Sourdough Win!

Hot out of the oven.

I made sourdough bread again this weekend. It was my fourth effort, and this one was a winner!

I followed the recipe from Cooks Illustrated, tweaking it only very slightly. I tried the recipe once before, and ended up with loaves that had the correct sourdough taste and texture, but a very low profile. This time, I kneaded the heck out of the dough and let it proof for an hour longer on the second rising. Minor tweaks for next time: refresh the starter for one more day (the recipe calls for 3 feedings, starting two nights before you begin making the dough), and remember to drop the oven temperature from 500 to 450 after putting the loaves in. These cooked lickety-split and I nearly burned the bottoms.

Last week's bread attempt was sourdough pumpernickel, which had the same slumping problem I described above. I'll manhandle another batch of that dough this coming weekend and see if it makes for a prettier finished product.