I’ve been a bread snob for a long
time, I can remember rejecting white bread as a child because I hated those
mushy sandwiches made from those slices of processed white flumph, I felt sorry
for the ducks that that was what they ate. So I made my stand, at 7 years old I
said no more to white bread much to the consternation of my family I banished bad bread from my life; having to adjust their
ingrained bread routines was a struggle for them but I like to think that I
played my part in adding fibre to their diets and years to their lives. If
anything I was a hero, never to be described as a fussy little brat, only to be
held up and praised for my stand against bad bread. I’d like to think that at
least.
Years of supermarket bread strife have lead me to this, I am now baking my own bread, it's the only way to satisfy my constant need for bread and my snobby attitude towards it.
I had dabbled in the odd bloomer and pizza dough before but nothing I'd consider a good loaf, and then I started treating it a bit more seriously, I started my research and my eyes were opened to a whole world of bread I'd never considered before. I was reading about hydration percentages, kneading techniques and temperature control methods; I had become a bread geek.
It seems like my quest for the perfect crust and crumb is endless; I'm analysing every step of the process always trying to get it right and sometimes I nail it. Most of the time I'll mess something up along the way but I've got to a place where I'm pretty happy with my bread.
This is one of my white sourdough loaves alongside my starter (Steven):
Years of supermarket bread strife have lead me to this, I am now baking my own bread, it's the only way to satisfy my constant need for bread and my snobby attitude towards it.
I had dabbled in the odd bloomer and pizza dough before but nothing I'd consider a good loaf, and then I started treating it a bit more seriously, I started my research and my eyes were opened to a whole world of bread I'd never considered before. I was reading about hydration percentages, kneading techniques and temperature control methods; I had become a bread geek.
It seems like my quest for the perfect crust and crumb is endless; I'm analysing every step of the process always trying to get it right and sometimes I nail it. Most of the time I'll mess something up along the way but I've got to a place where I'm pretty happy with my bread.
This is one of my white sourdough loaves alongside my starter (Steven):
You will need a seal-able container like a kilner jar or a Tupperware box.
Day one: Mix 100g of flour and 100ml of water in your container, stir well to make a smooth paste and leave on your shelf at room temperature with the lid not completely sealed for 24 hours.
Day two: Check on your starter, it's probably not that interesting at this point but wild yeasts will be starting to form in the goo and they will be hungry so feed them with another 100g of flour and 100ml of water to keep them happy.
Day three: Maybe something will be happening now, you should see some bubbles forming in the goo, this is a sign of fermentation and it means things are going well. You might be able to smell a sourness in there too. If not don't worry, different environments may make your starter grow at different speeds; either way feed the goo again with 100g flour and 100ml of water. ( you see a pattern forming here?)
Day 4,5,6... Feed him up. If your container is getting a bit full it's fine to tip some of your starter away and replenish with the flour and water.
Day 7: By now your starter should be really going for it, it should have plenty of bubbles and smell deeply sour. This is it, you've created your monster; I named mine Steven and he is part of the family now, your starter will want regular feeding while he is still young but as he gets older you can feed him once a week and it should be fine.
So that's it. You've got a starter and you are ready to bake sourdough. Use your goo instead of yeast, it will act a lot slower than commercial dried yeast so you will have to wait much longer for rises in your dough but it is totally worth it. Sourdough bread is next level stuff.
