Sourdough - What the Cool Kids Do

Sourdough bread is the Hot New Thing of 2020. When the COVID-19 pandemic began in earnest (and was termed a pandemic), sometime around the end of February, it seemed like everyone everywhere went into lockdown overnight. Of course, it was much more patchy and gradual than that - every country and even some regions within countries has handled COVID differently, placing people under greater or fewer restrictions for more or less amounts of time. 

In Sydney, it was mid-March when the university I work at sent all units online and most employees to work from home. Around the same time, businesses across the country (and across Canada and Britain, too) were shuttering, hopefully temporarily. Everyone who *could* work from home was asked to, and only 'essential services' were to remain open - essential workers only on transit, etc. Suddenly, loads of people had loads of time on their hands, and most people were spending every day inside their houses. 

The first thing that happened was that every grocery store ran out of toilet paper. The second thing that happened is that every grocery store ran out of flour. Home baking was The Thing To Do, and sourdough bread was The Thing To Bake. 

I started baking sourdough in January, when my friend gave me a bit of her own yeast mother. She's had the mother since 2015, which is awesome. It's a real Sydney salty air levain. We called ours, the daughter and our first inanimate but very much alive pet, Agatha. 

It was super hot in January, so slightly hilarious timing to start baking sourdough, but on days that were only in the high 20's, I'd fire up the oven. I was deeply annoyed when everywhere ran out of flour. What were people doing hoarding flour (and other food! Flour was not the only thing to fly off the shelves at unreasonable rates. Interesting to see the true selfish nature of our society). I don't remember when flour finally became a normal feature of shelves again - for a while, I was buying flour at the spice market down the street from us, which always had a tinge of the distinctive health-food store smell to it. Anyway, I had started my sourdough attempts before it became cool, and it was irritating that suddenly everyone had decided to become a home baker. I wonder how many people have kept it up?

If you're interested in taking on the challenge, here are the deets:

SOURDOUGH BREAD

FEEDING YOUR STARTER

• If your sourdough starter (mother, levain) has been dormant in the fridge, take it out (morning) and bring it to room temperature before feeding
• The starter will last for ages in the fridge, as long as you feed it every two months or so between uses
• To feed your starter (night-time, two days before you want to bake bread), remove half and replace with equal parts unbleached white flour and warm water(about 100g of flour and 120mL of water)
• Cover with a few layers of cheesecloth secured with an elastic band, and leave the jar lid open

• When your starter is happy and fed, and ready to bake with, it should look like this:

 

NOTES AND TIPS

• Your starter should look bubbly and have a faintly sour (but nice) smell when it’s active and ready to use 
• To test if it’s ready to bake with, take a small spoonful and drop into a glass of warm water. If it floats, it’s ready to go. If it sinks, you should wait longer, or feed it again (especially if it has been dormant) 
• The starter likes a warm-ish spot in the kitchen, and it’s good to leave air circulating if it’s at room temperature; in the fridge, it should be in an airtight container

BAKING BREAD 

Tips: For timing purposes, I like to mix the dough before bed, to rise overnight, and bake around noon the next day. Use a kitchen scale, if possible. Let the baked bread cool for at least 1 hour before slicing it. 

For 1 round (or 2 round) loaves:

1. Disperse 200g of starter in 300mL (or 600mL) of warm water

   

   You can cut leaves or hearts - 
   or just straight lines
   
   

2. Add 500g (or 1kg) of flour and 10g (or 20g) of salt, and mix with your hands until there’s no dry flour.
3. Shape the dough into a ball, but don’t knead it, and cover with a damp tea towel to rise overnight (or 8-10 hours)
4.  In the morning, scoop out the dough onto a floured surface and gently knead, by taking one edge of the dough and stretching it upwards, then folding under the rest of the ball. Do this on all sides, stretching and folding (if making 2 loaves, divide the dough first).
5. Form the dough into rounds on your worktop, coat with flour and cover with a tea towel. Let it rest again for 3-4 hours.
6. Preheat your oven to 260C (500F) and warm a cast-iron Dutch oven with lid
7. Slice the top of your (first) dough ball along the top with a serrated knife, and drop into the heated Dutch oven (you can put cornmeal on the bottom of the pot if you like)
8. Place the pot in the oven, reduce to 230C (450F) and bake with the lid on for 25 minutes
9.  Remove the lid and bake for another 20-25 minutes

After a couple of imperfect attempts, I've now got it down pat. I've got a loaf in the oven as I type this, even. I find that the ambient temperature makes a big difference to how the dough feels (sometimes stiffer, sometimes stickier) but that the bread is reliably good as long as I let it rise enough.

Similarly, Agatha prefers warmer temps, but if she's looking sluggish (the yeast isn't not floating as much as normal when added to the water) I can help the rising process along by adding a teaspoon of sugar with the flour and salt, and it doesn't impact the taste.

You may need to experiment with what works for your starter and your oven. If you can get a starter from a friend, I recommend it. You can also grow your own (though it may take a few attempts) and there are loads of instructions if you Google!