Garlic Parmesan Sourdough Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to good sourdough bread? ›

There are two main acids produced in a sourdough culture: lactic acid and acetic acid. Acetic acid, or vinegar, is the acid that gives sourdough much of its tang. Giving acetic acid-producing organisms optimal conditions to thrive and multiply will produce a more tangy finished product.

What Happens If You Feed a Sourdough Starter Too Much Flour? If you add more flour than water into your sourdough starter jar, it will be a very stiff starter. This is not always a bad thing, and sometimes extra flour is necessary to rectify a runny starter or make the starter peak at a later time.

Best cheeses for a sourdough grilled cheese sandwich

I love the combination of cheddar, gruyere, Havarti, and parmesan here. It gives the grilled cheese a slightly elevated and gourmet feel. Some other great cheese options would be mozzarella, brie, gouda, pepper jack, Monterey jack cheese, or American cheese.

What Is Bread Flour? Bread flour (or baker's flour) is a high protein, white flour that is milled specifically for baking bread and sourdough. You'll get the best results for your sourdough bread from using bread flour. The most popular bread flour in the US is King Arthur Bread Flour.

Honey: Honey adds a sweetness to this dough and helps balance any sour flavor that comes through from the fermentation process. If you are looking for whole wheat bread without the honey, try this recipe. Salt: Salt enhances the flavor and helps tempers the fermentation.

Whole Grain and Rye Flours. Whole grain and rye flours provide minerals and enzymes that can influence acid production in sourdoughs. The higher mineral content of whole grains acts as a buffer in the dough so that more acid can be produced during extended fermentation.

Using flours with more ash, or mineral, content, will yield more sour taste. If you can't get enough ash, adding a bit of whole wheat flour to your recipe, which is what is done with the 20% Bran Flour, will boost the sour of a bread. Conversely, using a lower ash flour will tend to produce a milder bread.

Letting more oxygen into your starter will encourage the bacteria to flourish - and this means more acetic acid and more sourness in your bread. The simple way to get oxygen into your starter is simply to stir it. You can stir it when you feed it, but also in between feedings too!

And you guessed it..the more starter you use, the faster your dough will ferment - resulting in a less sour loaf. Using less starter in your recipe will help slow down the fermentation process.

What happens if I forgot to discard starter before feeding? ›

If you didn't discard a portion of your starter each time you feed it, two things would happen: Your starter would grow to an enormous, unmanageable size. Your starter would likely become more and more inhospitable to the bacteria and yeast we want as the mixture would become ever more acidic.

Sourdough crumb should be even, meaning there won't be any areas that are super tight or with giant tunnels. The crumb should be light and fluffy - not wet and gummy. The holes inside the sourdough may seem shiny. This is a sign that the gluten is very well developed.

All you need is a few simple ingredients like raw honey, organic peanut butter, and gut healthy sourdough bread. It's the perfect sweet and salty snack, healthy dessert, or meal prep as a quick on-the-go snack.

I always recommend grating your own cheese before adding it to the dough. Pre-shredded cheese has “caking” additives added to it that keep the cheese from sticking together. Grating your own is the way to go for this recipe.

A hot Dutch oven is the perfect environment to bake sourdough because the airtight seal allows the steam to expand in the dough to help the bread rise. Additionally, the cast iron holds heat very well which helps in both the rising process and crisping of the crust.

So don't leave your dough in a warm oven, on a radiator or in sunlight. It will likely be too warm and will dry out your dough too. Instead, find a cosy spot, with no drafts, for your dough to rise. And, if your sourdough starter is struggling to get going, consider finding it a warmer spot too.

In my experience, the shortest final proof (at room temperature) that I prefer to do is one hour. The longest final proof (at room temperature) is about 3 hours. When going past 2-3 hours in a final proof, the crumb tends to get very gassy and opens up large gas bubbles with a longer countertop proof.

Creating the perfect steamy, hot environment is essential to getting a rich, dark sourdough crust. As a home baker, using a Dutch Oven is the easiest and most consistent way to create the steamy environment needed to bake great sourdough bread.

First, use warm water and increase the water-to-flour ratio slightly. This will help the yeast to activate quicker and aid in rising more quickly. A 1:2:2 ratio or higher, even 1:4:4 ratio helps. Another tip is to add some sugar or honey to the dough, as this will also help the yeast become more active.