The process of breadmaking is almost as important as the end result, say Niva and Yotam Kay.
Like gardening, it takes time to learn the subtleties of breadmaking so you get the results you aim for. Trial and error and keen observation are instrumental.
When starting out, we suggest using at least half of the total flour amount as white flour to better support gluten formation. But you can change the types of flour and the ratios in this recipe.
Depending on the flours you use and the relative humidity, you might need to add more or reduce the amount of water you use to make the dough.
The dough may seem wet at first, but don’t make any changes until you finish the kneading or folding.
Enjoy the process as well as the bread you will be making.
Sourdough Starter
For the initial starter
• 30ml water
• 30g wheat, spelt or rye flour
For daily feeding
• 30ml water a day
• 30g flour a day
To make a sourdough starter
Place 30ml water and 30g flour in a jar, mix well and cover with a cloth. Use a rubber band or whiteboard marker to mark the starting height of the mixture. Keep it in a warm place.
When feeding the next day, tip out 45g into a “discard” jar, leaving about 15g in the jar. Add to the jar the feeding amounts of water and flour, mix well, and cover with a cloth. This is known as a 1:2:2 (starter:flour:water).
Repeat this process every day for about a week, keeping 15g and adding 30ml water and 30g flour daily, until the starter doubles in volume, 8-12 hours after feeding. This is easy to see when using a rubber band or marker. If you occasionally miss a day of feeding, no major harm will be done, as the starter is robust and extremely hard to kill.
After 3-5 days, the starter will begin to bubble. While it is ready to be used, the culture will keep evolving, become more complex, and generally stabilise after several repeated feedings. Once your starter is active, you can either use it for your leaven or give it another feed and keep it in the fridge until you are ready to start making your next sourdough bread.
An indication of a starter that is ready to use in baking is that it is active and bubbling.
Maintaining your starter
When you are ready to use your starter, or take it out of the fridge for the next bake; for most recipes you can use it straight to make a leaven. Some recipes require an additional feed of 1:2:2 before using the starter to make a “young leaven”.
Basic Leaven
• 80ml water
• 40g sourdough starter
• 80g flour
To a bowl or a jar, add the water and then the starter. Mix well. Add the flour and mix again. Take out 40g of the leaven to use as your next starter.
Cover with a lid or cloth, mark the height with a rubber band or marker and let it rest in a warm place until the leaven has doubled in size
Once you have made your leaven, taking a bit from it as your next bread starter is the best practice. Take 40g, place it in a new jar and move it to the fridge until your next bake. Another option is to use the jar that previously held the starter but is now empty except for the residual starter. This residual starter stuck to the jar is enough to facilitate inoculating new flour, so avoid rinsing it and add 30g flour and 30ml water.
If you notice there is a liquid forming (known as hooch) at the top of your starter, it means that either your starter needs less water when being fed – follow up with only flour in the next feeding – or that it is hungry and you should feed it more regularly.
Once we started treating our starter this way, avoiding having too much “old” starter in the jar and adding more flour and water, we enjoyed a much more active starter.
Sourdough Bread
Makes 2 loaves
• 160g leaven
• 800g flour (60% white wheat, 20% wholewheat, 20% spelt)
• 540ml warm water
• 16g salt
Autolyse
To a bowl, add 800g flour and 540ml water and mix. Cover with a cloth or lid. Let the dough autolyse for 1 hour (a process in which the flour hydrates and starts to develop gluten).
Mixing
Once the leaven has doubled in size, mix the leaven and the salt into the autolysed dough inside the bowl. When it becomes a cohesive dough, work the dough on the surface using your preferred kneading or folding techniques (5-10 minutes).
The consistency of the dough after kneading or folding should be firm and not watery. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and set it in a warm place to start the fermentation.
Bulk fermentation
The bulk fermentation starts when the leaven has been mixed into the dough. During bulk fermentation, the dough will double in size. This could take 3-6 hours, depending on the room temperature and the strength of your starter.
Folding
Folding happens during bulk fermentation. Fold the dough one to three times over the next 2 hours.
Shaping the loaf and proofing
When the dough has risen, divide the dough in two and shape each half into a loaf with a tight surface area while avoiding unnecessary deflating of the dough. (The simplest shape is a roundish ball. To shape into a ball with maximum surface tension, position the dough so the smoothest side is on the top, and evenly tuck the sides under so they are slightly placed at the bottom of the loaf.) Place on a lightly oiled tray, a floured proofing basket or a loaf pan.
Scoring and baking
When the bread is close to finishing proofing, preheat the oven to 240°C. If you are using a Dutch oven, place it in the oven before turning the oven on.
Poke the bread to check that it is proofed (if the dough springs back slowly).
Score your bread and place it in the bottom third of a warm oven for 45 minutes, closing the door as quickly as possible to avoid losing heat.
Once the expansion stage ends, as the crust becomes rigid, it is best to reduce the humidity to allow the crust to form fully and crisp in a dry oven. At this point, reduce the temperature to 220°C, and leave it on this heat for the rest of the baking time.
Out of the oven
Take the bread out of the oven once the crust has coloured to your satisfaction; give it another 5 minutes if you want the crust to be darker. Let the bread cool, on a rack, for 2 hours or more. Enjoy it on the day or store it.
An edited extract from The Abundant Kitchen by Niva & Yotam Kay, (Allen & Unwin NZ, RRP $49.99)
