Making Sourdough Bread Doesn’t Have to Be Hard

After learning an easy and simple way to make sourdough bread, Mushky Teleshevsky created video and written tutorial showing all the steps to making the simplest and tastiest sourdough bread.

By Mushky Teleshevsky

Sourdough was a staple in our house long before I had any idea how to make it. We would buy “bakehouse sourdough bread”, which at the time was very popular here in Crown Heights.

At one point we started buying our sourdough from a friend of my father’s who lives in Baltimore. He would bake a bulk order for us, freeze it and ship it, and we would keep it in the freezer. Being that it was quite costly we would ration it, limiting ourselves to just one loaf every Friday night.

I was aware that my mother-in-law in Australia would make her own sourdough bread, but I assumed it was impossibly complicated and hard to make.

Once, when my mother-in-law happened to be in Crown Heights for a family simcha, she offered to teach me how to make sourdough bread. This is the recipe and method she taught me. I was truly suprised and delighted how easy it was, and I have been making it every week ever since! The best news is that it costs me around 50c a loaf!!

Some weeks I make up to 10 loaves, as people are always asking me to make them some! Often I am asked how to make it, and lately I have had several people come over to my house to watch me!

Word spreads, and more and more people are asking me, so I decided that it’s time to make a video showing all the steps to making the simplest and tastiest sourdough bread I have come across! I just know you will be hooked once you try this simple tutorial!

N’shei readers: Click here to watch the video tutorial

Make delicious easy sourdough.

You will need:
Kitchen scale with gram measure
64oz container with lid
Knife or handle of wooden spoon for mixing

Ingredients:
Active starter 100gr
Water 300gr
Flour 400gr
Salt 10gr 1
3 inch enamel roasting pan with lid
Parchment paper

Starter should have a creamy texture with bubbles on top. If your starter isn’t ready, feed it with equal parts of flour and water and wait a few hours till it’s active.

Method:

Measure water into container. Add starter, flour, and salt. Mix well with the handle of a spoon or spatula. Wait 10 minutes.

Wet you hand and Stretch and fold 4 times as shown. Cover and leave for 20 minutes. Repeat stretch and fold 3 more times, every 20-30 minutes, then leave container lightly covered with its lid. come back in 6-8 hrs. Wet you hand, stretch and fold once more, then cover and put in the fridge for minimum 6 hrs. The dough can be in the fridge for up to 4 days at this point.

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven 440°f.

Ease dough out of the container and flip onto a piece of parchment paper then transfer it into the pan. Cover the pan with its lid and bake for 50-60 min depending on how dark and crispy you like it. When finished baking immediately take out the bread and put it on a cooling rack.

How to Make Starter for Sourdough Bread

Many people make their first loaf of sourdough bread using active starter that they were given by a friend, or that they bought. But not everyone has access to active starter. If you don’t have any starter, you can make your own. It’s really easy, and takes only 5-7 days. Once you have starter, you can make your delicious sourdough any time you feel like it.

Sourdough starter is made from only 2 ingredients: flour and water. You can use any glutinous flour, but try making your first batch using whole wheat, spelt or rye flour. It takes more quickly and easily, and lends great texture and flavor to a white flour loaf.

Method:

Put 2 teaspoons of flour and an inch of water into a glass or a small mason jar. Stir until it becomes a thick paste. Lightly cover with a piece of foil and leave on the kitchen counter for 24 hours.

Discard most of the paste, leaving just a little bit. Add 2 teaspoons of flour an an inch of water, mix well to make a thick paste. Cover again with the foil and leave on the counter for another 24 hours.

Repeat this procedure daily for anywhere between 4 and 8 days, until the mixture is very light and bubbly. Your starter is now ready to use! Add as much flour and water as you need for the recipe you are following, mix, allow to proof for 4-6 hours, and enjoy your baking!

After using your starter, feed it with more flour and water (mixing well) and keep it in the fridge, covered with foil or a NON air-tight lid. You should discard and feed it once a week whether you use it or not. If you forget to feed it, it will keep well for 2-3 weeks, but you may have to discard the top layer.