Sour Dough Bread - Success

After building up my sour dough starter for about five days, adding 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup unbleached white flour and warm water each day, I decided to try the following recipe from my favorite homesteading book.

I used the Sourdough Whole Wheat Bread Recipe with some changes.

The night before, I combined 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup starter, and 3 1/4 cup lukewarm water. I left this in the bowl upstairs where it is stays a consistently warm temperature. Early this afternoon I added 1 t. baking soda, 1/2 cup oil, 2 t. salt, and enough flour to make a kneadable dough (about 5 cups - I used white flour for 3 of these cups). The dough does tend to be sticky. I melted 4 tablespoons of butter and divided evenly among three bread pans. Then the dough was divided into three loaves and I coated each loaf with the butter in the pan and set the pans by the woodstove for about 2 hours. Next they were baked in 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.

The good news is that everyone in my family loved it. The bread did not have a super strong sour dough taste which some of the children had not been overly fond of with my old starter. It made a nice and soft, moist, tasty bread with a slightly crunchy crust.

I will continue to feed the starter each day - about 1/4 cup flour and nearly 1/2 cup warm water. If I know I won't be using it for awhile, it can be stored in the refrigerator without feeding.

Warm wishes, Tonya