San Francisco-Style Sourdough French Bread

I've spent much time experimenting with sourdough to come up with a recipe that I feel can rival the famous "San Francisco Sourdough French Bread." I find that using my bread machine for the kneading process only, saves me a lot of time and saves my wrists.

I also find that working with a sourdough starter can be very time consuming. Especially if you follow what most sourdough books say and feed them everyday. That's too much work for me as I already have a cat! You even need a sourdough sitter when leaving town! Because I don't use my starter everyday, I store it, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator until ready to use. When I decide I want to use my starter, I then remove it from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature (usually I let it sit overnight on the counter). I then feed it with 1 cup flour and 1 cup warm water. I let this sit 8 hours or preferrably overnight. It is now ready to use in your sourdough recipes!

1 cup sourdough starter, room temperature
3/4 cup lukewarm water (110 degrees F.)
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour*
Cornmeal

* The thickness of your sourdough starter can determine how much flour needs to be used. If you think the dough is too moist, add additional flour (a tablespoon at a time). The same is true if the dough is looking dry and gnarly. Add warm water (a tablespoon at a time).

Bread Machine: Add all the ingredients except cornmeal in the bread pan of bread machine. Process according to manufacturer's instructions for a dough setting. NOTE: Don't be afraid to open the lid and check the dough. It should form a nice elastic ball. When the bread machine has completed the dough cycle, remove the dough from the pan to a lightly oiled surface. Knead the dough several times and form the dough into an oval; cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.

Standup Mixer: In a large bowl or in the bowl of a 5 quart stand mixer, combine starter, water, salt, baking soda, and bread flour. Using dough hook, mix everything together into a uniform dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until elastic, about 15 minutes. NOTE: In an electric mixer, it should take about 9 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.

After resting, knead dough on a lightly floured board by pulling the dough towards you and then pushing down and forward with the palms of your hands (kneading gives the bread the elasticity and lets it rise).

Place the dough in a lightly oiled large bowl. Place a damp towel over the bowl and then cover with plastic wrap (the humidity in the bowl helps in the rising process). Let rise until it doubles in volume (when you can put your finger in the dough and it leaves and indentation and doesn't spring back out) approximately 4 to 8 hours (depending on the temperature and the starter used, the rising time can vary as much as 12 hours).

NOTE: I use my oven for the rising. Turn the oven on for a minute or so, then turn it off again. This will warm the oven and make it a great environment for rising bread. If you can't comfortably press your hand against the inside of the oven door, the oven is too hot. Let it stand open to cool a bit. Sourdough rises more slowly than yeast bread; Always remember, the longer the rise time, the more sourdough flavor.

After dough has risen, remove from bowl, and place on a lightly floured board. Knead in flour to feed it one more time before baking. Shape dough into a loaf shape and place on a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet that is dusted with cornmeal (I use the new silpads instead of cornmeal). Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 to 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. After rising, slash the bread with a bread razor or a very sharp knife making three 1/2-inch deep diagonal slashes. Brush or spray the top of the bread with cold water and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until nicely browned. (A good check is to use an instant digital thermometer to test your bread. The temperature should be between 200 and 210 degrees.) Remove from oven and place the bread on a wire rack to cool. Let baked loaf cool for 30 minutes before cutting (this is because the bread is still cooking while it is cooling).

Makes 1 large loaf.