Sourdough

I've had a bee in my bonnet about bread for some time now. I hate, loathe and detest bad bread. In France we are lucky enough to be able to get good, fresh, crispy bread whenever we like. However, our local bakery recently closed and although crispy is great, sometimes you need something with a bit more substance. I like my bread to be a bit chewy,  have a good crust, maybe a little sourness to balance the sweetness as the carbohydrates turn to sugar in your mouth. You can see where this is going...bread that we call 'pain à l'ancienne' in France, and is called sourdough in America.

This is essentially bread that is risen without the aid of added baker's yeast. You grown your own yeast in a culture made of flour and water. Some articles I've read claim that the yeasts come from the atmosphere. I don't think this is true; my own experience is that the naturally occurring yeasts in the flour are the basis of your culture. The flour that you use will define the flavour of your bread. I use rye flour - organic if I can get it. This is because rye flour seems to have plenty of yeast in it and the resulting mixture (the starter) is lively, bubbly and smells delicious. The bread it makes is slightly beige in colour, has a good crusty texture with big bubbles inside. Best of all it is very cheap to make; flour, water, salt.


You start with a clean jar - I use a 1 litre 'Parfait' jar with a rubber seal, and a measuring cup. I use about a quarter of a US cup (from the set of cup measures that you undoubtedly possess). Put a quarter cup of flour and a quarter cup of cold water into your jar. Mix it and leave it at room temperature for about 12 hours. Then add another measure of water and flour and leave it again. Don't seal the jar, just cover it with a tea towel to stop nasties getting in. Don't worry about putting it somewhere too warm either - normal household temperatures are fine, just try & keep it out of a draft.

Keep doing this (feeding it) for several days. Once your jar is more than half full, and before you feed again, discard about half your mixture. After a few (or several) days you will notice that the mixture becomes bubbly and starts to rise up the jar. This is great; the yeasts are multiplying. At this point you should start to get a lovely beery, yeasty smell. It should smell good - if it smells chemically or nasty, throw it away and start again. I have to say that I've never had this happen, but I've read about it!

Once your starter is rising up the jar after each feeding and looks bubbly and lively, you could try making a loaf with it. Best to start in the morning. Take about 500g bread flour, a couple of teaspoons of salt and about 200g of your starter. Add enough tepid water to make a slightly less than firm dough. You don't want it too sticky (or it might now be able to support itself), but neither do you want it dry. If you've made bread before you'll know what I mean and if you haven't then you will learn by experience. Knead the dough thoroughly for about 10 minutes, or five minutes in your mixer with the dough hook. I once read that bread dough should have the feel of a woman's breast. This might be of some help; it depends on the woman!

Leave your dough in a covered bowl to rise. You are aiming for the dough to double in size. If you started this in the morning, look at baking in the afternoon. Or, make your dough in the evening, let it rise in a cooler place overnight and bake in the morning. Once the dough is risen, shape it into a loaf, two smaller loaves, or a loaf and some rolls. Let the shaped dough rise again (probably about an hour or so) and bake in a hot oven for about 30 minutes for the smaller loaves or 45 for a large one. When your bread is done, knock on the bottom and it will have a hollow sound. Leave the loaf to cool on a rack. Voila - you've made your first loaf.

Now, you probably won't bake the perfect loaf the first time you try. If your dough doesn't rise too much, make pizza with it. If your loaf is a little solid the first time, try a softer dough next time. But don't be disappointed. It can take a few weeks before your starter reaches full potential. Play with the amounts and use your dough to make whatever bread you like. I usually make a white sourdough with wheat bread flour. Equally I could add wholemeal wheat flour (about 50/50 white & wholemeal makes a nicely textured loaf), I could use a proportion of rye flour or (my favourite) granary flour. 

This week I made a big batch of dough (about 1000g flour) and used about 500g of starter to raise it with a tablespoon of salt and (I think) 300ml water. I let it do the first rise for about six hours near the fire. I made two 400g loaves, a 400g baguette and five small rolls in the evening. We had the rolls with home made soup, the baguette yesterday and the two loaves are in the freezer for when we need them. Your bread will be equally good, whether you serve it with soup, with cheese & ham, or (as we we did last night) with baked beans and Ikea meatballs!

Once your starter is thriving and you've made a few loaves with it, you can be more flexible. I made bread early this week, then emptied the remaining starter into a bowl, cleaned my jar, fed my starter again and put it back. Then I closed up the jar and popped it in the fridge. The next time I need to make bread (in a couple of weeks, probably) I will get my jar out of the fridge, feed it at room temperature twice a day for a few days and then be ready to make bread again. It really is that easy.