If you’ve ever found a pot of something strange bubbling away in a friend’s fridge, or had a colleague dash home early from a work night out because they need to “feed their starter”, you’ll know that baking sourdough bread is a rising (sorry) trend.
Over the past few years the popularity of this tangy loaf has soared, which is hardly surprising when you know a little more. As well as tasting great, sourdough has no nasty additives and as the gluten it contains is broken down through fermentation, it’s easier to digest than other breads.
On paper, it couldn’t be simpler to make. “It’s literally flour, salt and water, and that’s it,” says Martha de Lacey, who runs sourdough classes in east London. However, this is a loaf that takes patience – from cultivating your own wild yeast to spending a day watching and waiting for the dough to ferment. Crack it though, and you’ll never have a disappointing slice of toast again.
Flour power
The only real variable in sourdough is the flour, and while seasoned bakers can experiment with multi-grain, rye and wholemeal mixes, de Lacey recommends beginners stick with white. “It’s the easiest to work with,” she explains. Don’t just dig out that bag left over from pancake day, though. “Make sure you use bread flour. Try making sourdough with plain flour and it won’t work because the protein levels are too low.”
Starter off right
Instead of fast-acting yeast, sourdough is made with a “starter” – a living organism made of flour and water, that houses yeast and bacteria. “Mix equal amounts of flour and water together and leave at room temperature,” says de Lacey. “The next day add the same amount again, and the next day.” You’ll notice the mixture puffing up and on the third day you should see bubbles – that’s when the starter is alive and ready. “A starter is like the world’s greediest pet,” explains de Lacey. “If you don’t feed it enough, it will start eating itself.” You also need to be ruthless. “Every time you feed your starter you should discard all but a tablespoon, otherwise you’d end up with a bathtub full!”
The waiting game
So you’ve perfected your starter and used it to make dough – now it’s all about the fermenting. Those lovely holes you get in sourdough? They come from a properly proofed loaf. This process takes several hours, so now’s the time to catch up on a box set (or, you know, scroll aimlessly through social media), returning to your dough every half hour or so to do a bit of gentle stretching and folding. “When it’s ready it should have developed a nice tight skin around the outside,” explains de Lacey. “If it easily breaks, it needs more time.”
Taking shape
Once the fermenting stage is complete, tuck your dough into a floured banneton basket (which gives it those distinctive white lines) for a final proof at room temperature for three hours, or overnight in the fridge. It’s easy to fall at this hurdle, says de Lacey, by shoving the dough in without shaping it. “Lots of people who bake sourdough for the first time end up with delicious bread that looks like a spaceship,” she says. To shape the dough, keep gently folding the edges in towards the middle until you have a nice tight ball.
The perfect bake
To get that perfectly crispy, chewy crust (just like the sourdough you’ve scoffed at that extortionately priced hipster brunch spot), you need an oven that isn’t just hot – but also steamy. Why? Because steam prevents the crust from hardening too quickly, and allows the bread to keep on expanding. To do this, de Lacey bakes her loaves in a cast iron pot, preheating it for an hour first and keeping the lid on for the first half of the bake. “But you can create steam by putting a tray of water on the bottom shelf instead,” she says. And if your loaf doesn’t come out perfectly the first time, don’t give up. “Baking sourdough is much more instinctive than other bread,” she says. “It’s more like art than cooking – but once you’ve mastered it, you can’t forget it.”
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