Sourdough sandwich loaf
Here's my go-to sandwich loaf recipe. This doubles nicely but that's a lotta bread. I think I got the original recipe from Reddit but I've made lots of modifications to it since.
Ingredience
- 275 g mature starter at 100% hydration (feed about 8-10 hours before starting)
- 200 g bread flour
- 200 g whole wheat flour
- 15 g sugar or honey
- 11 g kosher salt
- 15 g olive oil
- Water
- I've made this bread at various different hydrations. 180g of water will get you to like 58% or 60% hydration. I think this is a pretty good balance: a loaf with enough structure to make sandwiches, but also not dense, and reasonably easy to work with. 230g of water, which gets you to around 65% hydration, produces a lovely airy loaf that still has plenty of structure. I've even been experimenting with close to 250g; I've liked the result but I feel like I'm getting close to where the dough is just too loose to work with.
Method
Mix all the ingredients together until everything is uniform, adding water a little at a time until all the flour incorporates. The dough will be shaggy and sticky; see picture. Cover (I use a shower cap) and let it sit for 30 minutes (autolyse) somewhere warmish.
Now laminate: Spray a clean counter with a spray bottle and dump out your dough. Stretch the dough out as large and thin as you can without tearing it too much; this will help develop the gluten. Fold in three, then fold in three again lengthwise.
Shape the dough into a nice round ball with a smooth surface and put it into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover it and let it bulk ferment for 8-10 hours somewhere warm. You can stretch and fold a time or two during this bulk ferment if you want.
Shape the dough tightly, and put it into an oiled loaf pan (9x5). (My shaping is a little wonky here. That's ok.)
Two options for the second rise:
- Cover it and let it rest for 1-2 hours in a warm location, or until the dough rises to fill most of the pan.
- Cover it and refrigerate overnight. (Colder, longer rise = sourer flavor.) It's ok if the dough doesn't fill the pan, you'll get big oven spring. Take it out of the refrigerator an hour or so before you plan to bake.
Preheat the oven to 400°. Put a little pan in the bottom of the oven; you're going to throw ice in the pan when you put the loaf in.
Uncover the loaf, spray with water, optionally dust with flour, score it (one long slice right down the middle with a serrated knife will usually do just fine), and put it in the preheated oven.
Right when the loaf goes in, throw some ice in your preheated pan in the oven. This creates steam. Also spray down the inside of your oven with your spray bottle for more steam.
Bake for like 50 minutes. You want to hit 200 or 205 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Halfway through, rotate the bread, and spray down the bread and the inside of the oven again.
