Sourdough bread

I've always wanted to make my own bread, so when my friend who had been making her own sourdough for 5 years offered me some of her starter I couldn't refuse her!

And surprisingly what I found is that it wasn't as hard as I thought....especially if you have a thermomix. I know a lot of people are against using the thermomix for such things as rustic bread but the reality is I wouldn't have the time to make it if I didn't use it. The other up side is that it only costs around $1.50 to make a loaf!

What is Sourdough?

 Bread was first leavened by the Egyptians around 2300 BC. They discovered that a mixture of flour and water left uncovered for several days bubbled and expanded. If mixed into unleavened dough and allowed to stand for a few hours before baking, it yields light sweet bread. This kind of natural leavening remained the basis of Western bread baking until the 20th century when bread made from commercially prepared yeast was introduced.

Health benefits of sourdough

The mass production of yeast introduced in the 20th century sped up the process of making bread. The bread no longer needed 8 to 24 hours to finish rising, it could be done as little as an hour. An important process, however occurs in the long slow fermentation that produces sourdough bread, important nutrients such as iron, zinc and magnesium, antioxidants, folic acid and other B vitamins become easier for our bodies to absorb. There is some evidence that coeliacs can even eat sourdough bread if it has been fermented long enough, therefore reducing or eliminating the gluten. It is also important to note that sourdough bread is beneficial for people with diabetes as it has a lower GI than other breads because it depletes damaged starches within it simply by its fermentative nature. 

Is it any suprise then that a recent study found the presence of coeliac disease has increased by 400% in the last 50 years!

What is a Sourdough Starter?

A sourdough starter is a simple name for the thing that makes sourdough bread rise. It is quite literally, the starter of the leavening process. There are a number of ways to source a starter. 

You can build your own from scratch using a 5 day process of which you can find the instructions here. The other, easier option is to obtain some from another baker: because the yeast and bacteria multiply constantly in a well-maintained starter, it's easy and harmless to remove a portion and pass it onto someone else. What's more, the recipient benefits from the complexity of an older starter, which has gathered a more varied assortment of microorganisms over time.

SOURDOUGH RECIPE
Feeding your starter

It is important to keep a small portion of starter that you feed daily so the yeast culture will continue to thrive. The reason why you remove a portion of the starter each day is that it needs to be fed its own weight in flour and water daily. If you keep the "old" starter every day, it will triple every day and end up an incredibly large volume. 

I keep my starter in a 250ml glass in the fridge. When I want to bake a loaf I take it out of the fridge the afternoon before. I let it sit for a couple hours till it comes to room temperature. Then follow the step below "Preparing enough starter for a new loaf." In this step you will remove 50g starter leaving the correct amount (25g) to feed your starter in the morning.

Ingredients

The next morning feed your starter the following:

25g filtered water 

25g bakers flour

Instructions

   

1. Pour the filtered water and flour into the jar of starter and stir until smooth. Place the lid on top of the jar but don't tighten it and place the jar on the counter.

2. The starter should bubble and rise in the jar to double the volume after a few hours (at this point place it in the fridge where it will stay dormant until you're ready to use it for your next loaf.

Notes

·  Alternatively, if you are someone who bakes a loaf of bread regularly you may wish to keep your starter on the bench top and feed it daily. Just follow the above "feeding your starter instructions" remembering everyday to discard 50g of the old starter (leaving 25g) to which you add the 25g flour and 25g water. 

Ways to use up excess starter include giving it to your chickens, placing it on the compost or pouring it into an airtight container that you'll keep in the fridge. It can be used in pancakes, pizza dough, cakes and tortillas. Alternatively you can share some of this excess starter with a friend! If you're going away, just place your starter in the fridge, it will keep for up to a month without being fed. While your starter remains in the fridge it doesn't need to be fed.

Preparing enough starter for a new loaf (Levine) 

In the evening

You will notice that you don't have enough starter for making a loaf. This is where the first process of making your loaf begins. You can do this step any time from dinner until bed time the night before you wish to make a loaf.

