My first go at sourdough

Like so many others, baking is emerging to be a central theme of my lock-down.  As housebound activities go it really is a good one, allowing as it does for some creativity as well as the obvious benefit of enjoying eating what you produce. Furthermore, baking smells are surely the most comforting of all and God knows we could all do with a bit of that right now.

I have made a good deal of naan, pizza bases and soda breads in my time but had only attempted a 'normal' white loaf on two occasions. I am sorry to say that both efforts were dense, tasteless and quickly fired in the bin. However, I am delighted to reveal that I redeemed myself slightly last weekend.  

Sourdough is traditionally risen with what’s known as a 'starter' instead of yeast. This yields a slow rise which also gives the bread its characteristic chewy crust and distinctive tang. In theory, a sourdough starter can be comprised of only flour and water which is then left for several days to allow for natural yeasts in the air to activate the fermentation process. However, my Google search taught me that there are also starter recipes which include live yogurt as an ingredient. This seemed to be a safer bet to me so I went with that option for my first attempt.

                                                           
Day one involved the combination of flour, water and live yogurt into a paste which was then left loosely covered overnight (I read that sealed jars have been known to explode so played it safe on this). More flour was then added on day two and I was delighted to see that there was some definite bubble action going on. By day five it was looking somewhat more active but not nearly as much as I expected. A quick flick through my cookbooks showed me that Rachel Allen is ok with adding instant yeast to her sourdough.  Having at last got my hands on some thanks to my friend Ann, I snuck in a precious sachet feeling like something of a fraud. That did the trick and I actually thought the jar would bubble over.

                                                            
                                                        

I am (very) early on in my bread-making journey but have learned a lot from just this one loaf mainly the fundamental importance of patience.  The recipe advised that the bread would take between 4-8 hours to rise depending on the room temperature. After five hours, there was some definite growth and I could wait no longer. On reflection I should have. My resulting loaf was a bit flat and I knew even before I baked it that it hadn't fulfilled its potential. Though the end result was very tasty and sourdough-like with a fantastic chewy crust it was also rather close in texture and lacking those big distinctive air-holes.

                                                      

However, I now have hope! After this (limited) success, bread-making doesn't seem to be quite as mysterious as before. My (yeast- enhanced) starter is now sleeping in the fridge and apparently all I have to do to revive it is bring it to room temperature and feed it with flour and water before using again (it should be 'fed' weekly). I will absolutely throw in another sachet of instant yeast if necessary to help it along. Sourdough snobs might not approve of that but if I get to have the satisfaction of taking a big fat perfect crusty loaf out of the oven I really couldn't care less. I'll just have to learn to have some patience.

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