San Francisco Style Sourdough French Bread

"Crispy crust, sourdough flavor in an easy French bread recipe."
 
Download
photo by pdelgiorno photo by pdelgiorno
photo by pdelgiorno
photo by Anonymous photo by Anonymous
photo by Bonnie G #2 photo by Bonnie G #2
photo by Bonnie G #2 photo by Bonnie G #2
photo by mammadanna photo by mammadanna
Ready In:
5hrs 10mins
Ingredients:
8
Yields:
2 loaves
Advertisement

ingredients

Advertisement

directions

  • In a large mixing bowl dissolve yeast in warm water, mix with starter.
  • Add 3 cups flour, sugar and salt, stir vigorously 2 or 3 minutes.
  • Cover with a cloth, set in warm place and let rise 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled in size.
  • Mix baking soda with 1 cup of remaining flour and stir in, the dough should be stiff.
  • Turn out onto a floured surface and begin kneading.
  • Add the remaining 1 cup of flour or more if needed to control stickiness.
  • Knead until satiny, between 5 and 10 minutes.
  • Shape into 2 oblong loaves or 1 large round loaf, place on lightly greased cookie sheet.
  • Cover with a cloth, set in warm place free from drafts and let rise 1 to 2 hours or until nearly doubled in size.
  • Before baking, brush outside with water and make diagonal slashes across the top with a sharp single-edge razor blade.
  • Put a shallow pan of hot water in the bottom of the oven.
  • Bake at 400° F for 45 minutes or until the crust is a medium dark brown.

Questions & Replies

  1. When I bake sourdough bread and slice the top before baking it deflates and let's the gas out. Still tastes OK, but as you might huess it's a little heaverier. What am I doing wrong?
     
  2. Why the baking soda? I haven't seen any other sourdough or french bread recipes use it and was wondering what difference it makes in the bread?
     
  3. Well, my bread sure doesn't look like yours. The color that shows in my picture isn't the true color. Mine is a medium tan plus I think that I didn't let it rise enough because the sides blew out while it was baking. I hope that it will taste good because we are having lasagna for dinner.
     
    • Review photo by Gypsywind3
Advertisement

Reviews

  1. <b>DE-VINE!!!!</b> Wonderful recipe...excellent instruction...delicious results ...I followed directions to the letter...made one large loaf that I brushed with salted H20 which resulted w/ a crunchy crisp pretzel like crusty top and perfect airy interior...used recipe#13750 as my starter (been nursing that since Dec.08) - oh did bake slightly less that 45...{{ one reviewer said 34 that about was when i ck'ed it too, basically get familiar w/ your own oven and the weather ;) }} <b> THE BEST BREAD </b> Thanks for the recipe share...a def. do it again!!! :)
     
  2. I believe there is a serious problem with the amount of yeast called for in this recipe. The bread turned out tasting like nothing but yeast! The instructions were good, and otherwise seems like a good recipe. I will try it again with 1 tsp, maybe 2... instead of 1 TBSP of yeast!
     
  3. The end result had a very thick crust and was dense as a black hole.
     
  4. Interesting recipe and good result. I should have elongated the loaves somewhat, but the finished product was very tasty. I put a little sugar in with the yeast, starter and water solution in the beginning of the recipe to aid in the yeast activation. I will make this one again.
     
    • Review photo by pdelgiorno
  5. Ended up being very dense, and it fell when I brushed water onto it. Not sure if I'll try this one again or not. The flavor is t bad though
     
    • Review photo by Anonymous
Advertisement

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I'm a father of three older children (college age), an avid hiker who likes to actually cook on hikes instead of eating packaged meals, a woodworker, gardener, photographer. I design websites, specializing in sites for Non-Profit groups.
 
View Full Profile
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Find More Recipes