Sour dough einkorn

Last friday I made a challah with the sour dough starter I made. It tasted good, but it isn't a challah. Well not a traditional challah. That got me thinking I should make a regular sour dough loaf to see how it tastes plain. I've never made a sour dough loaf, so I kind of took a wild guess.

3 cups einkorn flour
1 cup sour dough starter
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dry yeast
1-1.5 cup water

I mixed the ingredients and let it rise 14 hours. In the morning I tried to pour the dough out on the counter to form a loaf, but it was too wet. To fix that, I added more flour until the dough stopped sticking to the bowl. I didn't measure how much more flour. I'm guessing it was about 3/4 cup. Since my starter is pretty wet, I should have used less water. 1 cup of water is probably enough. The next time I make it, I'll start with 1 cup and gradually add 1 tbsp at a time until it's just right.

Once the dough stopped sticking to the bowl, I shaped it into a loaf. I oiled my mixing bowl and used it for the final rise. When I put the loaf in the bowl, I give it a few turns and rub a bit of oil on top. This helps to prevent it from sticking to the bowl as it rises.

Let the loaf double in size before baking. For me, this took about 1 hr 45min on proof setting in my oven. I removed the loaf and preheated the dutch oven to 550F. Once it was ready, I baked the loaf covered for 30 min and 4 min uncovered.

It will take a few more tries before I dial the recipe in. The flavor of the loaf is wonderful. It reminds me of the San Francisco sour dough I've had in the past when I visited the bay area.

The crumb of the loaf is nice and fluffy with good chewiness. The aroma of sour dough is distinctive and makes the house smell like a real bakery. I had several slices plain without butter or topping. One thing I did notice in the morning is the dough smelled a little like beer.