Sourdough Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (227 grams) ripe (fed) sourdough
• 1 1/2 cups (340 grams) lukewarm water
• 1 - 2 teaspoons instant yeast*
• 2 1/2 tsp salt
• 5 cups (602 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour

Instructions:

1. * If you're sure your starter is healthy and vigorous, and you don't mind potentially extending somewhat the rise times listed above, use 1 teaspoon yeast. If your starter seems a bit lethargic (or you want to keep your rise times on the shorter side), go with 2 teaspoons.

2. Combine all ingredients, kneading to form a smooth dough.

3. Lightly grease a large glass or plastic bowl, place the dough in the bowl, then flip the dough so the greased part is now on the top. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap loosely placed over the bowl and place in a warm place (I place mine on the stovetop with the microwave light on above it). Allow the dough to rise until it's doubled in size, about 90 minutes.

4. Once the dough has risen, gently divide the dough in half; it'll deflate somewhat.

5. Gently shape the dough into two oval, round, or long loaves. Place the loaves on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. You can also use a dutch oven** or oven crock** for these which makes the bread chewier and crustier. Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 450°F.

6. Spray the loaves with lukewarm water. Make two fairly deep diagonal slashes in each; a serrated bread knife works well for this.

7. Bake the bread for 25-30 minutes, until it's a very deep golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a rack.

8. **If you are baking the bread in a dutch oven or covered bread crock:

   • For the 2nd rise, place your dough on a towel or parchment paper in a large bowl instead of forming it into loaves.
   • You will need to preheat your pot roughly 30 minutes before your rising dough is ready to bake.
   • When you are ready to put your bread in the dutch oven or crock, apply a gentle coating of vegetable oil-based non-stick spray and sprinkle in some semolina flour or cornmeal. (Be careful during this step — the pot may smoke slightly when prepared.) Remove the towel or parchment paper with the dough and slide your hand under the towel or piece of parchment paper and turn the dough over into the pot. You can gently shake the pot from side to side to help the dough settle evenly in the bottom. Don’t worry if your dough doesn’t look picture-perfect here; it will turn into a beautiful, golden loaf as it bakes.
   • Make a few slashes in the top of your loaf (a lame works well for this), and then put the lid on.
   • Bake for 20 minutes; remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes, until the loaf browns fully.