Quick sourdough sandwich bread

I read somewhere that a typical industrial made sandwich bread has a maximum fermentation time of 15 minutes. To make this possible a special enzyme is added to the dough that speeds up the fermentation. I presume they meant the final rise even if the article wasn’t clear about that.
Since I haven’t been able to get that information verified, I’m not sure if it’s true.
I hope it’s not, but I wouldn’t surprise me if it is.
Let me explain why.
I have been baking my sandwich bread for some years now, so I have forgotten how the factory-made one’s taste.

It was time for a test.

So I went to the grocery store and bought two different sandwich bread. One cheap, and one more expensive.
The cheapest bread cost only 2 bucks, and I had low expectations.
But I was still disappointed.
The taste, texture, everything was mediocre. Bread that tastes almost nothing, must have had a very short fermentation time. Perhaps only 15 minutes.
I knew about The Chorleywood Process, and I thought that was bad enough. I mean, not even commercial yeast deserves to be treated that way. To realize that it may be even worse makes me depressed.
If it is true, I think it’s an insult.
Not only to us consumers but to the craftsmanship in whole.
Because it is a craftsmanship to bake bread. And it’s seldom done well in a factory.

But what about the other bread? The more expensive one that cost almost 3 bucks.
Well, the texture was much better, and there was much more taste in it. The problem was it tasted a bit weird. The producer said it contained sourdough starter and that may be true. But I wonder what kind of starter they were using because I have never got that taste of my sourdough bread. Something I’m happy about.

This test reminded me how important good bread has become to me. But it also gave me an idea of an experiment. How fast can you bake a sourdough sandwich bread with a decent result? Would it be that much better than the miserable things I bought?

PREPARING THE DOUGH AND BULK FERMENTATION

I mixed flour with butter and added water and sourdough starter. Butter helps to make the crumb soft which is essential in a sandwich bread. I left the dough to rest for 30 minutes before I incorporated the salt with some stretch and folds.
I placed the dough in a sunny window and let it rest untouched. After an hour I had to move it to the shadow as it started to become very warm inside the bowl, almost 86ºF/32ºC. But it had already raised quite a bit.
After 2 hours and 50 minutes, I decided to finish the bulk fermentation.

FINAL RISE

I formed the loaf and placed it in a bread form. The dough had cooled, so I placed it in the sunlight again. If the sun doesn’t shine, you can get the same effect by placing the dough in the oven with the lamp lit only. Be careful, though. I can be too hot in some ovens. Always check the dough temperature with a thermometer.
I was aiming for a 45 minutes final rise, but that was not enough.
After 90 minutes the dough had just reached the upper edge of the bread form, and I decided that it was ready.

The loaf was brushed with beaten egg and scored before it went into the oven. After 30 minutes it was ready.
The total amount of time required was 5 hours and 5 minutes.
I don’t know how long it takes to bake a sandwich bread in a factory, but I hardly think it takes more than 1.5 hours. At least not for the one that costs $2.

But how much better was my bread, if it was any better at all. After all, I had rushed the baking process, something you have to pay for with taste most of the times.
The crumb was just great. A bit tight but still soft, just the way I want my sandwich bread. And there was more taste than I thought it would be. Of course, you won’t get much of that aroma and tanginess that is typical for long-fermented sourdough bread. But it still tasted good. It tasted real bread, unlike those I bought. And if I had just added 2 or 3 hours of fermentation time, I’m sure the result would have turned out even better.

So what’s the point with all this, you may ask. Why just not add those hours and get the result I want?
Well, I wanted to show that it is possible to produce decent bread, with no extra additives, in quite a short time.

Of course, it’s a huge difference between five hours and one and a half. Bread baked like this will cost more, no doubt about that. But perhaps it doesn’t have to be that more expensive. If only the big bread manufacturers focused more on trying to bake according to traditional techniques and still make a profit than trying to speed up the process at all cost it may not be that impossible.
And honestly, wouldn’t it be worth paying a bit extra for bread that tastes something? Bread that is free from additives whose sole purpose is to speed up the fermentation process or prolonge the shelf life.
And maybe, just maybe that would solve some of the health issues like gluten intolerance for at least some people.

Quick sourdough sandwich bread

5 from 1 vote

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Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

  

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• 220 gram water
• 310 gram Wheat flour
• 15 gram whole rye flour
• 40 gram butter unsalted
• 120 gram sourdough starter 100% hydration
• 9 gram sea salt

Instructions

 

• Mix flour with butter until there are no lumps of butter left. Add water and sourdough starter and mix until all flour has been hydrated. Let the dough rest for 30 - 50 minutes.
• Add salt and perform one stretch and fold. Repeat the stretch and fold after 30 minutes. Let the dough ferment for 3 to 5 hours at a temperature of 78 - 86ºF/25 - 30ºC.
• Lightly flour your work surface and dump out the dough. Flatten the dough gently with your hands. Form the dough to a bâtard There's a link to an excellent video showing how to form a bâtard in the recipe notes*.
• Let the loaves rise for 1 to 2 hours at 78 - 86ºF/25 - 30ºC, or until they pass the finger poke test**.
• Preheat your oven to 480ºF / 250ºC with two oven plates. One to bake the bread on and one just below.
• Score the loaves in your preferred pattern and place them in the oven. Pour some water on the plate below and bake each loaf in 25-35 minutes.

Notes

*Maurizio from The perfect loaf has made an excellent video showing how to form a bâtard.

**You will find a description of the finger poke test in this recipe.

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