Here’s a photo essay of my last batch of sourdough baking. See above for the rationale behind sourdough as opposed to commercial yeasted bread.

Firstly I start with my flour. In this case I added flax seeds and black sesame.

Salt is a very important addition for successful leavening.

Purified water goes in next.

Then the most important ingredient is added – the starter culture.

I commence mixing.

The flour is stirred in with a spoon rather than my hands, in a beating motion – I prefer a moist dough.

I think that’s sufficient.

The dough must be left for many hours to double in size.

Meanwhile I oil my bread tins. There is no oil in my dough.

Then I flour the tins so my bread does not stick.

Finally my dough is spongy and more than doubled.

I divide the dough carefully into two and pop it in the tins. One kilo of flour makes me two medium loaves.

After the required time my dough has again doubled in the tins.

There’s a couple of nice loaves!

And it’s sliced, ready for consumption.
Posted by Kurma on 29/12/08; 7:55:21 AM |