Sourdough bread is one of the healthiest foods you can make at home. It’s loaded with beneficial bacteria, fermented, and has no added sugar. Learn how to make your own sourdough starter, find perfect recipes for any need,
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If you’re a baker, you’ve probably been there before: You’re trying to create your perfect sourdough , but it’s just not turning outright. We’ve got the ultimate guide for how to make your sourdough recipe
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This recipe is perfect for beginners. There’s a lot of detail to guide you through the process, and it’s worth reading through everything before you start. You can’t go wrong with this starter recipe.
Sourdough bread is a type of leavened bread made from dough that includes a culture such as yeast and lactic acid bacteria (usually Lactobacillus).
It is more acidic than regular baker’s yeast and imparts a sourdough flavor to the bread. The flavour of sourdough bread is distinctive, and its texture chewy, as compared to many modern quick-rising breads.
The rise time for sourdough bread may be longer than for other types of bread baked with commercial yeast. It can take from 12 hours to more than 48 hours depending on the type of starter used, the culturing conditions, and the recipe.
A sourdough starter is used in bread making. It is made with flour, water, and either yeast or sourdough starter. The sourdough starter makes the bread rise better and provides a distinctive flavor. The main component of bread dough is flour. Flour consists mostly of protein called gluten. Gluten helps the dough to rise by trapping carbon dioxide bubbles that are formed by yeast during fermentation
Make your Sour Dough Starter (this can take up to a week but you can buy ready made starters online)
Day 1
30g flour
30g water (preferably filtered and room temperature
Mix the water and flour place into a Kilner style jar do not seal the lid leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
Day 2
Add 30g flour and 30 g water stir well loosely cover and leave another 24 hours
Day 3 to Day 7.
Today you need to remove 60g of starter then add another 30g flour and 30g water mix loosely cover and leave another 24 hours. On Days 4/5/6 and 7 just repeat the steps for day 3. By the end to Day 7 you will have about 120g of sourdough starter and it should be extremely bubbly. A recipe will call for 100g of starter usually.
300g water
100g sourdough leaven* (made with your starter)
100g of stoneground flour
400g organic strong white flour
10g salt mixed with 15g of cold water
25g rice flour mixed with 25g of stone-ground white flour (for dusting)
Semolina to dust the bottom of the baking surface helps prevent sticking I use a pizza stone to bake my sourdough on.
In a large bowl mix all the ingredients except the salt and cold water to form a dough ball. Knead with the heels of your hand for about 4 minutes until you have a smooth elastic dough. place in a bowl lightly cover and leave to rise for 30 mins – 2 hours. You can also cheat here and use a breadmaker to do the work for you. But never bake sourdough in a breadmaker.
now work the saltwater into the dough give it a lift and fold a quarter turn cover and leave to rise for a few more hours or overnight in the fridge. You can use a proving basket dusted with semolina and you can bake your dough in a dutch oven (cast iron lidded pan)
ideally, leave to prove overnight, preheat the oven to 220 deg C place the baking stone in the oven to heat up. Wait 30 minutes then put a layer of semolina on the baking stone place the risen dough on the stone and bake in the oven for 10-15 mins then reduce the temperature of the oven to 180 deg c keep an eye on it as you are the best judge on how dark you like your crust on your delicious sourdough.
Sourdough at its best
