Outsourcing my blog, episode VI: Above and beyond the call

[Moriah spent months perfecting this recipe so that Mom could have a reliable recipe for making gluten-free sourdough. Talk about going above and beyond the call!]

 

 

Karen makes a huge sourdough loaf every week for the family but can't eat it herself! I wanted to perfect a gluten free sourdough recipe so Karen can enjoy the fruits of her own sourdough-labors. After a lot of research and four attempts with tweaks, it turned out better than I could have imagined. 

 

Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread

Recipe by Moriah

 

To make sourdough, you need a starter which, is a goop containing a colony of wild yeast that feeds on your flour of choice. It’s easiest to get a healthy starter from a friend, but gluten-free starters are less common. I caught my own wild yeast to make one from scratch, following this recipe with brown rice flour.

For the levain

60 grams starter
60 grams warm water
60 grams brown rice flour or UaKS Gluten-Free Flour Blend

For the bread
180 grams (or however much you can scrape out) of your bubbly, active levain from previous step
385 grams water
20 grams honey
27 grams olive oil
25 grams whole psyllium husks
350 grams UaKS Gluten-Free Flour Blend (or to mix just enough for a loaf: 233 grams brown rice flour, 78 grams Thai glutinous rice flour, and 39 grams tapioca starch)
42 grams pure hemp protein powder
10 grams double-acting baking powder (must be either double-acting or heat-activated, so that it activates in the oven)
8 grams kosher salt

    1. Feeding the starter (weekly)

NOTE 1: A healthy gluten-free starter looks different from a wheat-based one, because it doesn't have a stretch from gluten. You may not see any bubbles on top, but in a clear container you will see bubbles around the sides; or if you dip in a spoon and draw some aside it will appear airy/bubbly below, with an almost cottage-cheesy look. See photos for examples.

 

NOTE 2: Gluten-free starter gets “hungry” faster than wheat starter, and therefore is less resilient if you forget to feed it weekly. Mine recovered after ~2 weeks of neglect, but I wouldn't chance it for longer than that.

• If not taking some out for a loaf, discard enough starter so there’s room for it to grow, and so that it doesn't eat up all the flour too quickly.
• Add in equal weights (e.g. 60 grams each) of water and brown rice flour (or UaKS Gluten-Free Flour Blend). In a pinch, you can use any kind of rice flour or gluten-free flour that you have on hand.
• Stir together thoroughly; it should have the texture of a loose, wet paste. If it looks too dry or stiff, add a bit more water.
• Cover loosely and stick it back in the fridge till next time!

 

    2. Levain

• 8-12 hours before starting a loaf (such as the night before), get out a separate container and mix together 60 grams starter, 60 grams warm water, and 60 grams brown rice flour (or UaKS blend).
• As with normal feeding, adjust with extra water if it’s too dry/stiff.
• Cover loosely (e.g. with a towel) and leave out on the counter overnight, 8-12 hours. 

    3. Dough (8-12 hours later)

• Your activated starter (levain) should look like a healthy starter described earlier: bubbly around the sides/inside if you move aside the top layer with a spoon (see photos).
• In a large bowl, mix together the water, honey, olive oil, psyllium husks, and all of your active levain (the psyllium husks will begin to gelatinize in the liquid).
• In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, hemp powder, baking powder, and salt.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix together until it forms a shaggy dough ball. Let sit for ~30 mins to hydrate.

• When you come back, knead the dough a bit until the texture feels fairly uniform. This will not have the stretch you’d expect from a wheat-based dough; that’s okay. The goal is just to get the ingredients well mixed and hydrated.
• Form into a nice ball and try to pinch/smooth up any large cracks that formed from kneading. Place back in the bowl covered with a towel, and let it sit out for most of the day (8-12 hours) to ferment. 
• You may not see much rise, if any, throughout the day; that’s expected, as gluten-free dough is different due to the lack of stretchiness to catch air bubbles. Your starter yeast has still been working hard all day to digest the flours.
• In the evening, place a heavy pot with lid inside the oven while preheating to 450 degrees. Meanwhile, place your dough ball on parchment paper and use a sharp knife or razor blade to draw a deep score across the top at a 45 degree angle.
• Once your oven and pot are preheated, carefully transfer your parchment paper and dough into the pot. Cover with the lid, and bake for 40 mins at 450 (yes, this is longer than you'd do for wheat sourdough!)
• Remove the lid and bake for another 20-30 mins. Start checking at 20 mins, and remove once the interior temp is between 205-210 F (outside this range will have a gummy texture).
• Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely before slicing.
• Gluten-free sourdough seems to go stale faster than a wheat loaf, so I recommend storing it in an airtight bag in the fridge.