Beautiful loaf, Susan! But how could you? I was just getting the hang of your other sourdough and now you tempt me with this beauty. The recipe is already in my trusty notebook and I have a question. What do you mean by the starter being made the way Peter R suggested? Did you make a different one from your usual? Will it work in wet and cold WA? (Just kidding on the last one) Thanks for sharing, again, A.

That is a beautiful looking loaf.  I can see why you'd be happy with it!  I'm new to sourdough, so I hope you don't mind a question- you don't mention steam or spraying, etc.  Does covering the loaf replace that?  Does it keep it moist longer too?  What do you cover it with? Whoops- three questions! 

Marni

I have been looking for an uncomplicated sourdough recipe and this looks pretty darn easy! I know what my baking project for the week-end is going to be. My starter (Jim 3 named after a contributor here who has since moved on...) has been out of the fridge and warming and getting fed the past two days - I'll report back with my result. I also am interested in hearing about Reinhart's starter method - I've got the book but I'm looking forward to your interpretation...

 Trish

That looks so good. I love the crust color. Congratulations on your find.

Beautiful crumb and a gorgeous crust with an attractive grigne.  I look forward to when I can finally produce loaves anywhere near this level of quality.

Thanks for enjoying this loaf with me. I've made it a few times, so it really is reproducible.

Annie and Trish, As our little TFL group left Peter Reinhart's class not long ago, he called out to refresh our starter using a 1:3:4 ratio. I went home and adopted that ratio, and it's been working well for me. I refresh using 15g:45g:60 or 30:90:120 depending on how much I want to keep around. btw, I've been refreshing my starter about once a week, and immediately put it in back in the fridge (Thanks, Mike A.). I can use it the next day, and for the next 5 days (so far) to start dough, without any further refreshment.

Marni, covering the loaf for about half the baking time is a standard for me. Either put the loaf in a preheated Dutch Oven or roaster, or on a hot stone or cookie sheet with some type of covering, even just a stainless steel bowl, and it will make a tremendous difference in oven spring. Give it a try. You won't need to put water in the oven or spray. I make small loaves for the two of us and we eat 'em right up, so there's no waste. I've also found that sourdough bread lasts longer than yeast-risen bread.

Annie, it had better work in WA, or I'll be terribly embarrassed!

Jpfridy, you can do it, just make the same loaf over and over again until it's like you want, making small changes. Don't switch from recipe to recipe, hoping to find one that will work for you. It's not the recipe so much as technique.

May your bread rise,

Susan from San Diego

Susan, I've had a question about your Magic Bowl method and now seems to be the time to ask it.

In using either the Pyrex or the stainless steel bowl, do you preheat it in the oven before using it to cover the bread, rinse it out with hot water but have it otherwise cold, or just put it over the bread cold after you put the bread in?

I preheated it the first time I used it, and got wonderful oven spring. The second time I did not preheat it and the boule just sat there, but it was a different dough recipe, so I don't know whether to change the recipe or the bowl temperature.

Thanks for any help forthcoming.

Mary

I quickly scanned the other comments. I have a question. Is it very sour? Or quite neutral in taste? It's beautiful!

You made a beautiful loaf that I'm going to try today. That's just what I like my bread to look like and sometimes I get it and sometimes not but your recipe looks so easy I'm going to give it a try. I've been making Nury's Rye and my own rye in the Le Creuset and I'm very happy with both but this looks too good to pass up. Great job Susan.                                                                                                                           weavershouse

Brilliant, Susan! It looks fabulous. 

About what temperature is your "warm" spot for proofing?

-Elizabeth

Mary, I've done both, and I really can't tell any difference. When I use a Pyrex bowl, I usually heat some water in it in the microwave, but mainly just to heat the bowl before it goes in the oven, for safety's sake. Don't know if it actually is safer, but that's what I do. I pour the hot water in the sink before the bowl goes in the oven. Make sure you put a kitchen towel over the glass in your oven door in case you drip water; don't want any broken oven windows! Using a stainless steel bowl is easier, it won't break and it's so thin that pre-heating couldn't possibly matter, imho. I don't rinse a stainless bowl. And please don't burn yourself!

