Slow cooker sourDough

I love to bake bread. I have made all kinds from olive bread to focaccia. One type I don't have to pull up a recipe for is sour dough. I've made it so often. I keep sourdough starter in the refrigerator and feed it with fresh flour and water once a week to keep it healthy.

Everyone loves fresh baked bread. The scent alone is comforting. The aroma of baking bread fills the house with feel-good scents. (The scent of baking bread does make you feel better. Read more about it here.) Around the holidays I often have baking days where I bake in mass. I serve bread to visitors and send them home with a loaf and sometimes the recipe.

Sourdough is a standard bread I often bake. My parents got a starter from a friend in the 70's and I've been baking it ever since. And though I don't have any of that original starter, I could have if I'd thought to take some and feed it and store it...A well maintained starter can last forever. It just needs to be stored in the fridge and periodically fed fresh flour and water. My current starter is from a batch I made in 2016.

Wheat holds magickal energy for abundance, fertility, prosperity, and protection. It is one of the sacred grains. Be sure to hold a clear intention when working the dough to create a loaf filled with magickal energy.

Sourdough

makes 1 loaf

You will need

1 cup of sourdough starter

4 cups of flour

water

2 teaspoons yeast

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

Freshen 1 cup starter with 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water. Mix together and let set out overnight.

The next morning, in a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and yeast. Add the starter mixture and olive oil and mix together until dough is shaggy. Let sit for fifteen minutes.

Now it's time to hydrate the dough. Starting with a 1/2 cup, add water to reach right consistency. Dough should be hydrated but not sticky.

Knead until elastic. Spray a bowl with nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a piece of plastic wrap that has also been sprayed with cooking spray. Cover over the top with a dishtowel and set in a warm place to rise until doubled. (About 2 hours)

When dough has doubled punch it down and place in a dutch oven. Cover and cook on high for three hours.

(or set on a baking sheet and set aside for second rise. About 2 hours) Preheat oven to 425. Brush dough with melted butter and bake for 15 minutes. Then lower oven temperature to 375 and bake until top is gold and bottom sounds hollow. (About 40 minutes) Thump bottom of loaf. If it does not sound hollow return to oven for 10 more minutes minutes.

Add a little pizzazz by shedding 1/4 cup of parmesan and sprinkling over top before cooking.