Ingredients
50 grams of starter 
150g filtered water
150g bakers flour

Instructions

1. Scoop the 50 grams of starter from the jar into a medium clean bowl.(This should leave you with 25g starter in the jar that you will need to feed the following morning.) Pour the water and flour into the bowl and stir until smooth. Cover the bowl with a small plate or lid.

2. In the morning, you'll feed the starter as usual, but you won't need to remove any because the extra starter has just been used leaving you with 25g of starter remaining.

Baking your Sourdough

Ingredients

I start the new loaf in the morning, and bake around dinner time

350g starter (Levine) you've left to ferment in the bowl overnight

230g filtered water

400 grams various flours

10 grams (2 teaspoons) sea salt 

Note re flours

I use approximately 200g bakers flour, 50g rye, 150g wholemeal or spelt flour. I use approximately half bakers flour as this helps to make the loaf rise adequately. The more bakers flour you use, the lighter/more fluffy the loaf, the more flours other than bakers flour, the more dense the loaf. I try to find the balance of a achieving a loaf that's light enough, yet also nutritious. You may wish to play around with quantities to find a loaf you're happy with. You can also add seeds at this point(sesame, sunflower, chia, poppy, pumpkin).

Instructions

1. Put all ingredients into the thermomix. Combine speed 5 for 10 seconds. 

2. Set knead function on thermomix for 4 minutes (alternately if you don't have a thermomix you can use your machine with dough hook attachment and mix on a medium-slow speed for 10-12 minutes).

3. Pour dough onto an oiled thermomat or oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel.

4. During the next 2 hours when the dough has started to rise a little, use your hand to "fold" it over itself. This folding step helps give structure to the dough and develops the flavor of the bread. Repeat this process 2 times during the 2 hour period if you remember. Cover the bowl with the towel again to prevent drying out.

5. Grease a 4L capacity ovenproof cast-iron pot or ceramic casserole dish (vessel requires a lid) with olive oil spray. Then sprinkle with rice flour (this stops the dough from sticking).

6.  With floured hands and a lightly floured bench shape the dough by using the palm of your hand to lightly press the dough to get an even thickness. Fold each edge over the middle overlapping each time (5 times in total). Flip dough to smooth side up, folded side down.

7. Place hands together, palms up. Use little fingers to drag and stretch the dough surface to tighten. Turn dough 45 degrees and repeat. Turn dough 45 degrees and repeat. Total of 4 times.

Place the round ball of dough smooth side up, folded side down into the centre of the oiled and floured baking dish.

8. Loosely cover bowl with cling wrap to prevent surface from drying out.

9. At this point you have two choices

a)Place dish into fridge and allow it to rise slowly overnight (8-24 hours) This gives you flexibility to bake your bread at a time that suits you within this period.

b) leave at room temperature and rise normally for 4 hours - then bake

Loaves are ready to bake when they have approximately doubled in size & when they feel soft and airy when lightly pressed on with a finger dipped in flour (if the loaf is still small when removed from the fridge leave it at room temperature to rise for 1-4 hours).

10. Preheat oven to 230 degrees.

11. To slash the loaf use a sharp paring knife dipped in water to score the top of the bread to form a cross, or the shape of your choice. Dust top of loaf with extra rice flour. Place lid on top of bread for baking

12. Bake bake for 50 minutes (remove lid for last 5-10 minutes of baking to brown top of loaf. 

13. transfer the loaf onto a rack, and check that it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. If it doesn't, return it to bake a little longer. If it does, let cool completely before slicing if you slice it prematurely, the crumb will be gummy). The loaf will keep for about a week if well wrapped. You can also cut and freeze the loaf for later use. It tastes best toasted or re-warmed in the oven!

NOTE:

In the preparation stage of levain and dough use wet hands/spatulas to work with dough. It is very sticky but does not stick to wet surfaces! This is a very handy tip.