Learning curve.
This morning was a good morning for me. I produced something I’m really proud of and have been trying to achieve for the last few weeks. It’s just a loaf or bread, mind, but I tried hard and I succeeded and that feels good.
It’s been 6 weeks since I began my sourdough culture. An entire school summer holiday length. And I have the same weird contradictory feeling that is familiar to anyone reaching the end of their summer holidays. Those 6 weeks stretch back far in my memory like I can’t quite remember life before and yet at the same time seem to have gone by in such a blur that I don’t really believe it’s been that long.
The difference here is that it’s not yet time to return to normal life. In another departure from my erstwhile habits as a school age youth, I have actually spent my time during this ‘holiday’ to try and learn things - most notably baking with sourdough - and any trip to the internet in recent weeks will have revealed that I’m definitely not alone in my chosen outlet. Sourdough baking guides have been springing up all over the shop on seemingly every single food based social media page or blog. This is a good thing. Helpful hints for the beginner baker have been coming thick and fast. So here is a summary of some of the things I’ve learned so far, taking me from my very first loaf, to the one I baked this morning.
While at the time I was pretty smug about the first loaf, having done roughly a million hours of reading and research since then, I can now see a number of key areas where I needed improvement and so here they are in an order which hopefully makes sense. This isn’t intended to be a complete guide, because I’m by no means an expert, but just something helpful if you find yourself in the same bread baking boat as me.
Proving in the oven. Most sourdough recipes will talk about a stage in the process called ‘bulk fermentation’. This is essentially your dough’s first opportunity to rise after all the ingredients have been mixed in. It is normally punctuated by several ‘stretches and folds’ which serve to knead the dough and build the gluten over a period of a few hours. Initially during this section of the process, I would leave my dough in a bowl on the kitchen top covered in a wet towel. As I stretched and folded it it became less sticky and less wet but didn’t really seem to rise at all. Not much evidence of fermentation. To solve this I’ve started putting the bowl in the oven, with just the light on. No fan, no heat. Using an infrared thermometer to check, I’ve found this keeps my dough at roughly 22-24 C, which happens to be the favoured temperature of yeast. A vast improvement to my roughly 17 C kitchen. This means that by the end of the bulk fermentation the dough has noticeably risen and become aerated - a sure sign that the sourdough yeast is having an excellent time. Happy yeast equals tastier bread. A win-win.
Shaping. After bulk fermentation, before the bread is placed in its banneton to rest, it needs to be shaped. Formed into a nice smooth tight ball ready to ferment a second time. A telltale sign in my early loaves that my shaping wasn’t quite up to scratch was that after this second ferment, upon turning my dough out of the banneton, it sagged and spread out like a half full water balloon. Since paying more attention to my shaping, my dough now turns out springy and upright. To shape my dough, I place it on a floured counter smooth side down and fold each of the 4 sides into the middle like an envelope. Flip it over so the smooth side is up then leave it for 30 minutes. Come back and repeat the same process again, this time finishing by rolling the dough up into a tight tube, which better fits my oval banneton. Plump and perky dough awaits.
Rice flour. Use rice flour to dust your loaf and your banneton. That’s all. Before rice flour everything was sticky and nightmarish, now it isn’t. The dough just falls right out without putting up a fight.
Cutting the dough. Before baking the dough needs to be sliced on top. This serves several purposes, making them final loaf look better, but more importantly allowing the bread to rise evenly and at a controlled pace in the oven. Again, this means better bread with an even smattering of air holes inside. To work best, the blade need to be extremely sharp. Kitchen knives don’t really do the trick. I’ve switch to a razor blade and it’s much easier. The blade must be held at a low angle, almost parallel to the table and cut fairly deep, even going over a couple of items if needed. This leaves a good flap of dough, which will open up slowly to create a good even rise in the oven. It will also give you a handsome ‘ear. That flap of crust which stands proud atop your loaf.
That’s all for now, but maybe I’ll check in in another 6 weeks with more things I’m yet to discover...
