I’ve been reading up about sourdough bread again recently, which is bread made with naturally occurring yeast rather than the stuff you get in a packet from the supermarket. I’ve been wanting to succeed with this for a long time and have followed a few recipes in books and from friends but nothing has worked in the past and it all seemed like too much hard work. Then I bought Hugh’s latest book on bread and followed the recipe in there and I’m really pleased with the results.
Basically I’ve been tending to my sourdough starter all week – feeding it and whisking it and making sure it’s fermenting and on top form. This is what the sourdough starter looks like – naturally fermented stuff made from just flour and water – a bit pongy but you get used to that…
Last night I made my ‘sponge’ where I mixed half of the sourdough starter with water and flour and left it to bubble away over night. This morning I mixed in more flour and some salt and mixed it up until I got a nice sticky dough. It was then down to kneading the dough until it was smooth and elastic – I left most of the hard work to Mr Kenwood and then finished it off myself and placed it in a clean bowl to rise.
And boy did it rise!!!
It was then divided into three and formed into three loaves and these were left to rise again. These also did well, so I was feeling really optimistic at this point and very excited.
I then transferred each to a baking tray and baked them individually in the oven one after the other [our oven is an ancient heap of crap]. This is the first loaf that came out:
And it tasted delicious! This is the first loaf of bread I’ve ever made that I’ve been totally satisfied with and I can’t wait to make some more. My sourdough starter has been moved to the fridge for a day or two so I don’t have to feed it everyday. I’ll get it out again soon and re-awaken it and make another three loaves and long may the habit continue – no more supermarket crap full of additives and chemicals for us anymore – we eating homemade from now on!
Hi! This really intrigues me as I LOVE baking bread but need to find something without yeast as I have a family member who has a yeast intolerance. Would you be willing to share your recipe?? I’d love to try it!!
Thanks!
Colleen
Goodness, that was a long time ago – Not sure of the recipe – I think I used the Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall bread book. To get the starter going all you have to do is mix water and flour – I used wholemeal – it takes a while to get going but once it going it keeps going, so long as you look after it! then with the baking of the bread I found the sponge method the most successful. in that you mix one part starter, one part flour and one part water together and leave overnight and then the following day you mix additional water and flour into this with some salt in order to make up a dough – I did follow a recipe initially but after a while experimented and found the measurements that worked for me – it was all in my head at the time and I can’t remember. A lot of sourdough success is through trial and error. The resulting bread has a fantastic taste and texture and I really miss it – I might start making it again in the new year, but with a wee one I’m not sure I’ll have the time.