Sourdough bread, love it

I've been making this for a few months now and absolutely love it, I enjoy it far more than what you can buy in supermarkets or even bakeries.

[Agoodenough]

Looks great and even better if you can make it yourself!

[Hidden in reply to Agoodenough]

Much better and cheaper. I couldn't believe how easy this was to make.😀

[Hidden]

Hi Alicia, this looks fantastic, totally perfect in fact with great structure so I’m very impressed. And I’d love the recipe please, I’d love some of this too LOL...😊

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Jerry for your kind words. I will post the recipe when I'm back on the PC tomorrow, it's so easy😀

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi again Jerry, here is the Sourdough recipe (I wanted to just give you the links but it seems that the recipes I have, have disappeared from the site):

Sourdough Starter

Ready in 5 days

Making a sourdough starter is an easy thing to do; add water and strong flour together and let nature take over. You do not need to add yeast or apple or grapes or yoghurt to create the starter. The yeast comes from airborne wild or natural yeasts that are all around us in sufficient quantities to activate the starter. Then it is a matter of feeding the starter every day for 5 days. The starter will produce bubbles and will have a sweet alcoholic smell. I store my starter in a 1.5L Kilner jar and leave it in my kitchen in a cool place ready for use.

The starter can be stored in the fridge if you have the space as this will slow down the activity and preserve it. You must bring the starter back to room temperature before use to get it active again, so allow 12 hours before use. The creation of a starter takes approximately 5 days and then regular feeding thereafter. Follow the step by step guide below and you will have the beginning of a wonderful sourdough starter.

Ingredients

Makes: 1 (500g) batch sourdough starter

• 50g strong white flour, strong wholemeal flour or rye flour or a mix

• 50ml water

Preparation method

Prep: 10 min | Extra time: 5 days, proofing

1. On day 1 mix the flour and water and pour into a 1.5L Kilner jar.

Repeat this process and feed the starter for a further 4 days using

the quantities above. At the end of 5 days you will have 500g of

sourdough starter that is starting to bubble and smelling of sweet

alcohol. When you put a spoon into it it should be like a thick

batter. Now you have the base starter which needs to be fed and

developed. If water forms on top of the starter just stir the starter

and the water will disappear back into the mixture. The picture

shows my jar of starter and you can see where the starter has

been active and "climbed" up the jar. This starter has been active

for nearly a year, so bit of a youngster!

2. To develop the starter and give it more vigour remove about 300g of the starter which

can be added to pancake batter, Yorkshire pudding batter, scone dough or give it away

to a friend to help them create a starter culture. Now make a 50:50 mix of flour to

water this time using 100g of flour and 100ml water and pour into the jar and mix into

the leftover starter.

3. Next day feed it again with 50:50 this time using 50g of flour and 50ml water and you

have replaced the amount of discarded starter. By now the starter will be active and

ready to use. Each time you use the starter to make bread immediately replace the

quantity taken from the jar and use in the recipe with the 50:50 mix, for example, if the

recipe starter quantity is 300g then replace this amount in your storage jar with 150ml

water and 150g flour and mix into the leftover starter in the jar.

4. If you do not use the sourdough starter on a regular basis the starter will go dormant,

which is not bad, but before it can be used in a recipe it will have to be reactivated.

Place your jar in the kitchen (a place warmer than where you had stored it) and discard

half the starter and replace the quantity with a 50:50 feed. Within 24 hours the starter

will be getting active and another feed or two will get it back to strength. The more

active and stronger the starter the more flavoursome the bread becomes and the rise

of the bread will also improve.

5. With your sourdough starter bubbling and smelling great now it's

time to make some bread. Have a look at my recipe for a

simple sourdough loaf to get you started. Have fun and enjoy the

depth of flavour sourdough bread has.

Bread

Simple sourdough loaf

Ready in 13 hours 10 min

This recipe will introduce you to sourdough bread making. The loaf you will create is very tasty either fresh or as toast. I make this loaf regularly because it is such a great hit with the family. It takes time to make sourdough bread because each rise is often 5 to 8 hours, so plan to start the loaf in the afternoon of day 1, let it have the second rise overnight, and bake first thing on day 2. For this recipe I use a 900g (2 lb) loaf tin.

Ingredients

Makes: 1 (900g) sourdough loaf

• 350g strong white flour

• 150g strong wholemeal flour

• 300g sourdough starter

• 275ml to 320ml water

• 10g salt

•

Preparation method

Prep: 30 min |Cook: 40 min | Extra time: 12 hours, proofing

1. Put the flour, starter and half the water into the mixing bowl. Bring the ingredients

together and add more water until you have a sticky dough. If you are doing this by

hand, tip onto an oiled surface to stop the dough sticking and add the salt and work

this into the dough. Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is smooth

and sticky. If you use a mixer with a dough hook place all the dry ingredients, starter

and half the water into the mixer bowl. Mix and add the water to create a sticky

dough. Set the mixer speed to mid-way to knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes.

Place in an oiled container or bowl, cover and leave to rise for 5 to 6 hours.

2. Lightly oil a 900g (2 lb) loaf tin. Lightly oil the work surface and tip the risen dough

onto it and knock back the dough. Fold the corners into the middle of the dough a few

times before shaping to fit into the loaf tin. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise for 6 to

8 hours or overnight.

3. Preheat the oven to 240 C / 220 C fan / Gas 8/9. Place a roasting

tin into the bottom of the oven, just before adding the bread, fill

with boiling water, this will produce steam which helps create a

lovely crisp crust.

4. Bake the bread for 30 to 40 minutes. Check the bread has cooked

by tapping the base which should give a hollow sound. Remove

from the tin and place on a cooling rack. Slice, butter and enjoy.

Remember to replenish the sourdough starter container with a 50:50 mix of flour and water equalling the weight of starter removed for use.

Just a couple of tips; when I don't want to make any bread for a week or so I store the starter in the fridge and when I am ready to make some bread I take it out in the morning, give it a good stir and then leave it for the day to start bubbling which is normally does by around mid-afternoon. I used a 2lb loaf tin and a smaller one as I found just using the 2lb tin on it's own not big enough. I therefore get a little loaf and a larger one and I freeze my bread. Also, I prefer a more chewy crust and you can get this by covering the crust of the bread with a tea towel until cool.

Tip

Once you become familiar and confident with making sourdough bread alter the flour types, for example, reduce the strong white flour and replace that amount with rye or

spelt or malt. Experiment and have fun.

Jerry - what I do now is make the dough late afternoon, around 16:00, put it in the fridge and then take it out again just before going to bed and leaving it overnight and by the morning it's ready to shape and put in the loaf tins. It's normally around mid-afternoon when I cook the bread and I cook it on a lower heat than dictated i.e. I cook it around 200c fan oven and I bake the smaller loaf for around 20 minutes and cook the larger loaf for around 25 minutes. I find cooking it for the time stated above too long and the heat too hot. You may find a loaf tin big enough for one loaf but I'm happy now with my 2lb tin and a smaller one.

I have now used: white, granary and wholemeal flours and am planning to add seeds some time.

Happy baking

Alicia

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi Alicia, this is really interesting and thorough so thank you ever so much, you're obviously an accomplished bread baker and I like that. I'm going to have to have a go at baking sourdough bread now...😊

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

You are welcome Jerry and I love the fact it's so easy to make and I know exactly what's in it. The picture I used on here is 100% wholemeal, it's delicious.

The starter takes days and works really well. Let me know How You get on. 😀

[Zest]

Hi Alicia,

Your bread looks fantastic!

Zest

[Hidden in reply to Zest]

Thank you Zest, I love it. 😀