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Contents:
In the first post of this series, Sourdough Part 1: How to Make a Starter, we discovered the history behind sourdough bread, and the basics of how it works. That post also gave a full how-to guide about how to make your own sourdough starter from scratch using just flour and water.
If you've already got your starter going and it's giving you all the signs that it's ready to bake with, read on!
Equipment Needed for Baking a Sourdough Loaf
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Lots of the equipment on this list is lovely to have, but not strictly essential. There are ways around it so don't feel that you have to rush out and spend big money investing in a new hobby before you've found your feet with it. Muddle through, improvise and if you like it, you can gradually add to your sourdough kit as you go on.
The most important thing you'll need in order to bake your first sourdough loaf is a sourdough starter! You can find full instructions for that in the previous post.
Large Mixing Bowl (needed)
Dough scraper* (optional but handy)
Cling Film or "Disposable" Shower Cap (needed)
These cover your mixing bowl to stop the dough drying out. Cling film is fine, or a large freezer bag to sit the whole bowl in. The shower caps are great as you can wash and reuse.
Rice Flour (recommended)
This is invaluable for sourdough baking. Since it's not glutinous, it won't become sticky when in contact with damp dough like wheat flour does. Simply sprinkle it in your banneton and your dough will come out cleanly when ready. You can usually find it in the "free from" section of the supermarket instead of the baking aisle.
Lame (optional)
A lame (pronounced "LAHM") is a double-sided razor blade attached to a handle, and it's used specifically for scoring the bread dough before baking. The scoring creates a controlled point for the bread to expand during baking, giving a better rise and a more attractive final appearance.
The word comes from the French term meaning "blade." You can use a very sharp knife instead, though you won't get as good a result. No matter how sharp the blade, it always seems to drag a little.
Lidded Cooking Pot (recommended but there are other options)
Cast iron is perfect if you have it. I use a large dutch oven, but a good-sized Le Creuset type of casserole dish can also work very well. The lid is important because it holds the steam that's created as your bread cooks. That in turn helps it to rise.
If you don't have those though, don't let it put you off. You could place your dough on a baking tray with an upturned stockpot over the top. You could even try baking without covering and just see how it turns out. Experiment and see what works.
Banneton* (optional but handy)
This is a basket used to proof bread dough (also called a proofing basket or brotform). It helps the dough to keep its shape during its final proof before baking. They are often made from cane or woven wicker and this gives the lovely spirals or lines you sometimes see on sourdough loaves (see images below). The banneton I use for dough made with 500g flour measures 21.5cm/ 8.5 inches. At a push, you can use a lined colander instead.
How To Prepare a Banneton for First Use
Roughly 12-24 hours before you wish to use your banneton for the first time, dampen it with water over the whole of the inside surface. You don't need to soak it, and you don't need it to be dripping wet. Simply wet the palm of your hand and rub it over the surface a few times, including any indents.
Then, sprinkle the damp surface fairly liberally with rice flour. Use your fingers to rub it into the surface well. Sprinkle a little more over, and then leave in a warm place (or even at room temperature in a kitchen) to dry. This forms the basic, fairly long lasting, non-stick surface so your bread will turn out beautifully each time.
How to Care for Your Banneton Between Uses
Some people thoroughly wash and dry their banneton every time they use it, and some never do anything except allow it to dry. I'm the latter but, honestly, either way is fine.
If you're using your banneton regularly (a couple of times a week or more), then you can simply pop it in an airy spot while your bread bakes. I rest mine on top of the cooker where it's away from any direct heat and it dries in the time it takes my bread to bake. You can knock any loose flour out if you wish, and you can buy a wire brush for cleaning it but it's not really necessary.
Two notes of caution:
1. If you store your banneton away for any length of time with even a scrap of flour on it, there's a good chance that weevils will discover it and in turn, you'll find it riddled with holes (ask me how I know this...)
2. If you store your banneton away in a plastic bag, it will go mouldy.
Keep on using your banneton regularly, with a warm airing to dry it in between uses, and it will last for years.
Baking a Basic Sourdough Loaf
Okay, your starter is looking strong and you're ready to bake your first loaf!
If you keep your starter in the fridge bring it out and place it on the worktop about 24 hours before you wish to mix your dough. Based on the schedule above, that's in the evening.
The day before you wish to bake your bread, feed your starter as usual in the morning.
If you haven't used your banneton before, now's also the time to prepare it for use. Now you can leave the next stage until the evening.
