Sourdough Sandwich Bread
So I went looking yesterday for a sourdough sandwich loaf...I am embarrassed to say we've been buying San Francisco Extra Sourdough sandwich bread at the grocery store for awhile and it's up to $4.00 per loaf! I make a pretty passable sourdough boule so why not sourdough sandwich I thought? I went looking for a recipe and found one here on TFL. I think it's an adaption of Susan's Farm House Loaf (also another favorite from this site) adapted for sourdough starter. Mixed up the prefermement last night and baked today. Here's the link to kjknits adaption (back in '07 I think!): http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3715/sourdough-sandwich-bread. I had good results/not so good results:
Nice spring right?
Woops ... Check the Other Side:
Just a wee bit of a blowout - two or three years ago this wouldn't have bothered me so much - today yep - gotta do better next time...
Nice crust crackle:
Crumb:
Although it wasn't in the instructions next time I will definitely slash before baking. It will still make great sandwiches and toast. Flavor is good though I think it could use a bit more salt next time.
Trish
Hi Trish,
Certainly no lack of spring in those loaves at all. Maybe you could avoid giving them a slash next time if you scaled the dough down a few ounces and gave it a longer final proof. The recipe in the link doesn't give a final scaling weight, but a standard scaling weight for typical panned loaves is 1lb-3oz. Panned bread will often look more fully proofed than it actually is if the scaling weight is more than the pan is meant for.
Franko
I scaled these to about 580 grams each which is about 1.5 oz over your recommended 1 pound 3 oz. They were huge when I put them in the oven so I assumed they were fully proofed. Any tips on how you can tell when a loaf in a pan is fully proofed would ge greatly appreciated.
Trish
Trish,
The finger press method is usually your best indicator of when the loaf is ready. When you press the dough with the pad of your finger, the dough should hold the impression and not spring back or spring back very slowly. Another way that is generally reliable is if the dough has risen above the top of the pan by two fingers in height. If you put your index and middle finger together and lay them horizontally along the top of the short side of the pan, the loaf should be this high. No guarantee that this will apply to your particular dough since it's just a general guide for pan bread. Hope this helps.
Franko