How I make sourdough (it’s not hard)

Sour dough guide

MY RECIPE

For the “sponge”:-
100g water, 100g flour, 1 generous tablespoon starter.

For the loaf add the following to the sponge:-
500g flour
290 water
10 salt

Day 1. Take your starter from the fridge and feed it. In this video I have 175g of starter. I usually just weigh out about 80g and add 80g of room temperature water and 80g flour (as long as you add equal amounts of water and flour to the starter that’s fine, so it could be 52g starter and 52g flour and 52g water) give it a good stir and leave it on the worktop with a loose lid/cloth over it. Do not seal the jar, it will explode. Leave it for 24 hours. Don’t worry if you get a dry crust on top. Of your starter has been dormant in the fridge for a few weeks/months then you’ll need to repeat this stage for a few days till you get it bubbly, lovely and sour again)

Day 2. 24 hours later take a tablespoon dollop of starter and add it to your mixing bowl. Add 100g of flour and 100g water to the starter dollop and stir well. Scrape down the sides, cover the top with a cloth/tea towel/wax wrap and leave on the worktop for 12 hours. This is called the Sponge (because it looks spongy) Again don’t worry if you get a bit of a crust on top.

12 hours later add 500g flour, 10g salt and 290g water to your sponge and knead it till it is silky smooth. I do this In the mixer with a dough hook on the lowest speed for 10 minutes

Put the dough in an oiled container and fold it in half 4 times rotating it 90 degrees each time. Leave for an hour and repeat the folds. Do this 4 times (4 hours, 4 sessions of folding)

Turn out into a very well floured banetone. Cover and place in the freezer for approximately 12 hours.

After it has sat in the fridge for 12 hours, slowly proving and developing that gorgeous sourdough flavour, it’s time to bake it. Turn the oven on to a very high heat, 250 degrees Celsius. Pour in a kettle full of hot water into a tray inside the oven to create steam to make the crust really crusty.

Turn out the loaf into a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes then turn the temperature down to 200 degrees Celsius and continue to cook for half an hour.

Do the tap test. If it sounds hollow then it’s done. If it sounds dense and dull cook it for another ten minutes.

Eat up!

I’ll have a pinned comment where I’ll add frequently asked questions as and when they are asked.



Starter guide
https://youtu.be/sTAiDki7AQA