No knead sourdough bread

No-knead Sourdough Bread

by Mark Fitzgerald

"When we reached the point on the Platt[e] River where there was no wood for about 3 hundred miles, we had to burn buffalo chips, or droppings. After a good rain it would take an expert cook to get a first class meal with such fuel, but the meal was always flavored and not too great a variety, as we used sourdow [sourdough], or soda to make bread with, and that and bacon, and dried apples with a very little sugar, was our fare. Sometimes the boys would kill a deer or a chicken, and one buffalo was killed. We had been without fresh meat for so long, and using so many kinds of water, it was not good to eat much fresh meat. We did not see many buffalo on the plains, but plenty of deer and antelope. They were like flocks of sheep. Bear and wolves were plentiful."

I love the taste of sourdough.  It is an amazing, unique flavor.  But I have also been interested in knowing how to make bread if all I had was flour and water.  I received my sourdough starter from a friend and have been keeping in my fridge for a couple of years.  We get it out every couple of weeks and wake it up to make some yummy goodness.

As I have been reading making your own starter isn't too much harder than combining 1 cup flour and 1 1/2 cups water and leaving it out on the counter until it is bubbly.  Somehow I think it must be harder than that and one day I will have to try.  

As we have been looking at pioneer trek recipes, sourdough seemed appropriate.  What also seemed right was a recipe that didn't require a of kneading.  The latest no knead artisan bread seemed like a good starting point.  

From what I have read, many pioneers had sourdough starter with them, but they were more likely to use chemical leavening on the trail.  The banging around on the handcart or wagon would tend to cause the rise to fall, making it difficult to make a good bread.  Either way using a dutch oven seemed the size and shape to use.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup sourdough starter (proofed and bubbly)
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup of water
2 teaspoons kosher salt

Directions

Pour sourdough starter into a bowl with flour, salt and water. Mix with a spoon until combined. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and set it in a warm spot in your kitchen overnight.  Allow the dough to rise until doubled.

Set as dutch oven on the middle level of your oven. Preheat the oven to 450 F.  If using a dutch oven with coals pre heat a 12 inch dutch oven with 24 coals on top and 8 underneath.

Sprinkle the dutch oven with with cornmeal or cut out a piece of parchment paper and place it in the bottom of the dutch oven. Gently place your bread into the dutch oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Information

Makes 1 round that can be cut into 10 slices
220 calories for 1 slices

Make sure to see how this recipe fits into the entire menu we have cooked up for LDS Pioneer Handcart Trek recreations.