Sourdough Bread (Also Known As Grandma Angelitas Bread)

Bergy's Note:

I have not used this recipe, it comes from a very old cookbook. I posted this for a request. Sounds good maybe I'll try it

• Total Time: 4 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 4 hrs
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 4 loaves

• 1 cup sourdough starter (Listed separately on recipezaar)
• 1 quart lukewarm water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 5 tablespoons melted shortening
• 12 cups flour

Directions:

1. Remove 1 cup starter and keep in fridge for the next time you wish to make 4 loaves.
2. Add remaining ingredients in the order listed.
3. Use only enough flour to make the dough easy to handle.
4. Knead on floured surface until the dough is smooth and elastic.
5. Let rise in a greased bowl, keep in a warm place, cover it, until about doubled. Knead again and divide into 4 equal parts.
6. Shape each loaf into a 9" round & place in 9" greased cake pans.
7. Let rise again.
8. Bake in 375°F oven for approx 45 minutes or until done (loaf sounds hollow when you tap on it and it should be golden brown).

Reviews

[Jmommy209]

Super easy and lovely bread. My starter is very young, so this didn't have much sourness to it. I did make a sponge and let it sit for 24 hours before making the dough, in order to get a little more pungency. The texture was smooth and fabulous. I had no problems with rising time, it actually rose much faster than I anticipated, which turned out just fine. Thank you for a great recipe.

[Hoof Dr]

This recipe is written for those of us who really do have the equipment & desire to make large batches. For everyone else, figure the shortening at 15 teaspoons and the water at 4 cups. Divide accordingly. All other ingredients will divide out easily enough. There is nothing in this recipe that wouldn't allow you to keep it in the refigerator & lop some off. I should keep for quite a while, but I'd use it within 4 or 5 days. It isn't as though it's going to go sour or anything. Also, you can form 4 balls and stick 3 in the freezer. Use just like you'd use frozen dough from the grocery store.

[Jessi Cook]

Ok. End result: the bread was great. I read others posts before I made the bread and kept hearing things about how you "lovingly knead the dough" or that one persons post about lecturing her grand kid or something about how love is like friendship or whatever. I thought it was sweet until I started making the bread. I guess my first clue should have been that the recipe calls for a quart of water, but for some reason I didn't catch on until I was counting out 12 cups of flour. Holy cow, what everyone really meant when they talked about kneading the bread was this: first your gonna need a frickin shovel to stir the stuff, then IF you do get the flour stirred in you are going to need a crane (heavily floured) to lift the gigantic ball of dough out of the bowl. Oh and if you had a bowl big enough to hold all the ingredients without taking it out side please tell me where you found it. I almost had to use my kids mini-pool. So assumeing you get it to a floured surface you are going to need some different kind of construction equipment to knead the dough, FOR HOURS. I ended up having to divide the dough into, not 4, but 6 loaves. And letting them rise individually. The recipe says to let it rise as one big dough ball and then divide it up into 4 loaves to let rise again. But I had to divide it just to be able to knead it. Plus I was afraid if I let it rise all as one big dough ball that I either A. Wouldnt have a kitchen or B. would suffer death by sourdough asphyxiation. All in all though it was worth it, because the bread was delicious. I took it to work, tore it into pieces and set it out with some balsamic bread dipping oil. I had a lot more people in my office that day.