Artisan Breads Every Day - San Francisco Sourdough Bread

Another recipe review from Peter Reinhart's newest bread baking book.

I've made another attempt at sourdough bread- this time using the recipe for San Francisco sourdough bread. Actually since I added whole wheat flour, it is more of a pain au levain style bread. I replaced 2 1/2 cups of the white flour with whole wheat, added 3 T vital gluten and increased the water by 1/4 cup.

Since my sourdough failures, I was scared to use only the wild yeast. I followed the directions for the mixed method which used instant yeast combined with sourdough.

The result was wonderful. The flavor was complex, rich and deep. The bread raised beautifully. I didn't bake the bread quite long enough and the round loaf was not quite done in the middle. We enjoyed it anyway, but next time I'll know to bake the round loaf longer.

And there will be a next time, as this bread won big at our house!