For centuries mankind depended on sourdough starter (old dough) for rising bread. Our elderly, bakers and pizza makers and all other regular bread makers, would put aside some dough from their bread before baking and save it to ferment the next round of bread. Remember that industrial yeast is only 150 years old.
As the weather got warmer, feeding the sourdough starter and making it survive started to be a problem for me. It took me a while to adapt to the centuries old Anatolian ways of using OLD dough starters because of my irregular baking schedules.
I invite you to use this recipe as guidance and to bake your own bread.
ingredients
- 100 g old dough
- 50 ml room temp water
- 500 grams bread flour (high protein content flour)
- 1 tsp honey
- 250-300 ml 95°F (35°C) water (can substitute half of water with yogurt juice or whey or almond milk)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1-2 tbsp walnut / dried fruit / olive, optional
- 50 g flour
preparation
- Mix the old dough and the flour you rolled it in with room temp water. Cover with plastic wrap. Let it rest in an OFF oven til doubled in size, 2-4 hours. (I usually prep this step before I go to bed and make bread right after I wake up.)
- Sift the bread flour into the mixer bowl.
- Mix honey and warm water, slowly pour on the flour to blend at low speed. Hydration % differs between flours. Use less water till you get to know the flour, you can always adjust water by adding a couple table spoons after the first rest.
- Add the old dough starter, knead 1-2 min for the dough to hold. Cover with a cheesecloth, let it rest for 20-30 min for flour to fully hydrate.
- Sprinkle salt and pour 1 tbsp water. Knead 5-10 min til smooth, elastic and slightly sticky.
- Put into an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Let it rest in an OFF oven for 4-6 hours, til doubled in size. When the dough is risen to its full potential, the indentation that you make on it will disappear veeery slowly.
- Flip onto oiled work bench, flatten to remove air.
- Cut off 100 g of dough, roll in 50 g flour, refrigerate in an air-tight container.
- If using, knead in walnut at this stage.
- Roll into a tight ball, put into a cast iron pot lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap, rest in an OFF oven 2-3 hours til 1,5-2 times original volume.
- Make 3-4 cuts with a razor blade or a very sharp knife. Put on the lid. Bake in a preheated 355°F (180°C) oven 50-55 min. For a crunchy crust, remove the lid after 30-35 min. After 10 min, take off the pot and put back in to finish baking.
- Remove from the oven, separate the sides from the pot with the help of a heat resistant spatula and turn out. Should sound hollow when tapped at the bottom. Place on a wire rack, cover with a kitchen towel to cool.
- Slice 45 min-1 hour later. Enjoy!
EN 
TR