Elizabeth, I put a cup of boiling water in my microwave along with the dough to proof it. Seems like it's about 83-85F. I usually change the water out once, when it gets cold.

Jane, I see where you're coming from! That's a question I find very hard to answer. I made a loaf of commercial-yeast bread the other day and found it bland compared with my naturally leavened bread. And day-old sourdough bread is much more sour than fresh sourdough bread. This bread is not neutral, nor is it like SF sourdough, it's somewhere in between. Sorry I can't give you a definitive answer. People taste sour differently, too, so it's hard to know what others consider sour.

Weavershouse, you've been a big help to me, whether you know it or not; thanks for the compliment.

Another thing, I've been very free about putting the dough in the fridge when I had to, or overnight.

Thanks again, everybody! I hope I've answered all your questions. If not, just ask. Good luck.

Susan from San Diego

Hi, Susan.What a beautiful loaf!It's hard to believe how easy it sounds to make compared to many sourdough breads. I'm going to give it a try!Thanks!
David

Thanks for the answer, Susan. I think I will preheat, and switch to the metal bowl, although I do love the chance to watch it rise under the glass bowl.

And yes, we will be careful. We figure it's a four-handed job, which I think makes it a lot safer, as long as we don't get in each other's way.

Mary

and I'm going to try this also! I tried the bowl method before and had a problem because the SS bowl I have is really big and I ended up hitting my loaf with it when I took the bowl off. This time..I'll pull the rack out to lift the bowl off. Thanks for sharing!

... but that's a great looking loaf. Congrats Susan! And how lucky to have a class with PR. Wow.

Susan:

 I wanted you to know I quadrupled this recipe last week-end. I was going to have a house full since my kids and two grandkids (2 & 3) bought a house three blocks away from us (lucky me!!) and Sunday was moving day with a crew of all their buddies helping them move. My contribution was to watch the babies and feed everyone supper after the big move. I didn't get started on this quick enough on Saturday so after its 8 hour rise I had to retard it in the fridge overnight. I got it out Sunday morning, let it warm up a bit and then formed my four small loaves. They rose for four to five hours and then I scored and popped them, two at a time onto my hot stone and covered with a huge aluminum bowl I have. The fragrance while baking was amazing. Long story short, it's Tuesday morning and I have no loaves left! My daughter in law said the four loaves laying on the cooling rack looked like a picture in a cookbook. The little ones were walking around after supper with small slices of bread with a dab of butter munching away. (No better compliment than that, right?). Sorry, no pictures this time  - we were too busy and it disapeared too fast. Thanks for another great recipe!!

 Trish

Susan you have once again set a high standard using simplicity. This is a very nice recipe, easy to follow with super results. I love that you make small boules. The breads are always fresh and it's just enough for a dinner meal. Thanks for another great post!

Eric 

I doubled the recipe and we already ate them both. It was double delicious! Thanks again Susan. weavershouse

Thanks, David. You do beautiful breadwork! And I love your interaction with bwraith. Hope he's having fun on his trip.

Paddyscake, I'm always doing something like that. Just the other day I dumped a loaf right on the open oven door--splat! It was a pancake, of course, but the birds loved it.

JMonkey, I thoroughly enjoyed Peter's class. He really, really wanted us to have fun and be successful breadmakers.

Trish, so glad you had a good time with it. You are a lucky girl to have your grandchildren close by. They'll be helping you make bread before long.

Ah, Eric, didn't you know? Simplicity is my middle name. Thanks for your kind words.

And Weavershouse, your feedback is very much appreciated.

Also, if Jane's around, I did notice that my dough was very 'fragrant' coming out of the refrigerator this morning. Very earthy and sour-smelling. This loaf is 40% spelt. Now, if I can just keep from dropping it before it's baked.

Best to all, and thanks again.

Susan from San Diego