Slow Cooking... Sourdough!
Sourdough is something I’ve always been curious about making and I’d been tempted to make my own starter a couple of times, using the recipe in my beloved Kitchen By Mike cookbook. But it was when I saw local baker, The Bread Social, offer workshops at The Farm this year that I thought, that’s it, I’m going to go and learn from them. But then isolation happened and their April workshop was cancelled.
So when they started delivering 20kg bags of Woods organic flour with a complimentary starter at the beginning of isolation, I jumped on it. I naively thought it wouldn’t be that hard to work out how to make it (nor did I consider how big a 20kg bag of flour actually is!), and googling online proved to make it even more confusing!
I asked Sam Saulwick (one of The Bread Social founders) if he could share any tips or a recipe, and I was in luck. However, it was a recipe written for their workshop, where they are there showing you hands-on how to do all the steps and what it should look like… I needed a little more guidance.
Enter Cass Amundsen aka Farmer Cass, who is an amazing organic home grower and home cook! She worked with the boys from Bread Social and picked up a few tips, and has shared a wonderful how-to make sourdough video guide in her Instagram stories.
With Sam and Cass’ blessing, I have combined the recipe from The Bread Social, with Cass’ steps, and hope this helps any of you budding bakers give sourdough a crack.
I would also HIGHLY recommend watching Cass’ Sourdough Class on her Instagram Highlights. It will show you what the dough should look like at each step, which helped me so much! (Her recipe is slightly different, but the method works with the recipe below. Feel free to try both and experiment.)
Happy baking!
x
THE BREAD SOCIAL SOURDOUGH RECIPE
Stiff starter guide:
225g Organic white flour
150g Water
150g Sourdough starter
NB you need to do this at least twice before it’s ready to use.
Recipe (1 loaf):
500g Organic white flour
365g Water
125g Sourdough starter
12.5g Salt
CASS AMUNDSEN’s SOURDOUGH METHOD
First up, your starter and schedule…
If you want to make a loaf of bread on Sunday morning, your schedule would look something like this:
Friday PM: feed starter (following the starter guide above)
Saturday AM: feed starter again, then you can move onto the mixing, folding, shaping stage throughout the day (more on this below)
Saturday PM: slowly fermenting in the fridge
Sunday AM: bake and enjoy
(I feed my starter in a bowl on the bench, and cover it with a plate / linen cover / beeswax wrap, Cass does hers in a jar. I find it easier to mix in a bowl.)
How do you know if your starter is ready? Do the float test.
Put a spoonful into a measuring jug of water. If it floats, she’s ready.
Sourdough Method
A quick note from Cass — this might look like a lot of work, but each of the stages only takes about one minute to do. It’s just the rest periods that take up the most time. Set your timer and do this when you know you have a morning at home.
DAY 1
Mix flour, water and starter together by hand, until it’s combined and super sticky! (Cass does this in a large rectangular container which is genius and far less messy.)
Leave on the bench for 30 minutes.
Squish the salt through the dough.
Leave for 30 minutes.
Time for the first fold! Starting from one side, use your hand to scoop the dough and fold it into the centre. Keep scooping and folding until you’ve gone all the way round the dough.
Leave it in a warm spot in the kitchen for another 30 minutes.
Now it’s time for the second fold. Work your way around the dough again, scooping and folding into the centre.
Leave in the same spot for another 30 minutes.
You guessed it, time for the third fold! Same again, folding the dough in the centre with your hand.
Leave in the same spot for another 30-60 minutes (depending on how much time you have).
It’s time for the fourth and FINAL fold! Repeating the same process, until you’ve folded the dough all the way round the container.
Leave in the same spot for another 30-60 minutes.
It’s now time to do a first shape. Dust your benchtop with flour, and place the dough onto the floured surface. Roughly shape your dough into a round or oval shape (NB Cass’ recipe is for two loaves if you’re watching her videos).
Leave your shaped dough for 30 minutes.
Now shape your loaf, trying to get a nice tight surface on top - be careful not to overwork it at this stage.
Time to place your loaf seam side up into a floured banneton basket or a bowl lined with a floured tea towel.
Cover it tightly with a beeswax wrap and place into the fridge to slowly ferment overnight!
DAY 2
Preheat your oven and cast iron casserole dish on the hottest possible setting (I use 240 degrees).
Remove dough from the fridge 15 minutes before baking.
Flip onto parchment (baking) paper, score the top and carefully put it into the hot dish (including the paper).
Bake with the lid on for 25 minutes.
Remove the lid after 25 minutes and bake for another 15-20 minutes, depending on how dark you want the crust.
A NOTE ON YOUR LEFTOVER STARTER
The beauty of starter, is it keeps growing! I only make bread once a week, so I put whatever is remaining back into a jar in the fridge. Then I pull it out to feed as per the schedule above.
There are quite a few great recipes using sourdough starter like crumpets and pizza dough, but I’ll leave those for another post!