Sourdough bread

Part 1

In a large heavy mixing bowl combine the starter with 105g of tepid water using a non-electric hand-held whisk, until it looks like pancake batter.

Add 190g of flour and mix into a very rough and raggedy ‘ball’ of dough by turning the mix over on itself from the sides of the bowl using a small dough scraper – turn the bowl with the other hand as you go.

Cover the bowl with a thin plastic carrier bag, cling film or tea towel and leave on the kitchen worktop/table for between 5 and 9 hours. It basically spreads rather than rises, and ends up quite moussey and about double its original diameter. The time it takes depends on the weather, your hairstyle, and the kitchen temperature 🙂

Sourdough is not really a standard thing as far as timings go!

Part 2

What you have now is called the ‘levain’.

Add 270g of tepid water to it and squeeze it in with your hands til any big lumps are broken down. I normally put a plastic bag over my hand for this bit but that’s optional (I have very temperamental hands).

Add 360g of flour and, keeping it all in the bowl, turn into a rough-ish ball using your dough scraper to turn the dough over on itself, and turning the bowl as you go. Cover and leave this for 20 mins.

Add the salt and (always keeping the dough in the bowl) gently grab the sides of the dough with all four fingers and thumb, and slightly pull it out and fold over. Do this all around the dough whilst turning the bowl. Steady the dough with one hand as you stretch and fold with the other. It’ll only take a minute before you feel it’s lost lots of its stretch. Flip it over, cover and leave for 25 mins.

Do the same stretching and folding procedure, only a minute at a time, every 25 mins, another four times. Cover the bowl between each stretch and fold. You’ll notice the dough becoming smoother and stretchier as the gluten strands align (you can’t see the strands but just trust me here). This is good! Don’t forget to flip the dough over at the end of each s & f.

Part 3

Thoroughly flour your banneton. Flour it too much, so that you think “This is crazy!” Get it right up to the edge of the banneton. I promise you you need to, otherwise your dough will stick when you try and turn it out, and your lovely loaf will be a weird shape. Just use the white flour you used for the bread, no need to get fancy here.

I actually don’t use a banneton, I just use a colander lined with an old cotton napkin or tea towel, then I flour the boule before proving it in the lined colander t turns out more easily and is easier to score.

Turn your dough out onto a floured work surface. Lightly flour your hands too. Now tighten the boule by bringing your flat hands together underneath it (little finger to little finger) while turning it on the worktop. Now flour it’s smooth side and place it smooth side down in the banneton or colander.

Loosely cover the banneton/colander with a flimsy carrier bag or floured light tea towel and place in the fridge (yes in the fridge, I know, it’s true!). Now, this bit can take as little as four hours or as long as 7-8 hours but less is sometimes better. What you’re NOT looking for is a great big rise where the dough puffs up over the banneton because that will be over-proved and will have done all its sexy-action in the fridge and have none left for the oven – you’ll find your bread comes out of the oven like a flying saucer. No, what you want is it to rise to about the top of the banneton but no more. When you press lightly with a finger it it springs back rather than deflating.

When you think your dough is nearly ready heat your oven, AND your cloche or lidded pot, to about 270-280 degrees or as hot as your oven goes. You have to get the oven proper hot, no messing about here. I’m being bossy for your own good 🙂 To be honest I just whack mine up to its highest but I do have a whizzy oven temperature laser tool thing that tells me it’s about 280 degrees and is also good for teasing my collie with.

With your lamé out and ready to slash the bread get the pot/cloche out of the oven (oven gloves obvs), no need to put polenta/semolina/rice flour or anything overly-groovy in it, just loosen the dough from the sides of the banneton lightly with your fingertips and very decisively tip it upside down over the pot or cloche so the dough tips out. Sod’s law dictates it will always plop out off-centre – if it does just quickly push it to centre with a palette knife. However, if using a colander, just gently upturn it onto a floured worktop and use two spatulas to transfer it to the heated pot before scoring and baking.

Work quickly now. Get your lamé and slash the dough in one swift move, holding the blade at a 45 degree angle to the dough and only cutting about 5mm deep. I usually make one long slash across one side. The way you slash will determine what shape your bread ends up as. Don’t get too carried away with it just yet, no need to try and craft Picasso’s Dove of Peace or anything, leave that until you’re more experienced.

Put the lid on and stick it in the oven for 25 mins. After 25 mins remove the lid and bake for another 5-8 mins ish to brown the loaf.

Get it out of the oven, cool it for an hour and tuck in to a slice with lashings of real butter.