Salt rising bread is a very heavy, dense bread. It’s so good toasted for sandwiches and it makes amazing croutons for soup and salad.
Here’s the bread I made last night. It’s only about 3″ tall. The recipe says to divide into three loaves and I do. I only have two short pans so those two pans end up a bit taller than the longer pan even though I weigh out the dough and put almost half in the larger pan and divide the other half between the two shorter pans.
Not only does this bread have a unique texture, what I call “packy” because it is so dense, but it has a unique flavor. Most people either love it or want to spit it out. It’s a strong . . not sourdough but more like a stinky cheese taste but still a good bread flavor. I don’t like it so much as just sliced bread but I love it as toast.
There is no yeast so if ever there’s a time (or should I say WHEN it happens again) and we can’t get yeast, it’s an easy bread to make – just takes time. Start to finish, it usually takes me about 36 hours. Of course, that’s NOT 36 hours of working. Once the first starter is stirred up, it sits for 18 – 24 hours and then the steps are more like regular breadmaking.
Ruth says
Very interesting yellow color on this salt rising bread! I can see it is very dense, no height to it. I like the idea of making our own croutons with it. My husband loves to eat croutons right out of the bag. Thank you for the photos!
Judy Laquidara says
The yellow is from a bit of cornmeal and also the milk I used was straight from the cow and not as white as storebought milk. If I use storebought milk, it may be a little more white than yellow.
Tracy says
I have been waiting to try a new-to-me recipe from King Arthur flour that is an easy sour dough “starter discard” bread. The baker specifically uses a 9x4x4 pullman loaf pan. He says that the higher sides make it easier for the bread to rise, especially when not adding extra yeast. Maybe this pan would give the salt bread more rise too? I bought the pan, I may try it out this weekend.
Judy Laquidara says
The longer loaf was baked in a Pullman. I have them in several sizes. Love those for making bread for sandwiches because the shape works better.