Friday is my day to share tips and recipes on frugal nourishing living, but I though Saturday would be a great day to share reviews of nourishing recipes from others.
Many of you have asked about sourdough bread making and I have been planning for a little while to share my basic, everyday sourdough bread recipe. But unfortunately, when we were gone, a mold started growing on the top of my last starter. And while I could have tried to save it, my husband thought it better not to risk having bad bacteria in our starter and I agreed. So it was with great sadness I threw it away. I will need to either get some starter from a friend, or start my own, but meanwhile I needed a good bread recipe to use.
I decided to try Sue Gregg’s soaked bread recipe and it was wonderful! For those looking for a good sandwich loaf, this is it. While I know the benefits of sourdough versus yeasted bread, I do think that this is an excellent choice for those of you who don’t currently have a starter or find sourdough too dense for sandwiches.
I used the lesser amount of yeast, and did skip one of the rising steps, but other then that, I followed the recipe and it was great. Check it out here, or download the recipe here.
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Hi Kimi,
I love this recipe. I made it for my parents when they visited and at first they made fun of the long process involved, but then they both agreed it was the best bread they had ever had. In fact, when they got home, they bought a grain mill themselves and make “the bread” quite regularly!
Hi Kimi,
I have been enjoying reading your blog for a few months now. I am just starting my journey in eating more naturally and organically. My husband bought me a grain mill for my birthday, dear man! I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about your bread making process. I have been baking bread for almost two years, but I have never soaked before. I have been reading about the benefits of soaking, and I want to try but am a little nervous. Do you grind grain and soak it right away? I know that freshly ground grain should be used quickly so the nutrients do not oxidize. So is it ok to soak freshly ground grain as long as you do it right away? And it is not losing too many nutrients by doing that, right? 🙂
Lindsay
Hi Lindsay,
What a great gift! No, you won’t lose to many nutrients by soaking! Instead, you will be able to absorb more of them. I usually make a very simple sourdough, but this yeasted soaked bread is really easy to make and quite nice. Let me know if you have an specific questions about the process and I would be happy to try to help. 🙂
Sorry to hear you had to give up your starter. I got a free starter from Carl’s Friends (http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/) by sending them a self addressed stamped envelope.
It took about 2 weeks for the dried starter to arrive and about a week for it to get really active. I love this starter! I tried making my own in the past, but found this to be a much better starter…it already has a great colony of lactobacillus.
Mama T,
It was very sad! But thank you so much for the link! What a wonderful deal. I am definitely going to check it out.
This bread looks delicious. Have you ever tried baking with Summers sprouted flours?
See: http://www.creatingheaven.net/eeproducts/eesfc/
I was hoping to try them so as to be able to skip the soaking and/or sourdough process. Was wondering on your thoughts.
Thanks so much,
Mary
Mary,
Sorry it took me so long to reply to your question! I remembered it needed to be answered, but then couldn’t remember where in the earth this question was asked!
To answer, I have never tried that specific product, but I have sprouted, dried and then ground my own wheat berries. I think that sprouted grain flours are great. My experience in making them, or even buying breads at the store that are sprouted, is that the taste can be effected, but not in a necessarily bad way. It can be a bit sweeter in taste, and sometimes even a little grassy in taste. I do think I prefer soaking or sourdough methods for most projects, but I think that sprouted flour could be a good option for some.
I mostly used sprouted grain flour for projects where soaking was particularly hard, or if I needed just a few tablespoons of it.
But do let me know how you like it, if you end up using it! I would love to hear about your experience!
Hi Kimi,
I have never soaked before, and I do not have a grain mill. I am just now learning about this whole process! Although I don’t have a grain mill, I am hoping to still get some benefits from soaking my whole wheat flour that I buy already ground. I do have a question though, I usually make a dough out of a book called “Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a day”. What you do is make a batch of dough (enough for 4 loaves) and leave it in your fridge and then just make loaves out of it throughout the week. You can actually keep the dough in the fridge for up to 14 days. The dough is pretty wet compared to normal bread dough. To alter this to be able to soak it I assume I would just combine the flour and water with an acid medium, let it soak for 12-24 hours and then add the yeast and salt? I don’t have a stand mixer so I would have to mix it by hand.
Thanks so much!
Rachael
Hi Rachel,
That recipe sounds awesome! I would love to get a copy of it from you sometime! 🙂 And yes, you are right, just let it soak for the 12-24 hours just water, flour, and vinegar/whey/buttermilk/yogurt etc, and then make it up like you usually do. 🙂
I would love to send you the recipe! Send me your email address and I will send it along. Also you can get the cookbook on Amazon for around $16. I really enjoy having the dough in the fridge so I can make fresh bread, rolls, pita bread, pizza crust, even cinnamon caramel rolls all week long!
hmm- I looked at the sue gregg download but it didn’t seem like enough instruction to actually make the bread (it referred to a recipe elsewhere). Am I missing something??/
Hi Kimi,
I love your web site! Just discovered it last week and have already made the buckwheat noodles, with Asian noodle sauce, and Sue Gregg’s yeasted bread. All delicious. But I have a question for you about soaking grains. Sue Gregg’s recipe calls for 4-5 cups of soaked grains in the first step, but in the 4th step the 2-3 cups flour you add is supposed to be dried or sprouted. It seems likes it’s not possible to make yeasted bread unless you use some dried flour. Is that right, or do you know a way around that?
Dana, I found another soaked yeasted bread recipe that does not require additional flour (unless an optional 1 Tbsp is added). I just made it for the first time today and it has a wonderful flavor. I baked the bread in my bread machine but I think next time I will try it in the oven. My bread sunk in the middle but it was still delicious. Here is the link: http://inspiredhomemaking.com/?p=1223