quarantine day55 - making sourdough bread

7/5/2020

My husband and I made this together,
it was the first time either of us had made a loaf and somehow, we aced it! delicious!

We followed the instructions to make the Sourdough Leaven via Positively Probiotic which gave us great quality Leaven, with plenty of bubbles and a wonderful aroma. See instructions here or here.
They also offer instructions on how to make No Knead Bread, but I personally found a video was easier to follow.

So, we then watched the wonderful video provided by Food52 and Baker/Sourdough savant, Sarah Owens from Ritual Fine Foods. It is a charming video, and it explains everything in great detail.

INGREDIENTS:
60g Leaven (ripe and ready Sourdough starter)
300g Water (room temperature, not cold)

Stir and mix the two together, then add...

310g Stone Ground Organic Flour (or Flour of choice)
80g Whole Wheat Flour (add more water the more whole wheat as it will be more thirsty).

Get flour fully hydrated. Mix with hands.
Watch the Video to see how it is done!

We followed this to the Tee and made the wonderful loaf seen in the photos.
It rose perfectly, had plenty of bubbles/gluten structures when we cut it open. It was baked to perfection and tasted amazing and I think it was not only because we followed everything rigorously, we also had the perfect equipment.

The Emile Henry Artisan Bread Loaf maker made it so simple, we warmed the oven up to 475ºF | 250 ºC and placed it in (empty) until the max temp was reached.
Once the Bread maker was hot we then placed the loaf into it and popped it in for around 55 mins at 475ºF | 246 ºC and never had to touch it until the time was up. It was perfectly cooked through and golden on the outside, with a lovely crust.

I think for our next loaf I will leave it a little longer in the fridge before baking, so that it has a stronger flavour. We left ours to rest in the fridge for approximately 16 hours. I'd just love to see what a more potent sourdough would be like.

by Alexandra Black