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Sourdough Bread

3rd June 2020 by Rosie

Tasty bread made the slow way.

There is a vast array of recipes and methods out there to enable and assist you to make the ‘perfect sourdough’. Do they all work as expected? Do they all taste amazing? Does the dough handle for you as it does for the experienced baker, or in the hands of the professional? In some cases, then the answer is a resounding YES!, but on the other hand, we feel underwhelmed when our answer is a definite and disappointing NO! When that happens, it doesn’t mean that you can’t bake sourdough, it means that you didn’t bake your perfect sourdough at that time. It’s not time to give up trying. You need to dust your hands off, grab a clean pinny and let’s start again; together we can create amazing looking and tasting sourdough bread.

As a home baker for far too many years than I’d really like to reveal, I was lucky enough to  be gifted with a five day bread making course with Richard Bertinet at his bakery school in Bath for my 50th birthday. These five days have enabled me to learn an incredible new method of ‘working’ the dough, as opposed to kneading it. It’s taught me to trust the dough and my instincts to step away from the vast amounts of snow-storm effect flurries of flour that you see added to the bench by some bakers (the quantity of which is never actually included in their original recipe) no matter how much more you think it needs. How much is a light dusting of flour on your bench; 10 / 20 / 50 / 100g? Who knows! We all perceive things in different ways, and it’s far too easy to add too much flour which’ll tighten up your loaf and make for a far less than ideal crumb result, which, if the worst comes to the worst, puts you off baking and achieving such incredible results that only 3 basic ingredients can help you achieve; flour, water and salt. I suppose for sourdough, you could easily add 2 more ingredients to that list – time and love as both are a valuable part of your sourdough bread making journey.

The key to making your own sourdough is in the starter. I was recently gifted some San Fransicso starter from the lovely Chef, Nick Martin. I’ve basically followed the recipe that he also sent down to me, but have twisted and adapted it to make it easier for the novice, or for someone with slightly less time on their hands (or even for the lazy baker like me) to follow. The ‘secret’ to this dough is in the lower hydration (amount of water to weight of flour), which makes this a much easier dough to handle and to master the art of.

The bread flour I’m using is the white organic no.4 from Shipton Mill in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. To this I simply add Cornish Sea Salt Flakes and normal tap water. Nothing more, nothing less.

During the whole Coronavirus lockdown period, where I’ve was working from home for 8 weeks, I’ve primarily kept to my weekly sourdough bread making schedule of mixing the dough on Thursday night, shaping it on Friday night and baking it on a Saturday morning. Occasionally I’ve taken the luxe of making a second batch of bread, purely by mixing and shaping on a different night earlier in the week, to bake the following morning:- *Oven on to preheat as soon as I get up. *Loaf in before breakfast. *Bake finished as I’m ready for my next cup of tea.

For each loaf that I’ve made for us, I’ve gifted another two to friends and family. This has been due to the generosity of Shipton Mill who inadvertently duplicated my 32kg bread flour order and I received 64kg instead, but kindly allowed me to keep the flour to help my local community. For that kindness, I (and the bread recipients) are eternally grateful, so thank you Shipton Mill.

I’m currently waiting for my re-scheduled date (due to Coronavirus) to commence my training to become a voluntary Community First Responder with my local ambulance service, and have accepted donations for any flour or bread orders that I’ve gifted to go towards the fundraising efforts of my local group. It takes approx. £1,300 to kit out a Responder with a defibrillator, monitoring equipment and uniform, and to that end I’d love to be able to raise enough funds to cover at least the cost of the kit that I’ll be issued with. With additional pledges that I’ve been promised, and with the support from my local farm shop, the Dovecote Buttery, I’m now at approx. £900 towards my target.

I’ve been asked so many times to share the recipe that I’m using and to help others to create their own sourdough starter, that I’ll address in another post, but for now, please find below the recipe that I’m using with incredible results:

Basic Recipe

You can use this recipe and then add the flavours as you wish.

