Behold my Sourdough

[AhBiscuits]

Like a lot of us, I'm trying to reduce UPF. I'm a huge bread fan and decent, non-UPF bread costs a lot. Decided to have a go at cultivating my own sourdough starter. It was ready to use after 19 days and today I have baked my first ever sourdough loaf. Made using just flour, water, salt and time. It's so tasty and I'm really pleased with it. Now I have a mature starter, I might make another straight away.

The only reason for this post is showing off because I am proud. 😄

That looks absolutely perfect. Well done, OP!

Mmmmm...... looks yum!

Well done! Looks yum :)

Looks amazing! Please post the recipe. I just rekindled my starter :)

That looks amazing!! Is there a lot of kneading involved? That’s the one thing that puts me off making my own bread as I struggle with energy and couldn’t manage a lot of stretching and pulling every day. If I could do it in my mixer I’d love to make this every day!

I used a no knead recipe.

When my starter was at its peak, I mixed 100g of it with the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. I just used a spatula until it was all combined with no dry flour. Cover the bowl with a teatowel and leave for an hour. Then stretch and fold about 12 times. Cover for an hour then stretch and fold again. Cover for a third hour and then stretch and fold for the last time. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and stick it in the fridge overnight. Dump it on to a floured surface, make a rough ball and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Shape it how you want it and put it in whatever you plan to cook it in. You need a lid. I used a cast iron casserole dish. Cover and leave for 3 hours. Preheat oven to 260c. Put the dough in and immediately reduce the temperature to 230c. Cook it covered for 30 minutes and then uncovered for another 15. Let it cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

It's very easy and not a huge amount of work, it just takes a lot of time.

Looks delicious, well done!

I've made my second today.
I can't get my scoring right with a knife so I have just bought a lame. Hopefully there are some prettier loaves in my future.

Looks lovely. Well done 👏🏼 ✔️

My starter is 11 years old this October.

I love sourdough and use it to make crumpets, English muffins, pancakes, crackers, biscuits, naan, flatbread, and cakes as well as bread.

That looks amazing - well done!!

They look gorgeous OP! Yummy. I'm not dedicated enough to keep a starter alive.

That's it, you are a lost cause now. It starts with a a siding starter ages veggies you know it you are down a rabbit hole of ferments, autolyse, poolish and artisanal flour. Then crumpets, pizza base , focaccia ....

I love making my own bread. When I got a stand mixer my DH said I'd never use it. How wrong he was. 3-7 times a week. And if I'm making bread I may as well make a soup to go with it. So is Ray improved our overall diet which I didn't expect. I also make home made fruit loaf with an enriched dough and everybody goes crazy for it ( using instant yeast)

Well done you! It looks amazing! I made ciabatta once that looked like a dolphin but that was amazing. Yours is a thing of beauty

Well done OP. It’s also a coincidence as tomorrow I plan on making my own sourdough starter, so thanks for the recipe.

I just spent time with a relative who is a Scientist, looking at Cancer cells. From what he told me, I’m going to cut out as much sugar as possible. Also, he says he’ll never eat shop bought bread in a bag due to all the nasties in it, and they make their own bread. So, homemade bread it is then!!!!

Can you pls tell us which sourdough starter recipe you use, what you store it in, and if you keep it in the fridge or other place?

Sorry 😜

Sourdough bread has a much lower glycemic index compared to shop bought bread as well, is really great stuff. Dip it into EV olive oil or smear some cultured butter on it and it's even better for you.

Gorgeous!

I follow the 1:1:1 strategy and didn't use anything special, just cheap, plain, white flour. I have mine in a glass jar that sits on my work top with a lid loosely on top.

Day 1: mix 50g of flour and 50g water.
Day 2: do nothing
Day 3: weigh out 50g of the mixture and add 50g flour and 50g of water. Discard the rest.
Day 4 - 14ish: repeat Day 3.
When the volume of the mixture more than doubles within 8 hours of feeding for 3 days in a row then it is ready to cook with. Mine was ready on day 19. It started to rise after about 5 day but I now know this was a false rise and it went dormant again for a while.

After about day 10 you can start keeping the discard. I have a jar in the fridge I add the discard to each day. Today I made discard crumpets, which are tastier than they sound.

Please could I get the recipe for the fruit loaf.

I know that sourdough rabbit hole well. My proudest moment was the sourdough cinnamon buns I made in lockdown. Then they let us out again and my starter died ☹️

Well done that looks delicious 🍞

@karmakameleon

I normally bake two in 2lb loaf tins and freeze one. This is a rough recipe as I tend to eye ball it but it works. .

I soak my dried fruit in a in a hot fruit tea for 2-4 hours then drain.

1/2 a bag of bread flour
1tsp salt.
250g butter/best for baking
1/2 pint of milk
3-4 eggs depending on size.
100g sugar ( if wanted)

I melt the butter in warm milk. Let it cool to blood temperature then add 1 heaped tablespoon of dry yeast add mix well, leave for 5-10 minutes. Sift the flour salt and 1/2 tsp baking powder. , mix in the milk and then the fruit, and the eggs one by one. Leave covered for an hour. Divide into loaf tins and cover and leave to second rise for an hour. Brush in butter/eggs and sprinkle with sugar. Then bake.

I vary mine. Sometimes I add grated lemon peel and candied peel. Sometimes cinnamon and ginger. Sometimes glacé cherry and almond essence. But it always goes down well.

Thank you! How much dried fruit do you add?

@AhBiscuits can you talk me through how you made your crumpets please? They look delicious! I've never made soughdough before but I would love to make these crumpets. Did you use an egg ring?

@karmakameleon

Around 150-200g and to it up with hot tea. Sometimes fruit tea, sometimes earl grey. I just tweak it to fit the flavour profile of whatever I'm using

Well I'm inspired. I've been meaning to try this for ages, I'm going to give it a go