Homemade Sourdough Bread

Once your sourdough starter is ready and activated you can make sourdough bread every day provided you have enough bread flour. (I’m afraid I have no recipe for creating your own flour – you may need a couple of fields to do this!)

Combine:

• 375g strong white bread flour
• 250g sourdough starter
• 130-170ml of lukewarm water (cold in summer)
• salt

The amount of water will depend on the thickness of your starter – it needs to be a soft dough. Pour a little oil on the surface and kneed the dough for about 10-15 mins until it is stretchy and smooth. Tip the dough in an oiled bowl and cover. Leave it to rise for 5 hours, or until it has doubled in size. I left my first bread dough over night. The second one I’m making today and I will do the second proving over night.

You will also need:

• olive oil for oiling the surfaces 
• semolina and extra flour for dusting

   

  The dough should be left at between 22-25C, not cooler than 15C. 

   

After the first rising, mix equal quantities of semolina and flour for dusting and scatter the work surface. Push your dough down on the surface and using your heals of your hands and fingers to knock the air. Fold it several times to strenghten it and eventually cup it into a ball. Dust it with the mixture of semolina and flour and place it into a heavily dusted bowl (banneton or a bread baking dish). Place it in a large proving bag (or just cover with a tea towel, making sure that there is enough room so that the risen dough doesn’t touch the sides of your cover). Leave it to prove for 4-8 hours. I got bored of waiting with my first bread and cooked it after 6 hours, it wasn’t too bad but needed more proving. With sourdough, you need to be patient, don’t rush the proving, this is the most important part of the development of flavours.

When you are ready to bake, if the bread is already in the tin, slash the top of the dough with a knife. If it isn’t in the tin, transfer the dough carefully into a non-stick baking tray or lined up with a baking paper. Bake in the over at 200C for 30 mins, then for further 15-20mins until the bread is golden and hollow sounding on the base.

To ensure the crust forming well, place another baking tray underneath your bread filled up with water. The water creates the steam and helps the crust form well. 

Cool down completely before enjoying with soup, dinner or on its own! 🙂