Sourdough Extraordinaire

My sourdough starter is rocking and rolling.

That is some active wild yeast.

Look at those bubbles!

My starter is growing like mad and so it is time to use it to make some bread and then throw the rest in the fridge for a rest until we need another loaf.  With all this starter, I could make a loaf or two a day but nobody needs to eat that THAT much bread!

To make sourdough bread I mixed together:
2 1/3 cups sourdough starter
3 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup water
1 tbs sea salt

My dough was very wet and so next time I would reduce the amount of water.  Also, after the fact, I thought that I should have used my homemade buttermilk instead of water.   Luckily I have lots time to perfect this recipe. The next step was kneading and kneading.

After a while I thought, "This is silly, there must be a better way".  So, I whipped out the KitchenAid Mixer and dough hook.  As the mixer was going I wondered what would happen if I over-kneaded the dough.   After some googling, the consensus is that over-kneaded dough is tough and needs to be left to rise longer.

Meanwhile, I stashed the rest of the starter in the fridge.

 I left the dough to rise over night.

I pounded it down this morning and put it into a heavily greased bread pan sprinkled with corn meal.  I left it to rise again.

During nap time I cut an X into the top and threw it into the oven at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes (until it reached an internal temperature of 210 degrees F).  The loaf is slightly misshapen (I figure this adds to its charm) but it turned a beautiful golden brown.

Once cooled, we spread slices with my homemade cultured butter.  Perhaps it is not the most beautiful loaf but its is entirely homemade and oh so delicious.