  • 85g sourdough starter
  • 375ml warm water (body temperature)
  • 675g white bread flour
  • 15g sea salt flakes
  1. Whisk the starter into the water.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt.
  3. Add the water and starter liquid to the flour and salt mix and work together with your hands until you have fully incorporate all of the liquid. The dough may still be a little ‘rough’ at this stage, but don’t worry, you haven’t failed to make a sourdough, there are still many steps to be followed.
  4. Rub your hands together above the bowl to get all the dough off.
  5. Tightly cover the bowl with cling film to seal it and set your dough aside to rest for about 30 minutes (setting the timer is not required – 25 minutes / 45 minutes / an hour resting won’t hurt or ruin it – do not be a slave to your dough – if you’re relaxed, it’ll be relaxed too).
  6. Uncover the dough and continue to work the dough in the bowl until there are no lumps left. This can be done easily by grabbing some of the dough from the outside of the bowl, lifting and stretching it upwards before folding it over and pressing it in to the centre of the dough. Continue around the bowl however many times you need to until there are no lumps of flour that you can feel. Alternatively, if you prefer, you can tip your dough out on to a UNFLOURED work surface and work it to get the same end result.
  7. Your dough will now both look and feel very different. It’ll be formed in to quite a tight ball and won’t be touching the sides of the bowl, This is the point at which we start to let it relax, sleep and rest.
  8. Cover the bowl again with cling film, and allow to rest at room temperature for about an hour, then put the bowl into the fridge to rest for 24 hours (this is known as retarding the dough).
  9. If you want to have more of a sour tang to your dough, you can leave the dough at this stage for up to 4 days in the fridge, without worrying about it being spoiled or ruined.
  10. When you’re ready to shape your dough, the following day (or later), remove the bowl from the fridge and allow it to come up to room temperature for an hour or two, still in the bowl and still covered with cling film. I generally remove the bowl from the fridge as soon as I get in from work / before I start preparing dinner, ready to start to work it a couple of hours later.
  11. Line a banneton, an oven-proof (Pyrex) casserole dish, or a metal colander with a very clean tea towel or muslin that you’ve dusted very well with flour.
  12. LIGHTLY flour your work surface and tip out the dough on to it, then gently prod it out with your fingertips to a thick flattened circle (you’re not looking to knead the bread here, or to knock the living daylights out of it, as I see some bakers doing). Going round the edges, lift up the dough, grab a section of the dough and stretch it out gently away from you before folding it up and over and into the centre of the dough 3 or 4 times, until you’ve formed a rough round ball shape.
  13. Turn the dough over so that the seam that you’ve just made is face down on your work surface. This will become the bottom of your loaf when it’s baked.
  14. Cupping both of your hands on side of your dough, furthest from your body, gentle press your hands down towards the board, tucking your little fingers underneath the edge of the dough as you pull the dough slowly towards you. Allow the friction of the dough on the surface of the board to create tension to the top of the dough as you pull it towards you (this is what’ll keep the shape as it bakes).
  15. Repeat this process, turning the dough a little bit each time, as you lift the dough ball and put it towards the back of your board, ready to pull it towards you again.
  16. Don’t be too rough doing this so that you split the surface of the dough; that’s not what you’re looking for. The objective is to make the top nice and taught but not to tear it.
  17. When you’ve got the dough into a lovely ball, then dust the top liberally with flour, lift it up (a plastic dough scraper works wonders here to help you), then place it floured side (top) down into your banneton, casserole dish or colander that you’ve already prepared.
  18. Lightly dust the surface of the dough to stop the muslin sticking (this is the bottom of your dough).
  19. Fold the tea towel or muslin very loosely over the bread and place the dough back in to the fridge overnight or for 24 hours. (If you want to, you can cover it in plastic / cling film, but it’ll sweat, and it’ll be harder to tip out to bake).
  20. When you’re ready to bake your sourdough loaf, pre-heat the oven to 240˚C, gas 9.
  21. Remove the dough from the fridge, uncover it and dust the top lightly with flour. If you’ve covered it with muslin or a tea bowl, you should find that the top is not wet at all and you shouldn’t stick to the surface of it if you touch it.
  22. Tear off a piece of silicon paper or baking parchment (don’t use greaseproof paper – the surface of it seems to melt and stick to the dough when you bake with it – I’ve learned that one from experience!)
  23. Cover the banneton and dough with the piece of parchment and quickly flip the whole lot upside down so that the parchment is now on your board and your banneton (or proving container) is on top, then lift this off. You should find that the dough simply falls out when you invert it.
  24. Lightly dust the top of the loaf with flour and slash your desired pattern into the surface with a razor blade or a VERY sharp knife.
  25. Lift the parchment with the dough and place in to a COLD casserole / roasting / large Pyrex dish. If you don’t have any of these, but you do have a metal tray and a large ovenproof bowl, then tip the dough onto the tray and use the bowl to cover it. This will help keep the steam in and create that rise that we all hope we can achieve.
  26. Immediately place the casserole dish / baking tray and bowl containing your sourdough in to the oven to bake.
  27. Turn the oven down to 200˚C, gas 6, and bake for 1 hour. DO NOT REMOVE THE LID DURING THIS TIME.
  28. Remove the lid from the dough (beware of any steam that will be released).
  29. Remove the sourdough, still on the parchment paper, and place it directly on to the oven shelf.
  30. Bake for approx 10 minutes, until your loaf is your own shade of beautiful brown and the base sounds hollow when you tap it.
  31. Remove the loaf from the oven and turn out onto a cooling rack.
  32. Leave to sit for at least 1 hour, before slicing, buttering generously and eating the whole lot before starting again!

