WIP - Sourdough......

[Kalimna]

Greetings folks,
Following on from another thread regarding home-made cheese (any-cheesemakers-out-there-t74040.html), Dave (the threads' OP) sent me a packet of dried sourdough starter sent over from the States. I thought it would be nice to post up an unusual WIP. So here it is.

First off, the dried starter, as received.

I followed the instructions Dave included, essentially a standard sourdough starter 'recipe', with a little added for the re-hydration of the (quite hard) dried out starter. Adding more flour (Allinsons Strrong White bread flour) and water (the instructions stated non-chlorinated water, as sourdough cultures can be rather sensitive to such things, but I just used cold kettle water) every other day for almost a week to arrive at a bubbly, soupy bowl of the following :

Last night I started off the bread recipe (from the River Cottage Bread handbook, easily the best beginners bread book out there, very explanatory, some very good recipes, and cheap too) which is half the total flour and all the liquid. This morning, I added the rest of the flour and the salt, mixed it all together for about 15-20 secconds and, following Dan Leppards method, left it for 15 minutes, covered but undisturbed. Here is the mixture after this initial mixing :

The method now proceeds as follows - every 10-15 minutes for an hour give the developing dough a 10-15 second knead then cover (i leave the dough on the worktop and cover with the upturned mixing bowl). Really, no more than 15 seconds at a time is required. After an hour, leave for another 2 hours then a 15 second knead, then same again in another 2 hours, then shape and let rise for however long it takes. These times are approximate, and quite dependent on the vigour of the yeast within the dough (be it sourdough or normal), so a little experience with bread is handy.

@15 mins

@30 mins

@60 mins

@3 hours

@8 hours, shaped for final rise

@10 hours, slashed and ready for oven - as hot as possible for ten minutes, then check and adjust temp depending on crust colour for further 35 minutes. Its also quite useful to spray the loaf with water just prior to placing in the oven, along with as much steam as possible - this helps the initial transfer of heat energy to the loaf, and helps develop a fabby crusty crust with all those tiny bubbles that you get from a nice bakery-bought loaf.

@10 mins cooking, nice oven spring and colour developing, so drop temp to 180oC for remainder. Note the roasting tray steaming away and pizza stone underneath baking tray.

For the final product, please see next post!

 

[Kalimna]

Rightyo, here, then, are the two loaves out of the oven and cut.

Slashing the loaf prior to baking isnt just decorative, it helps to release the tension built into the shaped loaf and improves the rise in the oven. A sharp, sharp, sharp knife is needed, so as not to drag the delicate dough .
The colour of the bread is due in part to me adding the remnants of a bag of (relatively) local wholewheat bread flour along with the Allinsons white.
Whilst it is not a short process, making sourdough, it is a very rewarding one, and I doubt a more flavoursome loaf can be made at home with the only ingredients being flour, water and salt (and the starter, of course, but that is only flour and water and air-bourne/flour-bourne yeasts and bacteria). In theory, a sourdough loaf will last longer than a plain white one, but it rarely sits in the kitchen long enough to find this out.....

So, with minimal expenditure of time (about 5 minutes locating and weighing ingredients, no more than 2 minutes in total kneading, and the baking) other than when it is rising, and relative lack of expense (a £3 bag of flour will do for about 6 loaves, I reckon), homemade bread can be rather yummy.

I must thank David123 again for being kind enough to send me a sample.....

And, as usual, any questions or queries/comments, please fire away!

Adam

 

[spinks]

Looks good, I assume the "starter" you have used is some kind of activator thingy that saves you having to keep the dough in the airing cupboard for a week kneading daily??

Mrs Spinks is awesome at making bread, she makes a mean soda bread, again it never lasts long enough to find out how long it keeps for!! Sadly she is now dieting and bread is one of the sacrifices.

Good work!!

 

[gregmcateer]

Lovely. I can almost smell it from here - It really brings back memories of my (rather mental) Dad covering our kitchen with flour and producing some often delicious bread.

Well done, you.

 

[david123]

Looks good Adam
glad I could help with the starter

 

[John Brown]

I may have to invest in that book.
I try to make sourdough from time to time. Everything goes according to plan(doubling in size, blah blah blah) right up to the time when I put it in the hot oven, at which point it resolutely refuses to rise again. I've tried a proffing basket and different methods of kneading, but I generally end up with sourdough flatbread.

