Now you have made your own sourdough and are treating it carefully and maintaining its life by feeding weekly, try this recipe. It is your first step to becoming a proficient sourdough baker. Many families feel the sourdough is part of them. It lives in the kitchen and comes out of the fridge when you are going to feed it or use it to make bread for family and friends. Bread is such an important part of our lives and using your own family sourdough seems very satisfying.
The day before you intend to bake you should leave your sourdough in the kitchen overnight to enable its temperature to rise and to start gently fermenting.
The Recipe
- 500gm White Bread Flour
- 175gm Sourdough Starter
- 15gm Salt
- 25 gm Fat
- 300 gm Warm Water
You can get an online conversion for your weights and temperatures here.
The Method
- Mix all the dry ingredients together.
- Add the water and mix to a smooth dough. Whether you have mixed by hand or by machine the dough should now feel smooth and not sticky. If it does feel sticky then add a little flour but experience will have shown you to always keep back a little water until you are confident of your flours ability to absorb the recipes water.
- Allow the dough to recover in a bowl covered by a damp cloth in a warm place.
- When it has doubled in size divide into the required weights and shape in to round balls.
- Rest for a further 30 minutes covered by its damp cloth in the warm place.
- Carefully mould into the required shapes and place on a baking sheet or into a baking tin.
- Cover with a large plastic bag or suitably sized bowl to enable each dough piece to prove to its maximum size without the surface drying out.
- You know when it has reached its maximum size when, if you press your finger gently into it does not spring back right away but takes 10 to 15 seconds.
- Prepare your oven by heating to its maximum temperature. Most domestic ovens do not retain their heat well enough for baking satisfactory bread. By overheating it before you place your bread into the oven you at least ensure that the temperature does not drop below 200°C.
- Once your oven has reached temperature, place a bowl of boiling water onto the bottom.
- Place your bread in the centre of the oven and using a water spritzer to spray the loaf and the sides of the oven to create steam.
- Reduce the temperature to 200°C.
- Turn your bread halfway through the baking process. An 800 g loaf will need around 40 minutes. Smaller sizes proportionately less.
- When your bread is done carefully take it from the oven and test by tapping its bottom. It really will sound hollow!
Carefully cool your bread on wire racks. If intending to freeze some bread to let it go totally cold before sealing it into a freezer bag.
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