The thought of sourdough bread always intimidated me. Thanks to the lockdown that all changed. With yeast and pineapple becoming an endangered species (due to our government's need to ban alcohol and force desperately locked-up people to brew their own) I was faced with starting the sourdough adventure. Or go without bread. My freshly-baked-bread loving husband voted sourdough.
Bread making is as old as the hills. Mankind's love of this basic essential has always existed. Ancient bread was baked using sourdough wild yeast which didn't differ too much from what we know today as sourdough. Although ancient grain would've contained all the fibre and goodness today's refined flours lack. Ancient grain was also not grown under constant toxic spray and compromised conditions. Whenever possible I buy organic wheat in bulk to mill myself. Failing that we buy directly from a local mill that only does stone ground unbleached flour. As a rule I absolutely never use white as it is too refined. While we bake our sourdough bread using brown or wholewheat flour, I have found that rye flour is the best for the sourdough starter.
Ready for the fermented baking adventure? Let's get startered. Your sourdough starter will become like a baby or spoiled pet. It needs regular feeding. It doesn't like to be dirty. And it wants plenty of attention. Always use sterile equipment, this includes the 1 litre wide necked jar that will be your sourdough starters home. Do not stir your starter with metal. And make absolutely certain that no critters can get in but the wild yeasts need to do their thing. A coffee filter or cheesecloth work well.
Day one. In your sterilized 1 litre jar mix a 1/2 cup rye flour with a 1/2 cup filtered water. Cover for 24 hours. If you see some bubbles feed again. If not wait another 24 hours and then feed 1/2 cup rye flour and a half cup filtered water. By the third feeding you should see some activity. I usually see a lot! At this point you will be feeding your new baby every 24 hours. Here's the tricky part. By day three you will have too much starter and you will need to discard half. I still don't see the sense in chucking it out so I always find someone who is willing to try their own sourdough baking. The idea is to keep the bottle to about 1/3 full. You'll notice when it does it's thing it can bubble right out of the jar! So make sure to minimize it or you will weaken it.
My BuckarooBaby Starter took 8 days of feedings to reach it's potential. You get to know by the sourdough smell when it is ready. There are varying ideas of how long it takes before the little starter baby is ready. A lot is weather dependent. If you are a forgetful parent you may have to start over. Remember to keep the starter to a thick pancake dough consistency. Rye requires equal water and equal flour (always 1/2 of both) but other flours need far less water. If your starter separates it is an indication that you have added too much water!
Now let's get to the baking! My recipe is a real peasant style bread. Regular sourdough takes a lot more fuss and fan fair. I don't have the time for it. And, quite frankly, I don't see the sense of a bread full of holes! Some people have become real artisan bakers with sourdough. You can use special proofing baskets or bannetons for the last two hour wait before baking. It makes pretty ridges in the bread. You can also score using a lame and make the most beautiful patterns in the bread just before you bake it.
Your blissful life with your sourdough starter can continue indefinitely. The oldest modern starter is nearly a century! If you don't bake too often you can keep the little pet in the refrigerator. Just feed it once a week. If you have too much starter - the discard - there are a number of other pastries you can bake. We love flapjacks but there are recipes for sourdough bagels, pizza, donuts....anything that takes some imagination. Just to give an idea of how a happy starter responds to feeding. The black line was at feeding. The above photo after two hours. The below photo photo a number of hours later into the night.
The natural wild yeast from sourdough works on the same principles as other fermented foods. The process breaks down the enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid. This means that your body is better able to absorb the nutrients - up to 60% more so than bread baked with instant yeast! Sourdough bread also contains higher levels of folate and antioxidants than other breads. Sourdough converts a basic food to a powerhouse of goodness!
RECIPE:
4 cups stoneground brown bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup water
1 cup sourdough starter
Using your bread machine (or good old elbow grease) knead all four ingredients for at least 10 minutes. You want a slightly sticky consistency without bread dough sticking to absolutely everything!
The sourdough starter is like a miniture world so some days you'll need a few drops extra water while other days you may need another dusting of flour to reach the perfect consistency. Rather too wet than too dry!
Leave it overnight (8 - 10 hours) in a large sealed container. In the morning lightly dust parchment paper with flour and turn your beautiful ball of sourdough onto the floured surface. Leave it covered for two hours. I use the same big container it spent the night in.
After one and a half hours put a cast iron pot with a lid in the over at 180 C. Heat for roughly half an hour. Lightly dust you pot then carefully turn your sourdough into the pot. Without getting burnt!
Bake for 20 minutes at 180. Remove the lid. Bake for another 40 minutes at 120. Turn onto a rack to cool for 10 minutes. Longer if you can resist!
Sourdough bread really does deserve all the accolades that has made it so loved. It is one of the Buckaroo clans favourite meals. In the last year our freshly baked breakfast has become famous in our farming valley. With our fresh pesto, olives and my goats delicious cheeses is there any wonder. Join me tomorrow for a tour through the cheesemaking day.