Simple Sourdough Loaf Recipe
UK measurements:
350g water (cold tap or room temperature is fine)
7g salt
60g starter (leave the rest of your starter in the jar, ready to be fed as usual tomorrow morning if it lives on the worktop, or place it back in the fridge)
500g strong white bread flour
US measurements:
1½ cups water
1¼ teaspoons salt
¼ cup active starter
4 cups bread flour
Note: Weight measurements are recommended. For best results with volume measurements, measure flour by spooning into measuring cups and levelling off, rather than scooping.
1. Day One Evening: Roughly about 4-6 hours before you'll head to bed, stir the water, salt, and starter together in a large mixing bowl. You don't need to completely combine the starter – it's fine for it to still have blobs. You simply want to start dispersing it through the water a little.
Add the flour and start to mix everything together using your hands or a spoon or dough scraper. Things don't need to be overly worked at this point, but try to combine the flour fairly well.
Scrape the sides down with a spoon or flour scraper to leave them clean. Cover with your cling film or shower cap and leave for about an hour on the worktop. This allows the ingredients to relax together a little and for the flour to begin absorbing the liquid.
2. About an hour later, remove the cover and work your dough either with your hands or a spoon or dough scraper. It can be quite sticky at this stage as the flour is still absorbing the liquid.
Stretch the dough out a little and fold it over on itself. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Keep going, stretch, fold, turn 90 degrees. Anything from about 20-40 turns seems to work for me depending on my mood and energy on the day.
Cover and leave for about an hour.
3. Your dough should now be less sticky and can be more easily worked with your hands. Remove the cover and repeat the 20-40 turns as above.
Cover and leave for an hour or so. The dough won't be rising yet and that's fine – you're allowing it to absorb the moisture and release the gluten to create its structure. The rising stage happens later.
Repeat this stage 2 more times so you've done 4 lots of stretches and folds in all. Cover the bowl each time in between.
Above: Three examples of doughs whilst still sticky at the start of the breadmaking process. Two contain mixed grains and the centre contains a percentage of the botanical meadow flour mentioned above. If you look carefully, you can see dried flour petals.
Do the last set of stretches and folds just before you go to bed. By the last time, your dough will be feeling smoother, more elastic, and will be leaving the sides of the bowl fairly clean when you fold it. Cover and leave on the worktop overnight. This is the stage which is sometimes referred to as the bulk rise or bulk ferment.
4. Day Two Morning: By roughly 8-12 hours after you leave your dough overnight, it should have risen enough to pretty much fill your bowl. It might be actually touching the cover, it may be a little lower. If it's not quite there yet, give it an hour or two longer. If your kitchen is at a cooler temperature overnight, your dough will take longer to rise, but if it's warmer it will take less time.
Pop your banneton on the worktop and sprinkle it with extra rice flour. Make sure the surface is nicely coated.
Gently loosen the dough from your bowl. You can do this in a similar way to how you did the stretches and folds, but don't try to work the dough, simply bring it away from the bowl and into a ball. Don't try to squash the air out of the dough – you don't want to flatten it completely – but equally, don't be scared of handling it. It will become much smaller than it was, but that's fine.
Above: A multigrain dough example at Stage 4, ready to place in the banneton. In the left hand picture, you can see large bubbles have formed beneath the surface overnight.
When the dough is fairly loose, I find it helpful to wet my hand under the tap and then tip the dough from the bowl onto my hand, and then I can gently place it into the waiting banneton.
Sprinkle some rice flour over the dough in the banneton (this will form the base when you turn it out to bake it). Go around the banneton, lifting the edges of the dough towards you slightly and sprinkle a little rice flour down the sides if needed, particularly anywhere that seems to be sticking.
Cover again with cling film or your shower cap.
Now you have a choice …
If you wish to bake ready for lunchtime, pop your banneton in the fridge (still covered) for 2-3 hours. This allows the dough to chill, rest and firm up before you turn it out to bake.
If you're heading off to work, pop it in the fridge to rest until you return home.
If you're in a rush and need your bread to be baked sooner, you can pop it (covered) in the freezer for 30-45 minutes instead.
5. Ready for when you wish to bake, preheat your oven to gas mark 8/230 °C/450 °F. How long that takes may depend on your baking pot. If you're using a large cast iron pot you'll need to allow 30-45 minutes preheating time with the pot in the oven to preheat too. That may sound like a lot of preheating time but trust me, it makes a difference.
Remove your banneton from the fridge or freezer and place a sheet of non-stick baking paper over it. Then, place a dinner plate over that and invert them to turn the dough out. Lift the banneton off.
