Sourdough Bread Dutch Oven Recipe
Sourdough Bread Dutch Oven Recipe
This recipe for a simple, wholesome white loaf of bread is easily doubled.
1/2 Cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Sugar
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Shorting
1 Cup Sourdough Starter Go to Sourdough Starter click here
1 Large Egg, beaten, at room temperature
1 1/4 teaspoons Salt
2 1/2 Cups (approximately) unbleached Flour, preferable bread flour
Makes 1 ( 9 x 5 loaf)
In a small sauce pan, heat the milk over medium heat until tiny bubbles appear around the edges, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the sugar and shorting, and stir until the shortening is melted. Cool until lukewarm (no more than 105 degrees)
Pour into large bowl. Add the sourdough starter, egg, and salt and mix well. Stir in one cup of the flour to make a thick batter. Gradually beat in enough of the flour to make a dough that is too stiff to stir.
On a lightly floured work surface, knead the dough, add more flour as needed to make a supple dough that isn’t sticky. Continue kneading until smooth and elastic, about 10 to 15 minutes. Form into a ball and place in a large, lightly buttered bowl. Turn once to coat the top of the dough with butter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (in a turned -off oven with a pilot light for example) until doubled in volume, about 3 hours.
Punch down the dough and let rise again until almost doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
Lightly butter a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan. Form the dough into a loaf and place in pan, seam side down. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Using a serrated knife, cut two shallow slashes in the top of the bread. Bake until the top is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped with a knuckle (remove the loaf from the pan to test, using pot holders for protection), 30 to 40 minutes. Unmold onto a wire cake rack and cool completely.
Dutch Oven Cooking
The bread can also be shaped into a round loaf and place in a greased 12″ Dutch Oven, allowing the final rise to take place in the Dutch Oven. Put 15 coals on the top, around the outside edge. Put the rest around the outside edge of the bottom of the 12″ Dutch Oven. Bake about 50 minutes or 1 hour or until you can see steam coming from the edges of you dutch oven. By Richard Blot, West Texas Ranch Cook and Donna from Idaho
Sourdough Bread Dutch Oven Recipe