San Francisco Sourdough Bread

Ingredients
Sourdough starter
- 1 lb (450 g) grapes, stemmed
- 12 oz (340 g) bread flour
- Water, as needed
Bread
- 8½ oz (225 ml) water, warm (120°F / 49°C)
- ½ oz (15 g) active dry yeast
- 1 cup (225 ml) sourdough starter
- 1 lb (450 g) flour
- 1 Tbsp (15 ml) salt
- 1 egg white, beaten
Steps
Sourdough starter
- Mash grapes. Place in loosely covered container. Stand at room temperature 48 hours.
- Strain off fermented juice. Discard pulp.
- Add warm water to juice to make 1 pint (450 ml).
- Stir in flour. Leave at room temperature overnight.
- Replenish daily with 1 pint warm water and 2 cups flour if kept at room temperature. If refrigerated, replenish twice a week.
Bread
- Sprinkle dry yeast onto 4 tablespoons warm water in glass measuring cup. Stand until foamy.
- Combine remaining water and sourdough starter in bowl.
- Add 1 cup flour. Stir until dough starts to form. Add yeast mixture. Mix 5 minutes.
- Add remaining flour and salt. Knead until soft and elastic, 10 minutes or more.
- Place dough in greased bowl. Cover with damp cloth. Rise in warm place (ca. 80°F/27°C to 90°F/32°C) until doubled.
- Punch down dough. Shape into round loaf. Place on greased, cornmeal-dusted sheet pan.
- Cover with damp cloth. Rise in warm place until doubled.
- Brush loaf with beaten egg white. Score top in criss-cross pattern with sharp knife.
- Bake at 450°F (230°C) with pan of boiling water under oven rack, 10 minutes.
- Reduce oven to 375°F (190°C). Remove water. Bake until well browned, about 35–45 minutes.
- Cool on rack.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:San Francisco Sourdough Bread” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-15, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Sourdough02.png by Mike Hayes, Public domain, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.