Filed Under: bread, Sourdough, Uncategorized Tagged With: Bread, Sourdough, strong flour

BBC Good Food Show Bloggers at the Brompton Cookery School

18th May 2014 by Freycob

As one of the BBC Good Food Show Midland Bloggers, I was invited to join the rest of the team up at the Brompton Cookery School near Shrewsbury for a day of chatting, baking, tastings and inside information on the show.

Upon arrival at this beautiful cookery school in the middle of National Trust land in Shropshire, we were treated to rich coffees and wonderful muffins from resident chef and owner Marcus Bean.

After an introduction from Katy and Flo representing the BBC Good Food Show, we were introduced to Marcus and also to Robert Swift from Richard C Swift Ltd (a fifth generation bread baker with a passion for the dough that would be hard to top).

We were given an overview and lots of inside information on the show that I know you’re going to love when you attend next month!

We were given a tour round Marcus’ gorgeous and very well stocked cottage garden from where we foraged pine cones, herbs, wild garlic and flowers to include in the breads that Rob was going to get us to make when we returned indoors.

While Rob worked his magic with the dough that he’d been up from very early that morning preparing for the shop and the Ludlow Festival, Marcus set to work creating a wonderful wild garlic pastry to encase a fresh quiche using locally produced ingredients that we were later to enjoy for lunch as well as an amazing marmalade ham that he was making; the smells from the kitchen were amazing & made us all very hungry!

The history of Swift’s bakery and Rob’s amazing bread recipes were included in a copy of his book, Born & Bread, which we all received.  I’d thoroughly recommend Rob’s book for anyone interested in making bread themselves at home.

Rob taught us to flavour and shape breads that we brought home with us to enjoy.   I filled mine with a delicious combination of locally produced cheese, red onion and sweet chilli sauce.

While our breads were cooling we were treated to a fabulous lunchtime spread of Marcus’ quiche and ham, Rob’s British tomatoes and a selection of some of the amazing food producers who will be exhibiting at the show from fruit teas, to chutneys, sauces, cheeses, pâté, chocolate and meringues.  For dessert Marcus created the most amazingly light and creamy chocolate mousse with a delicious honeycomb topping created by a new to the UK imported chocolate from Vietnam.

As it was Marcus’ birthday on 9th May, we baked cakes to take with us which were judged by the birthday boy himself.  I’m very proud to say that the carrot and lime cake with a mascarpone & orange zest frosting won!!!! I’m now a very proud baker indeed.

