Frank's Amazing Sourdough
Posted to Bread-Bakers mail list on 7/9/99
Says Frank: I am making this bread in the old fashion way for years. My
father was a master baker in Hungary. He give me his secret, how to make
this potato, sour, crusty bread, that stays fresh for many days! My family
and friends just loves it. It was a little hard to find the right flour. Now
it is available.
Says Carolyn: I have translated into US measurements from metric, and added
some clarity where I found the original instructions a little sparse. It's
grand bread, makes a ton, have extra pans handy! NB: the yeast and salt
measurements are NOT typos! Frank wisely suggests that you check how many
pans will fit into your oven BEFORE you start the recipe.
My Father's Potato Sour Dough Bread
Prepare sourdough:
8 cups all purpose white bread flour
5 Tblsp dry yeast
1 tsp brown sugar
4 cups warm water
Mix flour with warm water in a LARGE (note ingredient quantities will at
least double) bowl. Dissolve yeast and sugar in 3 Tbsp additional warm
water in a small warm bowl for 10 minutes; combine and work with the sponge
in the large bowl until it becomes very smooth and soft-textured. (This is
much akin to the traditional 120 strokes; if beating it with a wooden spoon
is too much, use wet hands to lift and stretch the sour in the bowl to
develop the gluten). Cover the bowl with heavy cloth (or plastic wrap!) and
place in a warm place for 8-10 hours (overnight is fine). It will smell sour
and should have dropped - the sponge will rise first to its fullest, and fall
back. Don't let a dry crust form on top. If a hard crust forms, soak it
with a little warm milk and scrap it from the sides of the bowl.
Make dough
20 cups white bread flour
5 Tblsp active dry yeast
1 tsp. Brown sugar
1/3 cup milk, warm
1/2 cup salt
1-1/2 cups mashed potatoes, room temperature
2 cups warm water (saved from boiling the mashed potatoes if possible)
1 tsp. Garlic powder (or 2 tsp. crushed fresh garlic)
1/2 cup starter from last time, if available
1 egg white for glaze
Again, dissolve yeast and sugar in three Tbsp of warm water in small warm
bowl for 10 minutes. Mix the mashed potatoes with the starter from last time
(Frank recommends drying the starter and this will reconstitute; I confess I
keep mine wet in the refrigerator.) Add milk and combine will in a mid-sized
bowl. Add to first sponge in the large bowl until it is soft and smooth and
has a consistency similar to the first sponge. Add all flour and garlic (or
sub 1 tsp. powdered caraway seeds) to the dough. Dissolve the salt into the
warm water and mix it with the rest of the ingredients in the large bowl.
Work it over really well, till dough is firm and free from dry flour patches.
Add more warm water if it's needed for mixing, but dough should not be
wet-looking. (It is, however, quite slack!) Sprinkle flour on the dough and
cover bowl with damp cloth and place it back to a warm place to rise, about 1
hour.
Uncover the bowl and punch dough down. Work dough over with a wet hand for
a few minutes, then sprinkle it with flour again. Cover bowl and place it
back in a warm place for 1 hour longer to rise again.
Portion & knead
Take the dough from the large bowl, place it on the counter-top sprinkled
lightly with flour. Save 1/2 cup and store in a small bowl (I use a
tightly-covered container, refrigerated) for the next batch; divide remaining
into six portions. (Now Frank sez this makes 6 18x10x7 cm pans; I translate
that to our standard 6x3x2" and it's at least 12 loaves of that size in my
experience. Remember how much flour you put into this already!!)
Knead each piece and then roll it out with the rolling pin to about 1/2 inch
thick. Roll up dough, press ends & bottom seam to seal. (Keep the dough as
slack as you can and still handle it; the wonderful texture comes from a
pretty "wet" dough.) Place dough in greased pan; repeat until all dough is
kneaded and shaped. Cover pans with damp cloth and let rise. (This is
lovely as rolls or in baguette shapes as well, and no doubt would bake up
nicely in a free-form loaf if you like that approach.)
Bake
Preheat oven to 375*. Beat egg white with 4 Tbsp water in a small bowl.
Slash tops of loaves about 1/2" deep, or poke holes with a skewer or ice pick
all the way to the bottom lengthwise down the center. Brush thinly with the
egg white mixture and place into preheated oven. Place on the bottom of the
oven a pie pan filled with 1 cup boiling water (or drop a dozen ice cubes
into a hot pan previously placed on the oven floor - be careful of steam
either way.) Bake 35 minutes; brush with egg white and remove steam source.
Reduce heat to 325*; bake for 45-50minutes longer, until light brown in
color. Test for doneness by rapping bottom of loaves; if not yet done,
re-place in oven upside down in the pan to assist bottom in baking.
(Sometimes this bread takes much longer to bake fully ... the slacker the
dough to begin with, the longer to bake and brown. The egg white helps the
browning and produces a beautiful glaze, but you can leave it out and still
get fine bread.) Remove from pans and place on a rack; brush again with egg
white mixture while still very hot. Cool before slicing. Frank: "Now you
can enjoy a real European bread." Carolyn: and enjoy and enjoy! Fabulous
toasted and for sandwiches. Be careful, it's even better with butter.