Basic White Sourdough Bread

For the Overnight Sponge

500g strong white breadflour
600ml lukewarm water
1 ladleful of strong, active starter (fed 24 hours previous) aka The Boris, leave some in the jar for regeneration

For the Bread

600ml strong white bread flour
25g sea salt
A good glug of oil (I use English rapeseed)
A tbsp of honey/golden syrup/maple syrup or similar (can be omitted)
Extra flour, semolina or similar for dusting

Equipment needed

Large bowl
Stand mixer with dough hook if not feeling strong
Pizza Stone or baking tray
Somewhere to let dough prove (flour dusted wooden board, brotform basket etc)
Optional water mister/plant sprayer

The night before....

Make the 'sponge'.

Mix the sponge ingredients together until smooth, this should make thick batter.  Cover the bowl overnight for The Boris to do his work.

Think about tomorrow, there's going to be some waiting around for proving (see below).  Would it worth getting a English Muffin Dough on the go as well?  These freeze really well so you wouldn't be totally breaded out.

Baking Day

Get the tunes sorted - today started with Bob Marley for early chill, followed by a playlist on Spotify called Psychadelic Jazzy Jamzzz by Conrad Phillips, which did what it said on the tin

Sponge should have risen up and be super bubbly.

OK, large bowl required.  Mine is a childrens mixing bowl, from where I do not know.

Assemble all the remaining ingredients (aprt from the oil, if using) along with the Sponge from the night before and mix together to form a soft dough - it will be pretty sticky at this stage.

Oil a work surface to knead, or sling in the K-Mix.  10 mins minimum by hand, no more than 5 mins in the mixer.  I add the oil at this stage to work through the dough.

The resulting dough should be springy to touch and should form a tight round.  Form a round by continuously tucking the dough underneath itself to leave the top 'stretched'.

Place in the clean bowl (I lubricate the bowl a little first), cover and leave for 1 hour.

After the hour, knock seven shades of crap out of the dough (really go at it to bash all the air out), and reform back into a round.  Leave for another hour.

Do the bashing again.

Leave for an hour.

(this is the bit that makes doing anything else in the day difficult)

As such, if you think you need to leave for longer than an hour, put the whole bowl in the fridge to slow down the process, you might get away with up to 2 hours between bashings that way.

After 1 hour

After 3 repetitions (or 2, or 4, whatever works), knock down and shape into 2 or three loaves by making tight rounds again.  



After 2 Hours

In this bake I needed buns for a breakfast picnic so made 9 buns and the remainder into a small loaf.  You could shape any way you like.

After 3 Hours

Leave, covered with a plastic bag/damp teatowel or whatever, until doubled in size.  This could take 2 hours but go by size not time.

When nearly ready (do not leave them to long or the yeast will burn out), get the oven HOT, highest setting type hot.  If using pizza stone(s), chuck these in to get hot.  Also put a baking tray in the bottom of the oven.  We tip boiling water into this to make steam which makes a bubbly crust.

When up to temperature, boil the kettle, take the stones out and transfer the bread to them (or to baking tray), be careful, don't knock all the lovely air out.  A hot stone will kick start the process.

Slash the tops with a serrated knife or razor blade.  I cut mine like dragon scales with scissors.

If you have a plant sprayer, mist water over the bread (again for a god crust).  With this batch I sprinkled some real ale over the bread for good colouring and taste.  (I used Battledown Brewery Sunbeam left over from a party keg).

Throw it all in the oven, and quickly chuck boiling water in the tray for good steam action, a good half litre to litre will be fine, most of it will evaporate.

Leave at the mega hot temperature for 10 mins, then reduce to 190 degrees unless looking very brown already, then make it a little cooler (170 deg?).  Bake for a further 40 to 50 mins.

They should be browned and crusty, and sound hollow if you tap the bottoms of the loaves.