A Christian Liberal is NOT an oxymoron.

Posted by XT on February 11th, 2012 in Bread, Recipes

This is the basic dough I use and adapt to whatever I decide to make. Because I use no added sugar, it takes extra time to develop.

Take starter out of refrigerator and let it come to room temperature – I do this overnight (about eight hours).

Dump it in a large mixing bowl and feed it. Generally, I give it a cup of flour and a cup of water. Mix it to a constant consistency and cover it loosely. Let it sit for about eight hours (generally, I do this in the morning and then go to work).

Feed it again – a cup of flour and a cup of water. Let it sit overnight.

In the morning, it’s ready to go. If you aren’t going to use it right away, feed it again. At any rate, measure out a half cup to a cup and refrigerate it. This is your new lump of starter for next time.

When you are ready to use it, you are ready to move away from science and into art. You have, at least, four or five cups of goo. It’s time to turn it into either batter (if you want pancakes) or dough (if you want actual bread).

Start adding flour by the quarter cup. Mix it until it is well incorporated and wait for about fifteen minutes or so. If it’s still too liquid, toss in another quarter cup. After you make several batches of bread, you’ll do it by half-cup or even full cup, but to start out with, go slow. You can always add, but you can never take away.

Once you get the bread the consistency you want – it’s decision time. You can let it rest and punch it down again. Form it, let it rest, then pop it in the oven. Or go straight to the oven. If you go straight to the oven, it will be fairly dense. If you let it rise and punch it down, you’ll get a more tasteful bread. If you form it, let it rise, and then bake it, you’ll get a fluffier bread with more mature taste. No way is wrong – it depends on what you want.

Before you put it in the oven, coat it lightly with a bit of oil. I usually spray canola oil on it. But different oils will give different results. The reason is to keep the crust from drying too quickly and becoming hard. If you like a harder crust, then try it without any oil.

A lot of recipes talk about spraying water on the bread or in the oven – it’s for the same reason. It bad for any sort of electronic control you have in the oven, though. And oil, I think, can add yet another bit of flavor to your bread.

The Oven
Basically, you want a 400F pre-heated oven. How long you leave the bread in depends on how you’ve formed it. If you put it in a muffin tin, then twenty minutes will probably be enough. If you plop it down as a huge “artisan” bread; then probably thirty-five or so. If you put it in a regular loaf pan – try thirty.

Before you toss it in the oven, though, score the top so the bread can rise without erupting. It will look prettier if you do, but it will taste the same regardless.

If you want a harder crust, turn the temp up a bit. It will shorten the baking time, too. If you want it softer, lower it a bit and increase the time. Remember, changing the ingredients may change bake times, too.

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