 

[david123]

Hi John
It could be a number of things. I assume that you have the dough in a warm place as you tell us that it is doubling in size on your first proving, how long does it take to double in size? I also have my oven on as high as it can go,preheated for at least 15 minutes. And I always cook my bread at this temperature for at least 20 minutes before turning it down to 180 degrees for the final baking. As Adam mentioned, scoring the bread also helps.

I have enough starter to let a couple of you folk have enough to get you started if it helps, just give me a shout.

 

[blackrodd]

'Er indoors cooks a mean loaf in the Rayburn.
I can remember her saying that you must be very careful NOT to knock or bang the loaf prior to baking as this can cause problems and ones loaf can resemble a fairly solid door stop!. Regards Rodders

 

[cambournepete]

Looks lovely - I really must try sourdough sometime.

I rate Richard Bertinet's "Dough" very highly as a beginners bread book.

I put ice cubes on a hot tray in the oven as well to help with the steam.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I do bake bread but I've never done the sourdough thing.
I thought that sourdough was one of those things that you use over and over again, like a ginger beer plant. I've even heard of sourdough kennels, for when people go away on holiday!
This doesn't seem to me to be the same. How is it sustained?
S

 

[Phil Pascoe]

"Bread Matters" is a good book - Andrew Whitely, I believe. I can't look, all my books are in storage.

 

[lanemaux]

I often make my own pizza from scratch when the mood strikes me. No reason behind it save mine tastes better than the frozen ones. A gent from up the road came over once to help me pull an engine from our Dodge and switch in a new one. About halfway through , as in both my engines out of the vehicle, I go inside and bring out a couple of piping hot slices. Tom looks at me in total puzzlement and asks where the pizza came from. In all innocence I say "from the oven" He had been trying to figure how a delivery was made while he and I were working that he did not notice. He actually asked the wife as well , didn't think home made was an option. In his defense , having eaten his wifes cooking , I can see what might have confused him.

 

[whiskywill]

I do bake bread but I've never done the sourdough thing.
I thought that sourdough was one of those things that you use over and over again, like a ginger beer plant. I've even heard of sourdough kennels, for when people go away on holiday!
This doesn't seem to me to be the same. How is it sustained?
S

You only use a part of the sourdough starter each time. The rest is kept going by an occasional feed of flour and a top up with water. Keeping it in the fridge slows down the action a bit.

 

[Kalimna]

Ahh, 'Bread Matters' - I have seen it, but it isnt a bread book I have (yet). I wonder, is it possible to acquire too many books on a specific cooking topic? I doubt it.
Steve - sourdough is one of those things that is used over and over again, depending on the recipe you would use different amounts of the starter which is then replenished and fed, as WhiskyWill mentions. Another way of slowing it down is to increase the flour:water ratio. This, apparently, also helps to increase the sourness of the bread.

Pete - if you put a roasting tray half full of water into the base of the oven when you start it up, then you will have a steam-filled oven the moment you put your bread in. And you wouldnt have the slight cooling effect of using ice cubes. Failing that, just use some hot water poured onto the preheated tray as you place bread in the oven. Or is there another reason you would use ice cubes?

Cheers all,
Adam

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Physics ain't my thing, but it's the temperature difference that gives the steam, surely? If a tray of water warms with the oven, there'll be humidity, but little steam. I use ice, just for convenience - just throw a few cubes in the bottom of the oven. Get a cheap spray mister - about £1 - and spray your loaves before you put seeds or oats on top, it helps them stick. You can prod them in with your fingers as long as it's done before the last proving, otherwise you're flattening the bread. Spray the oven when putting loaves in, as well.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

No, you can't have too many books. My daughter had to fill in a questionaire on a university application that went on the lines of - how many books are there in your household? none - one to ten - ten to fifty - fifty to one hundred - one hundred to two hundred - more than two hundred? She laughed, looked at my wife and asked if they meant cookery books or dictionaries and encyclopaedias, as she could find over two hundred of each of them without counting the rest!

 

[david123]

Be carful if you have an old oven, getting spray on the hot door glass could shatter it