Salt-Rising Bread
4 loavesIngredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the sponge
In a bowl, combine water, yeast, and salt.
Stir in enough flour to create a thick sponge, thicker than pancake batter.
Let the mixture stand overnight.
Shape and bake
The next morning, add more flour to make a stiff dough and knead for 10 minutes.
Place the dough in a pan and let it rise until light.
Knead for another 10 minutes, then mold into 4 loaves.
Let the loaves rise again, but do not let them get too light.
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) for 1 hour.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Yeast
- Ferments the sponge, producing gas that lightens the dough and makes it rise.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the dough structure and holds the gas from rising.
The step that matters
Let the loaves rise again, but do not let them get too light.. Over-proofed loaves have stretched their gluten network too far, so the gas cells weaken and the loaves can collapse or bake up flat and coarse.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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