Sourdough Bread

Sourdough Bread

I wanted to make some before giving the recipe hence the delay…
A tip…never put salt in the starter…salt will hinder the yeast process.
This version uses potato in the starter..it makes a lovely dough...but has the real sourdough nuances in taste.

Once you have made the starter, you can keep it going…of course you do not have …
For the starter…
1 small potato, peeled and sliced
1 cup water
1 tsp sugar
½ cups white flour

For the dough…
4 cups of flour, ½ cup of sugar, 2 cup tepid water, salt to taste (about a teaspoon

Make the starter by boiling the potato in the cup of water until it is soft enough to mash. Do not drain but leave it until it is lukewarm, pour into a jar then add the sugar and flour and stir into a smooth paste. Leave covered in a warm place until it is full of bubbles…this can take one to two days, depending on the humidity and temperature.

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Put the dough flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl, mix in the starter. Mix well and add enough water to make a smooth dough. Knead for ten minutes…
Rise in a greased tin, campoven or shape into loaves and rise on the oven tray. allow at least two hours for this. Bake at 200 c for 10 minutes, reduce to 150c until done (allow at least 50 plus minutes)…tap it on the base and if it makes a hollow sound, you know it is done.

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To make a new starter, take 1 tsp raw dough and put it into a jar with 1 tsp sugar, some flour and warm water. Let it rest until bubbly and ready to use…the starter can be abit fickle sometimes…again it is about humidity and temperature.

I have the ferment for a yeast sourdough on the go...will make it tomorrow...

Yeast Sourdough

The prepared starter...

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To make the ferment or starter, pour into a large bowl, 3 cups of warm water, 1 ½ tbsp dried yeast (not breadmaker yeast) and 1 tsp sugar.
When the yeast is fluffy, add 3 cups of flour. Mix in well with a spatula until you have a smooth mix.
Cover with gladwrap and leave in a warm place for at least 8 hours…how the ferment works will depend on the temperature of course. If for some reason you want to leave making the bread for a day or two, just put the bowl in the fridge and the ferment will slow down.
So it has done its thing, so to make a loaf.

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Nearly there...

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Start by removing the bowl from the fridge so it can come to room temperature. If you are using it without chilling, you can get on with the loaf straight away.
With a spatula, gently stir the ferment for a few times just to smooth it out a bit, then place in a bowl, 1 ½ cups of the ferment, 2 cups of flour and ¾ tsp salt. Use some wholemeal flour as part of the mix if you like. You could also add say a good tablespoon of olive oil…most people would use Extra Virgin but I personally like using pomace oil…it has more character to it. Anyway oil or not, stir well, then empty bowl on to the workbench. Sprinkle just a skiff of flour on the bench…and start working on the dough adding another few skiffs of flour as the dough takes up the flour…this dough is a strong dough and most cakemixers simply would not cope with it…you need to knead the dough for 10 minutes…there are no short cuts with this…you can be a bit rough with it, like hold it up and drop it on to the bench a few times every so often…just hang in there and all of sudden you are aware of the change in the dough…it has become smooth and elastic…the test for reaching the right point in kneading is if you press your index finger into the dough, the dough will bounce back, not a bounce like a ping pong ball exactly…you’ll see.
When the dough bounces back, oil a bowl, roll the dough a bit in the oil so it doesn’t dry out, cover with a teatowel and leave to rise for at minimum of 1 ½ hours, in other words until it has basically doubled. Give it a gentle knead, then place in a oiled tin or on an oiled baking tray and again leave to rise to double its size.

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Have the oven at 200c for the first ten minutes, then turn down the heat to 160c and bake until done.
The ferment is enough for three batches, or one really big loaf!!

Out of the oven...

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This is a really nice bread.

Awesome.

I have never used any yeast in a starter, just flour and water and the natural yeasts do their thing over 4-6 days as you keep adding flour and water.

Well done ebees, I just use the wifes bread maker.