Twenty Four Hour Sourdough Bread

This post was updated 1.27.22

I feature Grapewood Farm grains in this recipe. They give me a discount in exchange for promoting their products, but I only promote companies I highly value.

Jump to Recipe

So…Does Everyone Now Have a Starter?

I know, I know. Since the quarantine earlier this year, everyone and their brother has started a starter. A sourdough starter. And I couldn’t be more thrilled. I love sourdough bread, and would love the world to adopt it as their very own. So you probably already have a recipe for it. You probably have been pulling fresh loaves out of the oven since March. You’re probably eating a piece as you read this. Buuuut, just in case you don’t, this post is for you.

I have had sourdough starter for many years thanks to my dear mother. She showed up one day with it in a jar. She showed me how to care for it, how to feed it, and how to make it bubble up happily. Now she is gluten free, but she still took my starter and stashed it in her freezer for all of my months in Spain. (I started a new starter in Spain, but didn’t travel back with it.)

Benefits of Sourdough Bread

Sourdough bread is easier to digest because the wild yeast predigests it for you during the long fermentation. It is healthier because the lactic acid produced during the fermentation process feeds your gut bacteria. The lactic acid also lowers the phytates in wheat, which basically means your body is able to get more nutrients out of the bread. I eat it for all those reasons, but the real reason is because it is so amazingly delicious.

The tangy flavor and chewy texture make sourdough bread perfect for toast, for dipping into soup, or for slathering butter on top with a sprinkle of coarse sea salt and a thick slice of cheddar. I don’t stop there, though. I cut the bread into thin slices and put them on a charcuterie tray. I save the ends in the freezer and eventually cube them and saute them in tons of olive oil with salt, pepper and Italian herbs for the best croutons. And I slice the bread thin, butter the outsides of each slice, put a lovely cheese in the middle and make an addictive grilled cheese.

Starting a Starter

So. Shall we move on to the recipe? Let’s. But first, make sure you have an active starter. It’s just flour and water. Here are some places you can go to make your own starter:

– Making a starter from scratch

– Caring for a starter

– Sourdough beginners

Which Type of Flour to Use

Now that you have your starter, we can try out the recipe. I like to use half all-purpose and half whole wheat flours. I always use organic flour and filtered water, but that’s not a must. You can make great sourdough without it, but sometimes the flavor of your water or how it’s treated in your area can affect the taste and/or how active the starter is.

If you use all-purpose or bread flour the bread will most likely rise higher. If you use all whole wheat it will be more dense. Both are good. It depends on what you plan to use it for. Do you want to dip it in olive oil and herbs? All white flour might be best. Do you want to make a hearty sandwich or toast? All whole wheat is fine. I often like to do a mix.

I’ve tried many sourdough recipes in the past. What I love about this one is it’s easy. There is no kneading, no getting out the scale to measure ingredients, and no looking at a long list of ingredients. Not to say that there aren’t better recipes out there, but if I’m going to whip up a loaf of bread, I like to do it without have to fuss over it. This recipe delivers. It is dependable and decidedly unfussy. 

The brand of flour I used comes from Grapewood Farm in Montross, VA, an organic farm featuring modern and ancient grains and rye. It is fairly local to me, and I love the family-owned farm’s mission:

Grapewood Farm is committed to the good stewardship of the land and its soils.  We specialize in producing superior organic small grains and stone ground flour for our community.

Grapewood Farm

This is the kind of company I can get behind. Caring for the soil, growing real food, and producing a genuinely good product. My favorite part of it all is that they grind the wheat into flour just before sending it. This means the nutrition is higher than what you might find sitting on grocery store shelves. My family and I go through 10 kg (22 lb) bag of flour in about two to three months. I keep the flour in our chest freezer to preserve the nutrition in the freshly ground wheat, and take out what I plan to use on a weekly basis. If you’d like to order from them, you can go through their website.

Enjoy the Process

Having just said that this recipe is easy, I should say that if this is your first time making sourdough you will want to read the recipe a few times to make sure you have a good understanding of it. Also make sure that your starter is active. It takes time for that to happen, so don’t be discouraged if your first loaf of bread with a young starter doesn’t turn out very well. Just turn it into toast or dip it into olive oil and enjoy the journey of learning sourdough bread. I swear, when I pull a loaf of fresh sourdough out of the oven, I feel completely joyful and excited. Even if I don’t plan to eat that particular loaf. I love the process and result of baking bread, and I hope you can learn to love it too. 

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time.

Rebekah

Before You Go…

Take a look at these recipes that use sourdough in beautiful ways:

• Classic Grilled Cheese with Muenster: A deliciously, melty way to make a classic grilled cheese using sourdough bread and muenster cheese.
• Savory Bread Pudding with Winter Squash: You’ll be coming back to this recipe all winter long for it’s super satisfying flavor. Make it ahead of time if you’re hosting company.
• A Sour Cherry Pie I Actually Like: This is an addictively delicious pie (and I don’t normally like cherry desserts). Check it out for the pie itself, or just steal the sourdough pie crust to use for any recipe you like.