Basic Gluten Free Sourdough Bread Recipe
Finally, it is here, on the site,
My basic whole grain, tender and sour gluten free sourdough bread recipe.
I know you've been waiting so long for this to be here, and for that I am sorry.
See, life has a way of putting obstacles in the pathway to posting for me.
Like, This week my "new" office manager resigned. She wanted to experience the world of a naturopathic physician before she made the commitment to 4+ years of education and $200,000 worth of student loans.
She wanted to see how amazing the medicine truly is for patients, and she did see that.
But learning about the back of house realities of having a busy practice, learning the ins and outs of insurance billing, marketing and patient retention and seeing it all clearly?
Well, she has observed, learned and decided to pursue organic gardening instead.
The insurance aspect truly spooked her.
After all, in what other industry do you have to accept agreements for payment with multiple companies for the same service (at vastly different rates of reimbursement), take minimum of 5-7% of your income to actually do that billing and wait 30-60 days for payment?
And if those same companies had questions or concerns with the medical diagnosis code you picked based on the visit with the patient, they have the right to request all your chart notes before paying a dime.
She had quite an education, and she didn't like the realities.
So I am once again running my practice single handedly till I find a new office goddess.
But with one exception.
I no longer accept insurance payments for my services.
I will happily provide the superbill for my patients to send to their insurance companies for reimbursement but no longer provide the service.
I ran the numbers and they just don't work out in my favor.
And now I have the ability to go beyond my office walls to help other people using video conferencing and telephone consults. My contracts with the various insurance companies prohibited that before.
So wish me luck. I'll write soon how to go about scheduling with me if you wish.
And bake!
Basic Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread Recipe
- Gather your oven proof pot (cast iron is preferable) with lid and a bowl slightly smaller for forming.
Using a scale for accuracy measure into a bowl for your mixer:
150 grams potato starch
150 grams tapioca flour
140 grams sorghum flour
35 grams sweet rice flour
30 grams sugar
10 grams salt
20 grams xanthan gum
10 grams guar gum
Add 1500 grams of cultured sourdough starter (hooch stirred in) and 1/2 cup of water.
Beat together for 5 minutes on high in a stand mixer to create the bubble structure for the bread. You will be able to see the bread change from a mass of soft dough to one with a bit of bounce. The dough will create a effect of strands on the bowl sides then gather on the beater.
Forming Boule:
Place 1/2 bread dough on a square of parchment paper using a spatula to smooth and shape the dough into a ball.
Repeat with the second half of the dough or follow the below instructions to create 2 baguettes.
Lift the paper holding the ball and place it into the bowl a bit smaller than your pot to rise. Nestle the second ball along side.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place into oven with oven light on but no heat.
Let rise for 4 hours or till doubled. If you want to be able to walk away for a bit longer, just pop the bread in the fridge instead. It can rise there as long as 12 hours.
Bring the bread to room temp while preheating your pot and oven.
Remove the dough balls from the bowl using the paper as a lifting aid.
Cut slashes 1 inch into each loaf using your sharpest knife or a razor blade.
Be decorative, these are the areas of lighter white that you see on artisan loaves. I typically slash two parallel lines on either side of the ball, turn the loaf 90 degrees and slash two more parallel lines to form a square on the top of the loaf. These slashes will allow for oven rise, the extra lift that happens as the bread is put into a hot oven.
Baking:
Put your pot into the oven and preheat both to 450 degrees.
When the oven is fully preheated, carefully remove the pot from the oven. Watch out, this is where it is easy to burn you!
Remove the lid, then lift the bread dough into the pot, using the paper as a lifting aid.
Sprinkle with coarse sea salt if desired, replace the cover.
Put the pot into the oven and set your timer for 35 minutes.
Grab an instant read thermometer and a cuppa tea.
Relax for the half hour or so.
When the timer goes off, use the instant read to check the internal temperature of the bread. It should be 190-200 degrees when done.
If the bread is fully browned, just put it on a cooling rack.
If it could use just a bit more browning, remove the bread from the pot (again using the paper as a lifting aid) and place on the oven rack for 5 minutes more.
For the Baguettes:
Forming:
With the other half of the dough, either repeat for a second boule or form into 2 baguettes.
To form into baguettes: use a piece of parchment paper or silpat sprinkled with sweet rice flour since it gives a crisp crust, but millet is nice too for a softer crust.
Taking one half of the dough you have, place it on the parchment paper in a long log.
Sprinkle with a bit more sweet rice flour. Using the paper, extend and roll the bread dough into a long baguette shape. Roll it onto your baguette pan and repeat with the final dough.
Rising:
Pull out a long piece of plastic wrap and use it to wrap the entire baguette pan to hold in the moisture while rising. Let rise at room temperature 4 hours or till doubled. In my cold kitchen in winter, it can take up to 6 hours if I don’t put it in the oven with the oven light on but without any additional heat.
If you want to be able to walk away for a bit longer, just pop the bread in the fridge instead. It can rise there as long as 12 hours.
Bring the bread to room temperature before continuing.
Once you have the plastic wrap off of the pan, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Using a pastry brush, spread a bit of water on the bread. Don’t soak it but get it good and damp.
Slash 3-4 evenly spaced diagonal slashes on the baguette using your sharpest knife or a razor blade to insure a good place for the oven rise to occur.
Baking:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Once ready, put in the baguette pan and let bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 degrees, rotate the pan and continue to bake for 15 minutes more before checking the temperature.
Temp on instant read thermometer should be 190-200 degrees. If the baguettes are brown enough, remove and cool. If not, keep them in the oven for 5 minutes more.
Printable recipe :
