Topic: Successful Sourdough!

[Moggle]

Hurrah, I have finally managed to make a sourdough bread that rises! One of the secret ingredients I think is raisins, which have some natural yeasts on the skin.

This is my starter after 6 days of fermenting:



And on the left of this pic is my lovely loaf. (OH's olive oil loaf on the right)



This week I will mostly be eating Bruschetta!

[Squashmad]

That looks really delicious Moggle - bet you're proud of yourself. I got into Sourdough Bread earlier in the year and had great fun experimenting - however OH decided that it didn't agree with him  ::)... and was highly suspicious of it sitting around fermenting! Might have to have another go now, thanks for sharing the pic.

[Svea]

i guess it's not doable in the breadmaker. or can i use that at least to do the kneading, and the rising, for me? (then let it rise more and bake in the oven, i mean)

[Moggle]

Squashmad, my first attempt at sourdough ended up with a brick-like product, so I was just happy this rose and is reasonably light. Is nice in the morning with some vegemite as well!  :)

Svea, the recipe I use has very little full-on kneading, just takes lots of time. You mix it, rest it for 10 minutes, knead for 15 seconds, do that 2 more times. Then leave an hour then knead 15 seconds, do that a couple more times. Then finally you do the final rise for about 2-4 hours and then bake.

[supersprout]

What a wonderful picture moggle, your bread looks really light. I have had similar brick-like results when I've tried it. May I ask what was your starter recipe? :)  ::)

[Svea]

vegemite is bad but i would be interested in the starter recipe also ;)

[Moggle]

Leaven for Sourdough

Day 1
150g water (20°C)
2 rounded tsp rye flour (I used doves organic brand)
2 rounded tsp strong white flour (Organic again)
2 rounded tsp currants or raisins (I used normal – extracted from a pack of mixed fruit)
2 rounded tsp live low-fat yoghurt (I only had strawberry which seemed to work fine!)

Mix all ingredients together and place somewhere warm (around 20°C)

Day 2
50g water
2 rounded tsp rye
2 rounded tsp strong white flour

Day 3
100g water
4 rounded tsp rye
4 rounded tsp strong white flour

Day 4
100g water
125g white flour (or rye if you want to make sourdough rye)

Strain raisins from mix. Discard ¾ of mix, then add the new water and flour

Day 5
100g water
125g white flour


The leaven should be ready to use on day 6!


The recipe for the bread is then:

100g leaven
160g water (around 16 °C)
250g strong white bread flour
¾ tsp salt

Mix the leaven with the water, then add the flour and salt.
Knead for 15 seconds. Then rest for 10 minutes
Knead for 15 seconds. Then rest for 10 minutes
Knead for 15 seconds. Then rest for 10 minutes
Knead for 15 seconds. Then rest for 1 hour
Knead for 15 seconds. Then rest for 1 hour
Knead for 15 seconds. Then rest for 1 hour
Knead for 15 seconds. Then shape in to a loaf and prove for 2-4 ½ hours until doubled in size.

Bake at 220°C for 50-60 minutes.

You can make cuts in the top of the loaf. I did mine before the final prove, but it might have been better to wait till just before it went in to the oven.

My loaf mostly spread out as it proved rather than rising in height, but then in the oven it just about doubled in height.

I made the starter as a rye starter, found a half rye loaf too heavy, so used all white flour when I refreshed the starter. You could also substitute some of the white flour for rye or wholemeal. Adding some olive oil and doing more folding than kneading should produce a foccacia-type bread (I haven't tried this yet!). I read somewhere that organic flour is better for sourdough because there are less chemical residues to inhibit the growth of the wild yeast. Also it is supposed to work better if you do a lot of yeast baking already.

After using some of your starter for a loaf, replace it in the ratio of 100g water to 125g flour. For ease of calculation, when I took out 100g leaven, I replaced it with 50g water, and 62g flour. So far my leaven has been stored in a very cool cupboard since Sunday, and I plan to refresh it tonight, then use it again on the weekend. You can store it for long periods in the fridge (months I think) but need to start refreshing it (chucking out ¾ and replacing with water and flour) a few days before.

This recipe came from a book called ‘The Handmade Loaf’ which has a load of leaven recipes in it.

[supersprout]

Thank you so much moggle, as soon as I get an oven (long story, next week?) this will be one of the first things in. Plenty of time to get the starter on the go before baking, and to get lots of practice in before the bruschetta season too ;D

[Squashmad]

Now you've definitely got me hooked again Moggle! Must replenish my stock of white bread flour....... ;)