Pain au Levain

I've had a desire to make sourdough bread for several years. I can make good bread - but take away my commercial yeast and I am rather helpless. Conquering sourdough has become one of my goals.

First I needed a sourdough starter. I actually made several attempts in the last few years with no success.

Peter's directions for a sourdough starter were different then most others that I've seen and his was the first that actually worked for me! When I made my first loaf of Pain au Levain, by the "purist" directions containing no commercial yeast, I felt I was watching a miracle! This bread contains flour, water, and salt. That is it! And it was delicious! I just couldn't believe it could puff up and raise with the strength of the wild yeast alone!

I do think I could have baked it a little longer, which gives me something to try next time. I followed the directions exactly and made no variations. Next time I'd also like to add some extra whole wheat flour.

This was my first attempt with a recipe using my newly formed sourdough starter. I was determined to use the "purist” version to test my sourdough starter.

As with the 100% Whole Wheat Sourdough, I did have some issue with proofing. I made one loaf using the back of a sheet pan and the other with a bowl lined with a floured towel. The tastes of the two loaves were identical, but the 2nd loaf was much thicker since it was proofed inside the bowl.

I emailed Peter and I would emphasize when making your starter for recipe to wait for it to double in size instead of 6 to 8 hours because if the mother starter you are using is very old (not refreshed in a few weeks) it will take longer to double in size and this is an important step. Mine took almost 12 hours to double.

The end result had very good flavor and I would recommend making this recipe as your standard sourdough recipe.