We were given fantastic goodie bags to take home packed with some incredible ingredients, all of whom will be exhibiting at the show next month.

As part of the BBC Good Food Show blogging community, I’m offering my readers a discount of 15% on ticket prices. If you want to grab yourself the discount, then click on the image below to take you to the BBC Good Food Show website and enter the discount code of FYC20 at checkout.

Filed Under: BBC Good Food Show, Blogger, bread, Brompton Cookery School, Event, Marcus Bean, promotion, Robert Swift, Swifts Bakery, Ticket discount

Christmas Turkey Leftovers Loaf

26th December 2013 by Freycob

Just what do you do with all that turkey & stuffing you’ve got leftover from Christmas dinner? Why, make a Leftover Loaf of course!

500g Strong white flour
10g Fresh yeast
350g Warm water
10g Cornish sea salt
50g Colman’s cranberry sauce
200g Cooked turkey, chopped
100g Stuffing, crumbled/cubed
1. Into a large bowl, place your flour & rub in the yeast to break it down into small breadcrumb sized pieces.
2. Weigh the water into your bowl & sprinkle over the salt.
3. Using a dough scraper. Work the water into your flour until fully combined.
4. Tip the dough onto your table and knead (without adding flour to your table) for 10 minutes until smooth.
5. Lightly oil your bowl and return the dough to it.
6. Cover with a cloth and leave it in a warm, draught free place to rest for 30-60 minutes until risen.
7. Preheat your oven to 240C.
8. Lightly flour your table and tip your dough into it, top side down.
9. Using your hands. Press the dough into a rectangle approx. 60x20cm.

10. Spread the cranberry sauce onto your dough. Leaving a 5cm border on the long edges and a 2cm border on the short sides.

11. Sprinkle the turkey and stuffing evenly over the cranberry sauce.

12. Fold one side of the dough over the filling & press to seal the long edges.
13. Fold the other side over and again press to seal the long edges.

14. Fold  the dough round into a circle and seal the short edges together.

15. Lightly oil a bundt tin and place your ring of dough into the tin.

 

16. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm, draught free place until doubled in size.
17. Place the tin in the oven & immediately turn the temperature down to 220C
18. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.
19. Turn onto a cooling rack and leave to cool for 10 minutes before cutting.
29. Can also be enjoyed cold.

 

3.3.3077

Filed Under: bread, Bundt, Colmans, Recipe, Stuffing, turkey

Bread making the Bertinet way

1st December 2013 by Freycob

Bread making tips:
* Always use strong flour.
* Do not add more flour than the recipe tells you to.
* Water should be body temperature. When you put your finger in, it should feel neither hot or cold, but should feel ‘wet’!
* Fresh yeast gives a much better flavour. If you can’t get fresh, then it’s fine to use dried ‘easy blend’ yeast but halve the quantity that the recipe suggests or follow the packet instructions.
* If you don’t have a baker’s stone, then use an upturned baking tray in your oven when you preheat it to ensure your bread starts to cook from the underneath immediately when you put your dough into the oven.
* Do not allow your bread to be in a draught when proving. If necessary, place the bowl in your microwave (switched off) with the door closed or in a closed cupboard.
* Have a spray bottle of fresh water handy beside your oven to mist the oven immediately prior to putting the bread in. This will help the crust.
* Have the oven door open for the shortest time you can when misting & putting your bread dough in to preserve as much heat as possible. 
I was lucky enough to attend a bread making demonstration recently at the Meile Cookery School in Oxfordshire with Richard Bertinet. Having seen his method of working the dough rather than kneading it, I was keen to try it out & I did so the following day with spectacular results. I was so impressed with this method that I can’t ever see me going back to the old way of kneading that I’d always used.  Since that Saturday I’ve now made many loaves using Richard’s, method all with success.
So, bearing that in mind and with a huge thank you to Richard for opening my eyes to a new way of working my bread dough, lets “Show the Dough Who’s Boss!!!” 
Richard’s basic bread recipe:
500g Strong white flour
10g Sea salt
10g Fresh yeast
350g Water (at body temperature).
If you are using a baker’s stone, you should put your oven on now to 210°C with the stone in it to make sure that its fully hot ready for your proven bread to go in.  If you don’t have a baker’s stone, you can leave pre-heating it until you have worked your dough.

