My life has been very hectic lately, but I did not abandon baking and cooking altogether. I wanted to keep it simple and baked 2 sourdough sandwich loaves of bread once a week. For that, I used my old Pullman loaf pans. Each of them measures 13.58 x 5.39 x 4.72 inches. According to the manufacturer, each pan can accommodate 2.2 lbs of dough. 

You already know that every dough is different and the volume of the bread largely depends on the type of flour used and the strength of the leavening agent. The 2.2 lb refers to yeasted bread made with white all-purpose or bread flour. For my sandwich bread, I use different proportions of organic all-purpose flour and white rye flour. The following proportions are just for your reference. 

A Pullman loaf pan works best, but any loaf pan will do just fine, even without a lid. 

Ingredients:

• Active Sourdough — 300 grams
• Water — 1125 grams
• Flour combo — 1500 grams
• Sea salt — 30 grams

I used a 50/50 percent combo of organic all-purpose flour and white rye flour respectively, and a 30/70 percent combo. The higher the percentage of rye flour you use, the more pronounced the sour taste you get. It is not very sour in both combinations. 

Mixing and the First Fermentation:

I mixed the dough at medium speed for 5 minutes, stretched and folded the dough onto itself 3 times at 20-minute intervals, and let it rest for 4 hours.

Then, I divided the dough into 2 parts and shaped each half into a long cylinder. 

I used Ghee (clarified butter) to grease my Pullman pans. You may use butter or olive oil. 

I put my cylinders of dough into the prepared Pullman pans, covered them with greased lids, and placed them in a warm spot for 1 hour.

Baking:

• Preheat the oven to 450 ℉ (230 °C).
• Bake at 450 ℉ (230 °C) – 25 minutes
• Then at 400 ℉ (204 °C) – 15 minutes with the lid off
• Reduce the oven temperature to 350 ℉ (176 °C) – 10  minutes freestanding on a baking sheet (no pan)

The following photo guide is about the 30/70 formula (30% all-purpose flour and 70% white rye flour).