Lea Brown's Artisan Sourdough Bread in a Pullman Loaf Pan

Since Christmas when my husband served my mother and I the most delicious grilled cheese sandwich on this fantastic store-bought bread known as sourdough... It has been my mission to make a loaf of this bread in a loaf pan.  I had many, many failures but have finally cracked the code!  I made a second one just to be sure that it wasn't a fluke.

Click here to skip all the rambling and get straight to the recipe!

Needless to say, learning Sourdough has been quite the experience and isn't for the faint of heart.

When I baked the original recipe this is the loaf I made:

I then thought about the difference between an artisan loaf and a loaf pan loaf: stretching & folding versus letting it sit undisturbed to rise.  I wondered about this as I wanted a sandwich bread that wasn't full of holes so that my butter and innards could stay put.  I took this recipe and then I let it sit undisturbed and the end result was this loaf:

I was so thrilled to finally have something that tasted delicious and that I could use for sandwiches!!!

After my hubby bought me some razor blades that I put on a chop stick, my homemade lame, I got adventurous with the next loaf:

This loaf I gave to my friend who had gone gluten free as gluten was upsetting her stomach and giving her headaches.  She was able to eat it without any problems.  She was very grateful.  Let it be known that this recipe produces a mild sourdough bread.  She doesn't typically like the sourdough flavour but this mild bread she enjoys.

After following a thread on Facebook about putting the lid on the Pullman loaf pan... and getting up my courage...  I finally did it!

It was AMAZING!  We had turkey sandwiches for dinner and the crust crunched as it was so deliciously crispy.  Fantastic bread!  Now I had to test the recipe again just to be sure.

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!!  My husband & I (and my friend) are so happy!!  I've even got other friends now requesting a loaf to try.

If you would like more info on using a thermometer to test your bread's doneness, check out this informative article from King Arthur Flour. http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2017/04/07/using-a-thermometer-with-yeast-bread

My next challenge is to double the recipe and see if my 13" Pullman loaf pan could be filled with 1 1/2 recipes with some left over for crusty buns done in my cast iron Dutch oven. 😊 

I pulled it off!!

I hope you enjoy my adaptation of the original recipe by An Oregon Cottage (link below).

RECIPE:
Easy Sourdough Artisan Bread.
Original Author: Jami Boys - An Oregon Cottage
Adapted by Lea Brown Yield: 1 loaf  

Ingredients:

• 3 C flour (white whole wheat, whole wheat, light rye, unbleached, or a combo. I used 2C unbleached white & 1C light rye.) 
• * 1T sifted inulin fibre (*Optional)
•  2 pinches of instant yeast (about 1/2t)
•  1-1/4 C water (may need less if your starter is "wetter"- mine is a 75% hydration starter) I've been using room temp, filtered water & getting good results. 
•  3/4 C active sourdough starter (dry measuring cup) 
• 1 T honey 
•  1/2 T fine sea salt 

Directions: 

1. Mix all ingredients (except salt) together in the bowl of a stand mixer (you can use dough hook to combine) and then let sit for 15 minutes. Add salt.
2. Using a dough hook, knead for 5 minutes. (If kneading by hand, keep your bench scraper handy and add flour as needed to get a slightly tacky dough. You will need to knead for about 10 minutes.) If too much dough is sticking to the bottom of your mixer sprinkle about a 1/3C around the stuck part while mixer on low. Once it starts to come away, dump/pull & coerce the dough out onto your counter and using a bench scraper, attempt to knead it a bit more.
3. Transfer sticky mess to a medium-sized bowl, lightly coated with oil. Cover with plastic wrap, also sprayed with oil, and let rise for: 2-3 hours. You're looking for it to double in size.
4. Place your loaf pan behind your work area in front of you to use as a guide. Remove dough from your container and flatten it out with your hands to the length of your loaf pan. Using your pastry scraper, roll the dough towards you into a loaf shape. Put it into your pan, pressing it gently into the corners to fill the pan. Place the pan back into your warming spot and set timer for 30-40 minutes . You want the dough to rise to about ¾"-1" from the top of the pan.
5. When the dough is there, put the buttered lid onto the loaf pan and turn on your oven.
6. With your rack set to about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of your oven, set oven to 435F degrees Fan or 450F without fan. Allow oven about 30 minutes to warm up well. (Oven temps may vary. Since writing this out I've gotten a new oven & in order to get 435 fan I had to enter in 460.)
7. Once your oven is nice and hot, put in your loaf. Set the timer for 30 minutes.
8. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and change from FAN to baking and set temp to 450F. Put your timer on for an additional 5 minutes. 
9.  When the timer goes off, insert your instant thermometer into the loaf in two places to take a reading. You are wanting an internal temp around 200F. Remove the loaf from the oven, take it out of the pan, and allow to cool completely before slicing it. 

I followed the instructions in the original recipe and sliced my bread with an electric carving knife. Let's just say that my hubby can cut straight lines way better than I can. :)

Original Artisan Recipe by An Oregon Cottage at http://anoregoncottage.com/easy-sourdough-artisan-bread/