1. Weigh your flour into a large bowl.
2. On one side of your bowl, weigh the salt and on the other side weigh the yeast. Ensure you keep them apart.
3. Rub the yeast into the flour until it forms small crumbs.

4. Weigh the water into your bowl.
5. Using a plastic dough scraper, mix the dough together in the bowl ensuring you have all of the flour combined.

6. Tip your dough onto a clean Worktop/table. It will be sticky, but DO NOT FLOUR THE SURFACE OF YOUR TABLE!

7. Using your hands with your fingers outstretched & your thumbs parallel to your fingers, LIFT the dough from the table.
8. FLICK the bottom of the dough away from you..
9. As the bottom of the dough starts to swing back towards you, SLAP it down onto the table.
10. STRETCH the top of the dough up vertically.
11. THROW the top of the dough over the bottom. This will trap air into your dough to help make it light & to work the gluten.
12. Each time you go to lift, insert your fingers a 1/8 turn.
13. Continue this lift, flick, slap, stretch & throw about 10 times, keeping the top surface of the dough on top. DO NOT TURN YOUR DOUGH UPSIDE DOWN.
14. Use your scraper to ‘take your dough for a walk’ along the table & back again. Remember not to turn it upside down but to use the scraper to ease it from underneath & almost turn it round sideways. This helps to make sure that you are working all of the dough and that none of it remains stuck to the table.
15. Continue to work the dough & to ‘walk’ it every 10 cycles until you have a smooth dough that springs back when you press it with your finger.
16. LIGHTLY flour your table then turn your dough upside down so your smooth side is now against the floured table. Fold the outside edges of your dough into the centre & press down gently, then give a little turn & repeat until you have a smooth ball.
17. Sprinkle a light dusting of flour into your bowl and place your dough ‘seam side’ down/smooth side on top, into it. Cover the bowl with cling film & leave to prove & rest for 20-60 mins, depending on the temperature of your room. It needs to have doubled in size.

18. As soon as you have put your dough to prove, put your oven on to preheat to 210C (if you haven’t already because you have a baker’s stone). Placing an upturned baking sheet on the shelf will help the bread start to bake from underneath from the moment you put your bread in to cook.
19. Get yourself a water spray (like a plant spray) & fill it with water. Place this close to your oven ready for when you need to put your bread in.
20. Dust a flat baking sheet (or bakers peel) with flour/semolina & put to one side.
21. When your dough has rested & risen, LIGHTLY flour your table & turn your dough out, (top side down) and flatten it out gently with your hands.
22. Fold the edges in to the centre, as before, until you have a smooth round ball.
23. Turn your dough over and on to your dusted baking sheet. Slash the top with a very sharp knife/blade. This controls where the loaf will ‘burst’ so you can make a pattern if you’re feeling arty!
24. NOW YOU HAVE TO DO THIS NEXT BIT QUICKLY AND WITHOUT BURNING YOURSELF IN THE PROCESS. Open the oven door & spray 12-15 times with water. Quickly slide the dough from your baking sheet onto the upturned baking tray that’s in your oven. Apply another few sprays & close the door. Ideally this should only take a few seconds as you need to preserve the heat in your oven.
25. Bake your bread for 30-35 mins until nicely browned & it sounds hollow when the bottom is tapped.
26. Remove to a cooking rack & allow to cool before slicing & eating. 

Huge thanks go to Richard Bertinet (herein known to me as the Dough Daddy!) for opening my eyes to a new & much better way of working my bread dough and for allowing me to share his method with you.  He has also given me permission to create a small video which I’ll upload to YouTube showing his technique of working the dough.

It also goes to the Miele Cookery School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire for the opportunity to see Richard’s demonstration.

Filed Under: baking, bread, Dough, Kneading, Miele, Recipe, Richard Bertinet, strong flour, yeast

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