Score your dough using the lame if you have one. You could do a simple cross across the top of your dough, or something much fancier. Have a play about and see what you like – the different ways of scoring can change the way a loaf rises in the oven a little so it's worth experimenting.
Lift your dough into your baking pot, still on the paper, pop the lid on and bake in the oven for 50 minutes. You really don't need to open it up and peek in that time … trust the process! The steam that's created inside your pot is partially what will help your bread to rise.
After 50 minutes, bring it out and have a look. If you'd like it to be browner on top, pop it back in for 5-10 minutes with the lid left off.
When it's thoroughly baked, your loaf should sound hollow when tapped underneath and not like a dull thud. Cool on a wire rack for at least an hour or two before slicing … unless you're going to instantly sample it with lashings of butter of course.
Fantastic! You've baked your first loaf. Well done!
Building on the Basics
Now that you've baked your first loaf, you can work on perfecting the process for you. Everyone's methods will be subtly different and what works for one person works differently for another. When I talk to my daughter about sourdough baking, we're always amazed at how differently we do things – she uses much more starter in her dough, doesn't use a banneton, doesn't use a dutch oven, and often knocks out a "same day loaf" in five hours. Her bread is wonderful!
How Temperature Affects Your Breadmaking
If your kitchen is hotter or cooler, it will affect every stage of your breadmaking. In the same way as the fridge slows down the whole fermentation process, so will a cold
kitchen. Your starter will feed more slowly, and your dough will need longer to rise. Conversely, in a warmer kitchen things will happen faster. Seasons will affect your kitchen's temperature, as will things like central heating. You will probably find that you need to do things a little differently as the wheel of the year turns.
You're in control of your breadmaking process and you can change things to suit your schedule. You can either choose to keep the amount of starter you use the same, or you can increase or decrease the starter to make things happen more quickly or slowly.
Colder Room Temperature or Less Starter = More Time
Warmer Room Temperature or More Starter = Less Time
If you find that your starter is doubling in size and collapsing within a few hours of being fed, and particularly if it smells consistently vinegary or like nail varnish remover, you may need to reduce the amount of starter you use when you feed it. Perhaps reduce it from 100g to 75g or even 50g and see if it improves.
Equally, if your starter seems a bit weak and is taking a long time to reach its peak, or doesn't double in size anymore, increase the amount you add at each feed.
Seeded Country Sourdough Loaf Recipe
UK measurements:
350-400g water
7g salt
60g starter
250g strong white bread flour
250g wholemeal bread flour
50g mixed seeds (such as sunflower, pumpkin, flax, sesame or linseed)
US measurements:
1½ - 1 2/3 cups water
1¼ teaspoons salt
¼ cup active starter
2 cups strong white bread flour
2 cups strong wholemeal flour
⅓ cup mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, flax, sesame or linseed)
Note: Weight measurements are recommended. For best results with volume measurements, measure flour by spooning into measuring cups and levelling off, rather than scooping.
Day 1: In the early evening, mix the water, salt and starter in bowl. Begin with 350g water, then add both flours and seeds, and combine. The wholemeal flour will require more water than white, so add a splash more here and there until the dough consistency seems about right. It's okay if it's a bit sticky at the moment because the flour will gradually absorb it through the evening. Cover and leave for roughly an hour.
Stretch and fold the dough in four sessions, roughly an hour apart each time. Cover the bowl between sessions. After the final folds, cover and leave overnight.
Day 2: The following morning, when the dough has roughly doubled in size, gently shape it into a ball.
You may like to place a few handfuls of mixed seeds or oats into a bowl and then gently press the top of your dough ball into them so it's nicely coated. It does take a bit of bravery, as the dough isn't always easy to handle, but it gives a really lovely finish to the loaf (see pic above right).
Place the dough into a banneton which has been dusted with rice flour. Chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours (or longer as needed).
Preheat oven (and dutch oven if using) to gas mark 8/230 °C/450 °F.
Turn out the dough, score the top, and bake with lid on for 50 minutes. For a darker crust, remove the lid and bake for a further 5-10 minutes.
Cool before slicing.
So there you have it - everything you need to know to begin your journey with sourdough. With just flour, water, and a little patience, you can create something homely and magickal. Whether your first loaf is beautiful or "rustic", it connects you to the generations of people before you who cooked in a wonderfully similar way. May your sourdough journey fill your kitchen with warmth and your home with the smell of freshly baked bread.
Do you have questions? Want to share pics of your starter, or do you have your own tips to share with others? Pop them in the comments section below.
Happy baking!
Please be aware: All text and pictures (unless otherwise specified) © Woodlarking
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