Bread & Dough

Sourdough Starter#

The starter provides the active yeast to kickstart the fermentation process. It usually takes 7 days of "feeding" for the sourdough starter to be ready for properly fermenting and leavening the dough. You can do it yourself, or buy the starter online or from the local bakery. Buying it will probably give you better results, however doing it yourself is insightful and also works beautifully. These are the steps:

Steps#

• Take a glass container and a spatula or spoon to stir the mix
• Add a 1 1/2 tablespoon of whole wheat or rye flour with 1 tablespoon of water to the container and mix. Leave the container covered for 1 day
• The next day, store half the starter (sourdough discard) for other uses (pancakes) and add the same ingredients as the previous day. Mix and leave for 1 day
• Repeat the previous step for 5 more days
• The starter should be active enough to double in size, which can be measured by putting a rubber band around the glass container
• Keep feeding the starter or store it in the fridge if you don't plan on baking in the coming days.
  • You should feed the starter for 1-2 days before baking to activate it

Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread#

Steps#

• The night before baking, add 50g of starter to 100g of both, water and flour
• In the morning, add the fed starter to 100g of water and 2 tablespoons of sugar, stir and wait 5 minutes for the mix to activate
• Add the flour and water to the mix and knead the flour for 15 minutes
  • If, by the 10 minute mark, the texture does not seem appropriate, add more water or flour and knead some more to incorporate
• Leave to rise for 4 hours in a floured and covered container so the dough does not stick or dry out
• Split and fold the dough to the final shape and place it in a container for 6 hours
  • You may add other ingredients when folding
• Heat the oven to 210-230C and put the dough for 30-40 minutes in a sealed container or with water so it does not burn
• Decrease the temperature to 190-210C and uncover the bread or remove the water. Leave in the over for 20-30 minutes to finish the bake and for the crust to develop
• Take out the bread and leave it to cool off in a rack for 1 hour or until cool
• Store in the fridge or freezer. Outside it may last 3-7 days, depending on the sourness, dryness and other ingredients.

Folding

Night Fridge Hydration

Night Fridge Fermentation

Variants#

Boule (ball)

Sandwich Square

Ciabatta

• Fines Herbes, Garlic, Dried Tomato

Burger Buns

Pizza Dough

Cinnamon Roll

Sweet Bread

• Banana-Chocolate
• Carrot/Beetroot and Seeds