I am not going to lie sourdough terrified me. You must first have a starter and it takes hours to make and it can still flop, but if you are persistent it is so rewarding. It really is about the journey and also about the destination, which is a warm crusty loaf.
I have tried many a sourdough recipe one worked the best, here are some of the important factor that I think contribute to success:
Kitchen temperature: 21 degrees Celsius
Hydration: 72%
Bulk fermentation time: 6 hours
Sourdough feeding ratio: 1:5:5 - 1 part starter, 5 parts flour, 5 part water
Baking vessel: A dutch oven
I always welcome tips and new recipes!
Ingredients:
100g starter
325g water
350g white bread
100g brown bread flour
10g salt
Method
Feed your sourdough starter until it bubbling and doubled in size.
In a bowl, measure put 100g of start and 325g of water. Mix together to form a cloudy liquid. The starter should be fully incorporated into the water.
Add all the flour and salt and mix together with a bench scraper until you get a sticky dough. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Spray your surface, bench scraper and hands with water and turn the dough onto the wet surface. Gently tug the dough to flatten it out and give yourself more dough surface area to work with.
Starting at the top of the dough (you choose what the top is), gently pull the dough up and stick in to the centre of the dough. Repeat this all the way around, about 10-13 folds. We are creating tension in our dough and giving it structure. Put the dough back in the bowl, spray with water and let rest for 2 hours.
Repeat the above steps after another 2 hours. The dough has been bulk fermenting for 4.5 hours at the point. (Bulk fermentation starts from the point that the starter incorporated to the flour and water mixture)
At the 4.5 hour mark, lightly dust your surface with flour. Empty your dough on top the surface and tug the corners gently to flatten out the dough and repeat the same folds as before till you are left with a nice round ball. Cover with a tea towel and let rest for another 1 hour.
You are now ready to preshape your dough. Flip it over, flatten it out gently and fold the right side and stick it in to the middle and repeat with the left. Pull the top up and fold it over towards the upper 1/3 of the dough. From here roll and push the dough creating tension and a seam.
Place the dough seem side up in a bowl that has been lined with a flour dusted tea towel and place in the fridge uncovered over night.
In the morning, place a Dutch oven in the your oven and set your oven to it’s max (mine went up to 250 degrees Celsius). Let the pot and the oven preheat for an hour.
When the oven has preheated, take the dough out the fridge, turn it out on to some baking paper and score with a razor or a very sharp knife.
Lower the dough into the hot Dutch oven (be careful). Cover with the lid and let bake for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes remove the lid and place a baking tray underneath the Dutch oven (this prevents burning). Lower the heat to 200 degrees Celsius and let cook for another 50 minutes.
When the cooking time is up, turn off the oven and leave the door slightly ajar for 20 minutes. This helps to deepen the flavour.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely before slicing.
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