I went on a course to learn about making nice bread. This describes my attempt to put what I learnt about making sourdough bread into practice.
Day one - mix flour and water (100gr/90gr) to start your starter. You can use almost any flour or combination of flours - I used a 75/25 split between strong white and rye. Now leave it covered at a moderately warm room temperature for 24 hrs.
"Feed" the starter at 24hr intervals for up to 10 days (to do this discard about 2/3rds of it each day and then top up with the same amount of flour and water as you did at the beginning). The pic above was at day 2 and you can see the tiny bubbles showing which is a sign the yeasts are forming.
My first sourdough loaf made from my own "starter" or "mother" (see below for a lengthy attempt at explaining how to prepare this).
The basic recipe for this bread is 100% flour - 30-40% starter - 65% water - 2% salt.
So for example (500gr flour - 200gr starter - 350gr water - 10gr salt).
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| ("IT'S ALIVE") The starter is ready when it looks pretty lively like this. This will be between 5 and 10 days. You can now use up to 90% of this to MAKE SOME BREAD (the remainder can be topped up again following the same schedule as above - you can potentially keep this starter going for ever - see it as a new pet). |
The basic recipe for this bread is 100% flour - 30-40% starter - 65% water - 2% salt.
So for example (500gr flour - 200gr starter - 350gr water - 10gr salt).
To make a loaf:
Here's the proportions for ingredients:
100% flour (strong white is what I used), 30-40% starter, 65% water, 2% salt
Here's what I actually weighed out to make two small loaves:
500gr flour
200gr starter
350ml water
2 level tsp (10ml) salt
Knead for about 10 mins (until dough is very elasticy) then add the salt and knead for another 5 (even more elasticy). It will feel very wet at first but persevere and as the gluten forms it should become more elasticy and less gloopy and sticky (it'll become even more manageable after adding the salt but don't be tempted to add it early as the salt does draw out moisture).
Getting a good kneading technique requires practice (I recommend YouTube to see how it's done - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvdtUR-XTG0 is nearest to what I do but http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1timJlCT3PM shows a slightly different approach - they both get over well what you are trying to achieve).
Form ("Cob") into a ball and leave in a covered bowl for an hour.
Divide, structure* and cob, and place (fold side up*) in floured bowls to proove overnight in a cool place (the fridge if you are leaving it for 24 hours).
*Structuring the bread is important as it helps the loaf have a good shape and form. Basically to do this pat your dough ball into a kind of flying saucer shape and then keep folding sides in on one another. When cobbing (ie forming into a ball) make sure that the side with the folds is on the bottom of the ball and that when placing in the floured bowls to proove overnight that these folds are face up - this will be the bottom of the loaf you see (I know!! this is probably an inadequate description of this phase of the process - SORRY).
Next day you can bake:
Preheat oven to highest temp
Turn out your two loaves onto pans sprinkled with semolina flour (remember the folded side or upside in the bowl should be the bottom of your loaf).
Put some (deepish) slashes in the top (this is important for the cooking and the appearence.
Sprinkle each loaf with a bit more flour (again this will enhance the appearance).
Place a tray of water in the bottom of the oven to create some steam (this helps with crust formation).
Put your loaves in for approx 20-25 mins.
The loaves are done when they are golden brown AND a tap on the bottom of the loaf makes a hollow woody kind of sound like tapping a cardboard box.
