Sourdough Bread

[metatron]

This is a very crusty bread with a slightly chewy feel (bit like a real bagel). It does not last well, four days max.

You will need:

Starter:
450mil water
375g strong white flour
3tsp yeast

Old dough:
2 tsp yeast
8 tbsp water
100g strong white flour
100g wholemeal flour

Dough:
500g strong white flour
2tsp salt

Step 1 Making the starter
Mix the dried yeast in 450mil of warm water and leave 3 minutes.
Put the strong white flour in the bowl and mix the water yeast mix in.
Cover with a tea-towel and leave for four days, mixing twice a day.

Step 2 (the night before making the bread, day three) Making the old dough
Put the flours and yeast in a bowl and mix together.
Add the water and bring the dough together with your hand.
Knead for 10 minutes and place back in the bowl.
Leave in the fridge over night with cling film over the top.

Step 3 Making the bread (day four)
Put the strong white flour and salt in the starter and mix together.
Pull the old dough out the fridge and rip bits off and put it in with everything else.
Add water if its too dry (it shouldn't need it)
Knead for 10 minutes and put back in the bowl.
Leave for 3 hours.
Knock the air out of it and split the dough in two.
Shape into two loafs
Leave for 1 1/2 hours

Step 4
Bake at gas mark 7 for 10 minutes, then drop the heat down to 5 and bake for another 15 minutes.

Step 5
Eat

I would have pics but my family ate one of the loafs for breakfast/lunch and the other half gave the other to her mum.

If you make more starter, as long as you keep it in the fridge and feed it every two weeks or whenever you use some with equal parts flour/water it will last forever.

[preppingsu]

I've been looking for a sourdough starter recipe and all the research I've done talks about having a 'mix' that stays in the fridge and then you can do the bread without the need for yeast.

Have you done one like that before?

[metatron]

I've been looking for a sourdough starter recipe and all the research I've done talks about having a 'mix' that stays in the fridge and then you can do the bread without the need for yeast.

Have you done one like that before?

Yes, all sourdough starter is, is flour and water mixed together. You can leave it out 4 to 5 days and the idea is wild yeast gets into the mix, you then need to feed it. Realistly it takes three weeks to make the starter that way.

The best way to do it is:
450mil water
375g strong white flour

Leave uncovered for five days mixing twice a day.
Place in the fridge for two days.
Add 50g flour and 50mil water
Repeat once a week doubling what you are adding once a week.

By the end of the three weeks you have something usable. Say you use 100mils of the starter replace it with 50mil water, 50g flour, if you use 200mil of starter replace it with 100mil water 100g flour.

It gets better the longer you do it. I have some starter which is about 6 years old now. The bread it produces is old fashioned and not as high as other breads but it does have a great taste. You might be able to get some starter from your local bakers I know the one I use to use in London has 160 year old starter.

[preppingsu]

Thanks, I'll give it a go.

[Hamradioop]

Thank you for the recipe

[Gunny]

The stuff that's being stored, can/should it be sealed i.e. in a jar?

Scratch that, found the answer in a different thread! Cheers, all.