SOURDOUGH BREADS RECIPES

Steps:

• What is expanded sourdough starter? The night before baking bread, take your active starter out and add flour and water to it, at 3 parts flour and 2 parts water or whey. Place a light covering over the starter so the top doesn't dry out. It sits overnight and expands. In the morning, it's beautiful and bubbly. Part of this goes into your bread dough and some always goes back into your jar to save as your starter.
• Mix expanded sourdough, buttermilk (or water), dry milk, sugar, salt, and butter. Add 5 cups flour and beat until smooth. Let stand 15 minutes.
• Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead, adding flour, until dough is no longer sticky. Place dough in large bowl sprayed with cooking oil. Cover with a dish towel or place lid on top (not sealed but just on top). Let rise until double in volume. This could take 3 to 8 hours depending on the warmth of the room. Some believe that the longer the rise takes for the sourdough, the better the flavor. I like to place mine in my cold oven with the light on right before I go to bed. In the morning, it is ready to punch and knead down. The picture here is of the dough before it has risen. By the time it has risen, it has doubled in size and filled my large "Tupperware thatsa bowl" completely.
• Knead down and divide into four. Shape the 4 into loaves and place into greased and lightly floured loaf pans. Let rise until about ¾ inch over top of pan. This can be done again, inside your cold oven with the light on. This will not take as long as the unshaped rising did. Do not preheat oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. After removing from oven, remove from pans and place on cooling racks. Rub butter on tops of hot loaves. Cover with kitchen towels as loaves cool. Bread slices best when the loaves have cooled. However, if patience is not available and the bread smells and looks too irresistible to wait till cool, cut carefully so you don't smash down the loaf. Enjoy!

Steps:

• In a 4-qt. non-metallic bowl, dissolve yeast in 2 cups warm water; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in 2 cups flour until smooth. Cover loosely with a clean towel. Let stand in a warm place (80°to 90°) to ferment for 48 hours; do not stir. (The mixture will become bubbly and rise, have a "yeasty" sour aroma and change color from transparent yellow to gray over the course of 48 hours.) , Stir in milk powder, butter, sugar, salt, remaining water and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. (Do not knead.) Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours. , Heavily grease baking sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal. Gently punch dough down. Turn onto a well-floured surface; divide in half. (If baking loaves one at a time, cover and refrigerate half of dough. Proceed with shaping and second rise when oven is ready so shaped loaf can be baked immediately after the second rise.) , With floured hands, gently move the dough in a circular motion. Use friction from the counter to stretch the surface and create a smooth top and round loaf. Quickly and gently transfer to prepared pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°., With a sharp knife, make three diagonal slashes across tops of loaves. Immediately bake 10 minutes. Gently brush or spray loaves with cold water; bake 25-35 minutes longer or until golden brown.