I have a friend who has never baked sourdough (or anything except challah with a bread machine) who is thinking of making sourdough. San Francisco sourdough is what she likes (i.e., white flour). She doesn’t need it to be artisan-type, she just wants a loaf of bread and probably won’t want to bother with steam or anything but a loaf pan. I have no experience baking sourdough this way and wonder if anyone can tell me what she can expect, or give tips on how to succeed.
Thanks for any input!
First things first… Has she made herself a starter yet?
Yes as Abe says get the starter done first.
In terms of what to expect, bread done without steam and in loaf pan or as bread rolls is still very nice. It won’t however get that thick chewy crust like on artisan sourdough - the ones I did without steam still have a nice crust but it’s not like you like from a dutch oven etc that’s all…
Generally when I use a loaf tin or make rolls I use some starter for flavouring and also use instant yeast in conjunction with the starter now - because if I’m not going for proper artisan sourdough I can’t see the point in mucking around and just knock it out quickly. That said, you certainly don’t need instant yeast and it’s good practice to try it without and it’s only a very small step to then do it with a dutch oven or cloche for an artisan crust.
One nice recipe springs to mind… Its by Teresa Greenway and its her version of a San Francisco Sourdough which is based upon the “Do Nothing Bread” by Yohan Ferrant. Its simple and with minimal handling. A 100% bread flour sourdough using time and temperature to develop the gluten and flavour. Makes a wonderful tasting bread. Check it out.
Here’s Eric’s easy bake video for a sandwich loaf – can be yeast or sourdough
And here’s a formula I threw together for a half whole grain sandwich loaf – only mentioning/linking to it because it has photos of the different stages.
Thanks for the great suggestions so far. The friend is a neighbor, so I’ll be giving her some of my starter, unless she chooses to make her own. Eric’s #3 video is great for her to understand the process and technique, even if she adapts it to a non-enriched dough that will be closer to a SF sourdough bread. And I will check out Teresa Greenway’s bread. Thanks to all.