Sourdough baking is a love-hate relationship. You may initially be inspired to take on the sourdough universe by friends or YouTube, strongly motivated by the health benefits. And voila, a friend who bakes amazing breads, gifts you some century-old starter to kick-start your journey. That’s the love bit.
Now for the hate bit: the starter is alive and needs lots of TLC. Chances are, you won’t get it right for your first few loaves. The starter, or wilder beast (yeast), needs to get to know you, and you, to tame and understand it, much like a pet. I’ve been there, done that. Many times. It’s absolutely normal to be disappointed. But don’t give up.
Recipes online claim you can make your own starter. Let me tell you, “experienced” starters are more stable and guarantee success. If you don’t have one, ask around.
So, here’s a recipe which is as simple as it gets. The steps below may seem tedious the first few times, but I assure you, you’ll get the hang of it, and becomes second nature. You’ll find a gazillion ways to bake sourdough, but this method has been simplified to minimize disappointment.
Feel free to post your questions to our warm and amazing clan of combi steamers, and we promise to be your Yoda.
Ingredients
1kg bakers flour
780g water
200g active starter
21g (2 tbsp) salt
Feed the starter
- First, feed your starter (25g starter, 25g water, 25g bakers’ flour), in a jar marked with a rubber band to indicate the level, twice a day, over the next few days. During the next feed, you have discards (excess*). Start again and use the proportions mentioned. When the starter finally doubles after a feed, it means it is active and ready to rumble!
Baking the sourdough
- In a large mixing bowl on a scale, measure and add the ingredients
- Mix the ingredients with a spatula until the dough looks like a rough blob
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter for 1-2 hours
- With a damp hand, grab a quarter of the dough, pull it up to as far as it goes without breaking, and return the dough to the middle. Do this another 3 times. Cover the bowl and let it rest for another hour.
- Repeat the folding. The dough will be stretchier this time. Do it one more time after another hour. Then, cover well and leave the dough to proof and ferment (develop flavours) in the fridge over night.
- On the next day, remove the bowl from the fridge and let it rest at room temperature for about an hour or so. Dust the bench generously. In the bowl, dust some flour and use a dough scraper to divide the dough into 4 pieces.
- Place one piece of dough on the flour-dusted surface, stretch into a thick oblong piece and roll it firmly but gently (without squishing too much air out) into a log with tapered sides to resemble a baguette
- Place the baguette onto a flour dusted, lined baking pan, folded to support 4 baguettes. Allow the 4 baguettes to rest and proof for about 1-2 hours. Dust some flour on top of the dough and using a sharp blade, make 3 deep cuts on each baguette
- Bake in the oven on bread mode: in the V-ZUG select Professional bake 230c/on stone: preheat for about half an hour on 230c, spray the dough with water and bake for about 25-35 mins until dark brown. Slice when cooled. The loaves freeze very well. Regenerate on crispy when required.
* save the excess in the fridge for next time, and feed once a month
