About six months ago, due to the lack of reasonably priced, good quality sourdough I decided to bake my own. I started with yeasted breads but with the lack of flavour and keeping properties I pursued the quest for the perfect Sourdough loaf. Ruby's father gave me an offshoot of a 20year old starter, as he is an artisan baker, and some vague instructions telling me to go with my instincts. It turned out to be good advice and with lots of trial and error loaves eventually started to become edible.
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| Rye Starter |
Every week I bake around 4-5 loaves and sometimes barter with Ruby's work friends. The process of turning salt, flour and water into bread still manages to amaze me. The seasonal changes effecting the sourdough process is another aspect I enjoy. After reading a lot of contradicting recipes and tips I have managed to nut out one of my own.
The ratios are:
Flour- 100%
Water- 60-70%
Starter - 25-35%
Salt- 2%
The process briefly:
Mix flour, water, starter => Knead untill well combined then wait 20mins => Add salt and knead until you achieve a window pane effect => Prove in airtight + humid space till doubled, best time is around 10 hours (the longer the better flavour) in summer this means chuck in the fridge => Shape the dough into loaves then rest in airtight place untill it rises about 50% (untill you poke the bread and it doesn't spring back) this is 2-3 hours in summer and around 5-8 in winter. => By the time the bread is ready have your oven + tray/pizza stone preheated to highest temp (mine is 260 Degrees Celsius) => Score the dough with a sharp knife or razor and chuck bread into the oven. => Spray water into the oven (10 mists or so) then drop temp to 220 Degrees Celsius and close the oven door => The bread is done when a hollow sound is created when you tap the bottom, for a kilo loaf it generally takes around 40mins though check it after 20 or so.
I shall into this in more detail later. I have found over the six months I have been making bread you learn to see and feel the changes and when things should be done, purely with the senses.
I love taking the time to create things from little as well as save money. Below are the results
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| Spiced fruit bread with some easy labna! |
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| Nothing beats fresh bread and cheese |
- James
Hey lovely ones, I absolutely loved the bread that you provided for our little rooftop supper on Saturday night and I was wondering if I could borrow the recipe for them - I have some pumpkin here that I need to use and I was thinking of some sort of pumpkin and rosemary loaf? Lots of love. Beth.
ReplyDeleteHi Beff!
ReplyDeleteHow was the rest of the night?
Sounds scrumpy, we were thinking of doing some bready Christmas treats. So we'll get onto this today!
xx
P.s you're our first comment, so excitement!