A few years ago I was amidst the dissertation stress that is accompanying the adventure of obtaining a PhD. Focussing on writing this document while isolated during covid can be challenging. To distract myself from this mentally straining effort, I decided teaching myself the art of sourdough bread making would be a good idea.
After a few weeks of daily baking attempts I managed to get some nice bakes. I would say these were bakery worthy near the end. When you get the hang of it, it's actually not too tricky. I think it really is one of these things you just have to keep doing for a while to master.
Here's one of my bakes from back when I was in dissertation mayhem.
Having to nurture a starter and folding some dough was a nice distraction and a daily treat in the form of fresh bread every morning. Last week I decided it was time to get this daily habit another try. Let me give you a brief on how I prepare and bake a loaf like the above.
It All Starts With a Starter
While some people ad yeast to their bread recipe, sourdough uses a starter. This is nothing more than a mix of water and flower which contains natural yeasts and is kept alive by feeding it water and flower on a daily basis.
I created a new starter last week by simply mixing 50 grams of water and rye flower in a container with a lose lid and add an additional 50 grams of water and rye flower every day for about a week or so. I use rye flower as this type is a bit more rich in terms of natural yeasts and is less likely to get mouldy.
During first days of feeding the starter you might not see much action. But after a while the starter will grow in size a few hours after you fed it with fresh flower. This is due to the gas created by the yeasts inside the starter.
I keep my starter in this jar and feed it daily.
Making the Dough
Once a healthy starter is running, you can make a dough daily and add a bit of your starter to the dough. Typically I feed the starter in the early morning and a few hours later, once the starter really starting to rise fast, I make the dough.
The dough recipe can be varied but the standard small loaf that I use is made by simply mixing 300 grams of spelt flower and 210 grams of water (which is about 70% of the weight of the flower used). I mix this and let it sit for about an hour. I then add 45 grams of starter (15%) and about 9 grams of salt (3%). The percentages are handy when changing the amount of dough you make and are typically used by bakers.
Once everything is mixed into a dough, I let it sit in a container with a loose lid. In the next two ours I fold the though once in a while (approximately every 30 mins or so). Once the folding is done I let it rise for the rest of the day.
Once the dough has risen enough, I fold it into a loaf and put it in a basket which I then put in the fridge. This way the dough stops rising and it can be baked in the morning.
Freshly folded loaf ready for a rest in the fridge
Baking time!
In the morning, I kick start the oven to 250 degrees celcius. I add a baking sheet to the very top of the oven to shield off the heating element in the top part of the oven. I then add a sheet to the bottom onto which I poor some water right before putting the loaf in the oven. Finally I add a cast iron skillet to heat up and into which I put the loaf for baking. The thick iron skillet sort of acts as the floor of a stone oven.
Scoring the loaf before baking
When the oven is hot I take out the skillet, drop the loaf in it and score the top of the loaf with a razor blade. A sharp knife probably can do the trick too. I then poor a cup of water on the bottom sheet in the oven which directly starts boiling. Then I pop in the loaf and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes. After 25 minutes or so I remove the top sheet from the oven to give the loaf a bit of colour and crunchiness.
And that's about it!
Today's Effort
Today's bake is the first in a long time. New starter, new kitchen, new oven. Many factors that affect the end result. While the springiness wasn't as much as I would like, the first attempt was quite alright:
The resulting loaf
While the above steps might sound very involved, it actually is not that much work. All steps take just a few minutes each. Spread over the day it's quite doable. As an alternative to a daily bake, you can also keep the starter in the fridge and do a weekly bake instead. Due to the lower temperatures, the yeast slows down and everything take longer. Perfect for, let's say, fresh bread for Sunday breakfast!
Did you try to bake your own bread before? Let me know your tricks to make the perfect loaf!