into a shaggy ball using a dough whisk or wooden spoon.  Leave to sit covered to rest and allow the gluten to develop for 1 hour, then give the dough 4 stretch and folds before covering and repeating 3 more times.  Then cover and let rest in a cool place for 8-24 hours.  The longer you let it rest, the more pronounced the sourdough flavour becomes. I usually begin making bread after supper, so the long rest occurs over night.  In the morning I get up and set the bowl at room temperature for 30 minutes before shaping.  I then put the shaped loaf upside down in a covered floured banneton for an hour.  Heat your oven to 500F.  Once it has heated, turn your loaf right side up onto a piece of parchment, slash the top and place it with the parchment into a cast iron casserole with lid and put in the oven.  Immediately turn oven down to 450F and set timer for 40 minutes.  At 40 minutes remove the lid and continue baking until the loaf reads 205-210F.  Remove from oven and pull out loaf using the parchment and set on a wire rack to cool.  Cool loaf before cutting.