Anyone make Sourdough Bread?

Penelope_Penguin

thriftlady wrote: »

Hmm... tbh I'm not really sure Penny.

My advice would be to borrow it from the library first;)

I'll try that first, then

hathor

Will a kind soul walk me through how to make sourdough bread? I've read various recipes and still have a million questions, really stupid points that would be obvious if I could stand at the shoulder of the baker, but annoying when you're just feeling your way for the first time. As a novice, you never know which bits are crucial to it coming out right and which bits are not that important. I really need my hand holding on this one: no detail too small! :rotfl:Incidentally, I will be doing this by hand, as I don't have a bread maker.

Some recipes for the starter say it has to be organic flour. Is this true? (I do my baking with supermarket own brand strong/bread flour normally, usually selected by cheapest price.)

Does it have to be bread flour for the starter? I'm assuming it has to be bread flour for the loaf itself, and that's what I'm planning to use for the loaf.

Some recipes say you have to let the water stand for 48 hours to get the chlorine out. Is this essential? Does the container have to be uncovered for this? How do you keep out contamination if it's uncovered (and flies etc) ?

I've seen mention of keeping the starter in a Kilner jar. I would have to buy one specially, which I'm reluctant to do; would a sterilised jam jar do, or a jug with tight cling film over?

I haven't got an airing cupboard. The weather's warm at the mo anyway, but if I was starting in the cooler weather, would the starter etc still work, but maybe just take longer if I just left it quietly at room temperature?

Some recipes say the starter should be half wholemeal flour, as white has no nutrients. Would that have to be (a) organic and (b) strong or bread flour?

To knead or not to knead?

How long to bake?

As you can see, I'm all at sea on the details. I really would love to tackle sourdough bread, as I love the taste & texture. I grew up in Malta and it's the closest I have found to the authentic Maltese "hobz" which I miss so much. If I can get it right with your help, it will be a staple of my repertoire for ever!

ampersand

May I listen at your shoulder for the answers to these EXCELLENT:T:Dquestions please, hathor?
They are precisely the little uncertainties that experience makes clear.

spend_thrift

I have a thread on here that will be merged to this later and will hopefully bring the sourdough breadmakers on OS out of the woodwork

I couldn't find this thread when I searched... still a newbie to the site.

Anyway, excellent questions, Hathor. Did you get any answers? :T

hathor

Hi Spendthrift.

Sadly, I have not had any answers yet, but I am still waiting, full of hope.

If any of you experts out there would care to take pity on us, you would have 3 devoted fans straight away, and I am sure there must be others who would appreciate the guidance.

spend_thrift

I'm a newbie to this as well, and I can help with a couple of the questions myself to get the ball rolling though.

You don't need to use a Kilner jar. A jam jar will do (it's what I'm using) and I have seen people using mixing bowls covered with cling film and also Pyrex jugs. I think anything goes as long as it is glass and can be covered with something to stop dust getting in. I've been using a scrap of calico secured with a rubber band.

As for the organic part, I think the flour you use at the very start is supposed to be organic as it contains more natural wild yeast, but after you've got the yeast culture started anything is going to feed it and white flour is the best food source. However, I started my starter last Thursday with an old bag of Sainsbury's Whole Wheat Bread Flour and it seems to be very active :rolleyes:

That's all I have.... and I eagerly await the answers to the rest of your questions.

Go on, you sourdough bakers out there, you know you want to contribute!

zippychick

If i could help I would ! Hopefully someone will be along soon xxx

ST if you read that other thread i linked to theres a good bit of chat about it, so you may get hints in there too. I remember talk of people using grapes etc for yeast /fermenting etc

LittleBrownFrog

I'm far from being an expert, but I'll have a go at answering some of your questions I was making sourdough bread quite regularly until last year when I kind of fell off the wagon. I've just started a new batch this week, and I'm hoping to fiddle around to get it working well in the breadmaker.

Organic flour is probably better (most organic things are better) but not necessary - I use standard white bread flour.

I think you need bread flour for the starter - certainly that's what I've always used.

In my experience, you get a faster starter if you leave the water to stand. I have also heard people say to use rain water, for the same reason - just cover it with a cloth when it's standing.

I use a pudding basin with a damp cloth over the top - sometimes just a plate over the top. Anything will do - kilner jars just look pretty.

It should still work, but might take longer. I've moved mine to the top of our fish tank because that's pretty much the warmest place in the house :rotfl:if you have a cat, evict the cat from it's favourite sleeping spot & put the sourdough there instead - that's what we did & it seems to be working so far

I just use white normally. If I run out of white then I feed the starter with wholemeal flour, it doesn't seem to make much difference.

There are non-kneading techniques I believe, but I've never tried that.

Baking time depends on loaf size/shape. It's done when it sounds hollow if you tap it on the bottom.


I hope that helps
I'm going to be using my starter in my bread machine, letting the machine do the mixing/kneading but then leaving it for longer to rise - ime sourdough needs a much longer proving/rising time than normal bread.

I tend to bake a lot at one time,to make best use of the oven, so I follow the basic recipe here and make five loaves at once.

hathor

Thanks for the clear pointers, LBF; much appreciated. Unfortunately, I haven't got time to follow it up right now, but I will certainly be back.

spend_thrift

LittleBrownFrog wrote: »

I'm going to be using my starter in my bread machine, letting the machine do the mixing/kneading but then leaving it for longer to rise

Ah :T my parents bought a breadmaker at Christmas and I gave them a portion of my starter so they can make sourdough bread in it. How long do you need to leave it to rise? Do you leave it in the breadmaker? Is there a sourdough programme?

I know they're going to ask me all of the above questions as soon as they feel brave enough to use the starter, so I'll need to get the answers in first :rolleyes: