Natural Starter Bread

Agreed that this is an excellent intro to nartural sourdough bread. She gave me the courage to get my own starter going, and I've been making this bread for several months now. While it demands slightly more time and attention than the no-knead (which I had been making weekly since the day the Times published it) I've made this my new staple bread. I use a 1/3 wheat, 2/3 white mix and it works well with the amount of hydration she recommends. I do not start in a cold oven. That was not a successful loaf. Also, I had hard time getting all the salt incorportaed after a 20 minute wait, so I just stir it in with the flour to no ill effect that I have noticed.

This is one of the best written sourdough (or wild yeast) recipes and how-to's that I've come across online. If you've ever considered trying this, you couldn't find a better place to start.

She doesn't detail exactly how to get your own starter going, but provides some very good links to other, more comprehensive guides. I used the 'pineapple juice method' myself, and found that it took about a week before I had a suitable starter going.

She has great information on care and feeding of a starter once it's going, and then has clear and comprehensive instructions on baking a truly excellent loaf. What I like about this is that it's fairly simple and makes use of a couple of techniques that have become more popular lately among home bakers - stretch and fold to strengthen the dough, and baking in a cast iron pot.

Interestingly, unlike the 'no-knead' technique of Jim Lahey and Mark Bittman fame, here you put the risen dough in the pot cold, then turn on the oven. An hour later you have a fabulous loaf.

I made my first one with 60% bread flour, 40% whole wheat and it was excellent - great crispy crust, nice crumb, and a mild sourdough flavour.

Update: I've been making this for three weeks now, and it continues to be excellent. I've experimented with doing a refrigerator rise overnight and baking in the morning, and found that it wasn't really any more sour, but it was more convenient. I've taken it all the way up to 100% whole wheat, with very satisfactory results. I did, however, add a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten as she recommends, otherwise it would be a much denser bread.