Having mastered the art of the New York Times no kneed bread the next logical step was to try a sourdough.
This would of course involve some kneeding and a more measured approach to proofing and the likes but the thing that got me really excited was the idea of growing a sourdough starter without using any instant processed yeast.
The idea of a sourdough starter is to encourage the growth and development of natural yeast spores found in the flour you use and in the environment surrounding you. This really is getting back in touch with a purely natural way of cooking. Making bread is one of the most exciting and rewarding acts of cooking – bread is ace – homemade bread made with natural yeast from the air we breathe is freekin’ awesome!
So I set to work following one of the many guides found online (thanks S John Ross!). Take your flour (I used unbleached wholemeal), add water and make a thick battery gloop. Let sit at room temp with tea towel over the top to deter critters…
The first couple of days nothing much happened. By about the 4th day I had magic bubbles – a sign that something is happening with the yeast and bacteria. But woow – it totally stank of baby sick – never smealt anything quite like it. So I kept feeding it each day and eventually it settled down and took on that lovely faintly sour beery hue.
So that was my starter sorted all, I needed to do was add more flour and water to develop a sponge, about 3 hours later you add more flour to get a bread consistency and then kneed for about 10 minutes (strangely cathartic actually).
Sourdough - the first rise
You then let it rise once more, knock it back and create a loaf.
Second rise as a loaf - nice slits...
Get it while it's hot
Oddly, the recipe I was following told you to cook the bread at 200 from cold (ie don’t preheat the oven). This had the effect of rising the dough even further before the real heat kicked in and creating a lovely soft bread with an excellent crumb with little crust – perfect for sandwiches!
Charlotte made me get up early the next morning to construct a PBJ – a bit sacrilegious with such fine bread (aidsims) but she did say it was the best bread I’d made so far.
Next up – same recipe but using the dutch oven method so you get a more french style crust and some wholemeal individual rolls – yumosa!
Full English, a restaurant in highbury/islington, london 