Sourdough can easily be made using no-knead techniques. It's simply a matter of substituting 2 ounces of Sourdough (1/4 cup) starter for the 1/4 teaspoon of yeast. The "simply" above is misleading. There's nothing simple about maintaining a sourdough culture unless you make sourdough once a week or more. Thanks to Eric at Breadtopia for the 1/4 cup to 1/4 teaspoon conversion and the suggestion to use whole wheat flour. I gave this loaf 3 stars.
I'm still ovenless so this was my second attempt in my gas BBQ grill.
- I preheated the gas grill for 30 minutes with all three burners on high along with my Dutch oven. I took the lid off the Dutch oven and placed it directly on the grate to get it as hot as possible.
- At the start of baking, I turned off the center burner.
- I checked the interior temperature of the bread after an hour and it was only 206°. Another 10 minutes (70 total) brought it up to 208°. (With my thermometer that's all the hotter the bread gets.)
- The bottom crust didn't burn this time but was somewhat thicker than usual--see photos below.
I bought my sourdough culture from King Arthur Flour. Their culture is over 250 years old! Read their instructions for caring for sourdough culture to see what you're getting yourself in for. It's as much work as taking care of a bowl of goldfish. King Arthur Flour has instructions for freezing small portions of sourdough starter. It's under their heading for "Storing".
- 10 ounces of all purpose flour
- 5 ounces of whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 ounces of sourdough starter (1/4 cup). Add the starter before the water so you can adjust the water based on the thickness of your sourdough starter.
- 9 ounces of water to start, mix and then slowly add water, and stir to bring the dough to the shaggy-ball state. My dough with starter took 11.8 ounces of water.
- Omit the beer and vinegar--they aren't needed for their flavor in sourdough.
Sourdough No-Knead Dough after 12 hour rise
Sourdough No-Knead Dough on mat
Sourdough No-Knead Bread. I didn't slash the top.
Sourdough No-Knead Bread Bottom. Turning off the center burner in the gas BBQ grill during baking mostly worked!
Sourdough No-Knead Bread Slices
Sourdough No-Knead Bread Bottom Crust. The bottom crust was slightly thick.
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