Let’s watch how Amalia makes sourdough bread from scratch! What a great family activity and so delicious. See the recipe below!
Why take the time to make Sourdough Bread?
If you were to leave flour, water, and salt in a bowl and bake it, would you have very much bread or flavour? No, it would be very flat, and gases would not be able to pass through.
When we bake, we use things like yeast and baking soda to help let the bread rise and grow bigger quickly so that air and gas can pass through, making it more flavourful and larger.
When people used to bake bread thousands of years ago, they didn’t use yeast, they let the bread get larger on its own. How did they do this? By letting the good bacteria in it create carbon dioxide; the bacteria is creating gases and making bubbles in the dough. Gluten is the bubble that is stretching and getting larger. Gluten is important because without it, the gases that the bacteria make would just go into the air. The air in it deepens the flavour and it’s all thanks to gluten!
When you hear the word bacteria, you may think that’s what makes people sick! And yes, you’re right, but there is also good bacteria for your body, bacteria in our digestive system that helps you break down food so your body can use it for energy. There is a lot of good bacteria in some of our favourite foods like cheese, yoghurt, chocolate, bread, and so many other things. Bacteria helps break down the food in a way that our body can use it for energy, and it also makes it tastier!
By making bread this way, it is much better for your body. Yeast isn’t terrible for you, but by making the bread quickly with yeast, we aren’t giving the bread enough time to make the nutrients that are great for our bodies. Many people have trouble with gluten, and perhaps the reason for this is how bread making has changed to the quick and easy way over time, rather than the traditional way.
This is the recipe I learned, and hopefully you enjoy the process too! It’s an experiment, so keep testing it out!
Starter:
75 g wheat flour, 75 gram water in jar
Sit for 24 hours in warm spot
Remove top layer and fry or discard
Feed with 75 grams of all purpose flour and 75 grams of water
Rest for another 24 hours
Remove top layer and fry or discard
Feed with 75 grams of all purpose flour and 75 grams of water
Feed once more at night
Do this for 5 days in total!
Bread
600 grams of all purpose flour, 400 g hard red (or wheat) flour
770 grams of water
Mix
Float test to see if starter is ready or if it is very active, bubbly, and doubled in size
Pour 150 grams of starter
20 grams of salt
Fold together with hands
Shake pull and fold
Repeat every 30 mins for 2 hours
Bulk and rise – let it sit for 4-6 hours or overnight in fridge
Shaping
Split into two, flour board
Fold into a small bun let sit for 30 mins
Flour Proofing (Banneton) baskets well and let sit in baskets.
Flatten out dough on board a bit
Fold it in on itself
Don’t squish or deflate
Let proof for 2-3 hours or overnight in fridge
Oven
Poke test, if it bounces back with a small dent
Preheat dutch oven at 500 F for 30 mins
Remove dough onto parchment paper
Dust off excess flour
Place in dutch oven with parchment
Bake with lid on for 20 mins at 500 F
Take lid off, let crust darken at 450 F, put baking sheet under pot. Go by the colour, not time
Turn oven off, let it sit in for 20 mins, crack oven open a bit
Let cool for 1 hour
Serve and enjoy!
