Sourdough Bread
Hi, Tash here! I decided in 2021 I wanted to cook and bake more, especially now that I have moved in with my boyfriend and he is an amazing cook. So I am taking over my moms blog and adding some of my favourite recipes, so here is my first ever recipe post! I decided to start 2021 by posting how I make Sourdough because my friends love my bread and maybe they can attempt to make now that I have moved away :)
In January 2018 I attempted to learn how to make sourdough bread… I failed miserably! The loaf was flat, not cooked fully, I had no clue what I was doing and gave up. In January 2020 I decided to give it another go, did more research, watched lots of YouTube videos and created my own starter. I would like to point out that I started making sourdough before the lockdowns and have continued it throughout the year and played around with different techniques, learned lots about hydration and the importance of not only the temperature of the dough, but also the temperature of the kitchen. Below is how I make sourdough, taken from lots of trial and error but also greatly influenced by the cookbook Tartine.
Ingredients (this recipe makes two loaves)
120g Starter
120g + 900g All Purpose Flour
100g Whole Wheat Flour
120g + 680g + 50g Warm water
20g salt
Optional - 10g Citric Acid (if your starter is young I suggest adding citric acid for a more sour taste, I have started using my cousins starter which is 5 years old and has a great sour taste).
Step 1: Feed your starter a 1:1:1 ratio of 120g starter mix with 120g warm water then add 120g AP flour. Do this first thing in the morning so it can start to activate by the mid afternoon when you can start making your dough. You know the levained starter (fed) is ready when it floats in water.
Starter Tips
Keep your starter in a tall container that fits 3x the amount of starter, so there is room for it to grow and not explode.
Place tape or a sticker on the container and put the weight of the container and the weight plus 120g (how much starter I use when feeding). This makes it easy to just pour out some starter directly from the container when weighing for a fresh feed.
Lastly, place an elastic band around the container. I use this to mark how much the starter grows.
Step 2: Mix 680g warm water + 200g levained starter. Next add 900g AP flour and 100g whole wheat flour, mix together until dough is shaggy. Let sit for 30-40 minutes.
Step 3: Pour over dough 50g warm water and 20g salt (add citric acid at this time if using). Pinch together until water is combined then scrape out dough onto clean surface.
Step 4: Knead dough by slamming it onto clean surface and picking it up again, do this for 5 minutes. Place dough into clean bowl, cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Step 5: Fold dough. Pick up one side of the dough and gently fold it over the rest of the dough, turn bowl 90 degrees and repeat 3 more times. Let dough sit 30 minutes and repeat this step 4 more times. After you have done this step 5 times (2 hours) wait one hour and fold dough one last time. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen you may need to continue the process. You know your dough is done the folding process when you can preform the ‘window pane test’. This means you can stretch a small piece of the dough and it stretches to be see through without tearing.
Step 6: Place dough on lightly floured counter and divide into two. Fold each loaf over itself into thirds. Let rest 20 min. Then using a bench scraper gently scoop under the dough to form a tight round or oval ball.
Step 7: Flour banneton, gently place loaf in banneton, flour top of loaf then cover with a cloth and stick in the fridge to bulk ferment overnight 8-12 hours.
Step 8: Next day place dutch oven (with lid on) in an over, turn on oven to preheat to 450. Score loaf then add 1 loaf into dutch oven and place the lid on, bake for 20-25 minutes, do not remove the lid at this time or it will not rise properly. After 20-25 minutes is up remove the lid and cook for another 20-25 minutes. Once loaf is baked let sit for at least an hour to cool before serving.
Step 9: Enjoy!
