Edd Kimber
Recipes
Edd Kimber June 21, 2019
You’ve created a sourdough starter, it’s rising and falling with regularity every time you feed it, its time to make our first loaf of sourdough bread. The topic of sourdough could and has filled endless books and you could spend a lifetime learning how to make it and then another lifetime learning to master the subject. In this post I want to keep it as simple as possible to get you started but I will try and pepper the post with as much useful information as possible
White, Wholemeal or Something Else Entirely?
When choosing the flour you have a world of possibilities but to keep things a little easier my recipe sticks mainly to white bread flour, although I sneak a little spelt flour into the recipe for reasons I will explain later. You can definitely make sourdough with wholemeal flour, rye or any other manner of flours but if you’re starting out I find white based bread doughs are a little easier to work with and learn from. If you’re also trying to get a more open crumb I find white doughs are more successful, especially as you’re starting out.
Hydration
I prefer making sourdough with 75% hydration, which means for 500g of flour (bread recipes use ‘bakers percentages’ based on the flour, which is written as 100%) you’d use 375ml water. This results in my favourite bread but higher hydration doughs are also harder to handle so if you’re just starting out maybe try making your first loaf with 70% water so 350ml. It seems like a little change but it makes a difference, trust me.
Levain
25g mature starter (my starter is 100% hydration)
50g 50/50 flour blend (my blend of white and wholemeal bread flours used for the starter)
50ml water at 27C
The first stage of making sourdough is making a mixture called a levin. If this seems similar to feeding the sourdough thats because its basically the same. The recipe calls for mature starter and this simply means a starter that has recently risen after being fed. If, like me, you generally store your starter in the fridge we need to bring the starter back to live after being dormant in the fridge. To do this, if I want to bake the loaf on a Sunday morning, I take the starter from the fridge on a Friday morning feed it first thing and then again before I go to bed which means come Saturday morning you’ll have a beautiful active starter ready to bake with.
Sourdough Recipe
20% / 100g levain
90% / 450g white bread flour
10% / 50g white spelt flour
75% / 375ml water at 27C
2% / 10g salt
Schedule
9am - Make the levain
The levain needs to double in size to be ready to bake with and unlike with the starter I like to do this in a slightly warm environment. To account for fluctuations in the temperature of my kitchen I like to use my oven with the light switched on. This creates just enough ambient warmth to create a environment perfect for the levain.
12pm - Autolyse
An hour before the levain is finished rising, when its roughly 3/4 of the way to doubling, we mix together the flour and water (keeping back 25ml for a later use). To do this we don’t need to knead the dough, or develop the gluten, we just want to hydrate the flour. Squeeze the mixture through your fingers, until everything is moistened, scrape any dry bits from the side of the bowl and then cover the bowl and pop it the oven alongside the levain until it finishes doubling.
The purpose of the autolyse is to fully hydrate the flour, to make a dough that is extensible which is to say nice and stretchy. The process will also lead to a dough that is easier to work with, has better flavour and better rise. Why do we want this? Everyone at home when they're making sourdough seems to want bread that looks like it came from a bakery, with a nice open texture. I have found that more extensible doughs tend to make more open breads and an autolyse is one of the ways you can achieve this. Another thing is using spelt flour. Using a little spelt in the dough really helps the texture and extensibility so I always include a little. Only a little though as doughs with a higher proportion of spelt can be stickier and harder to handle plus the texture of the finished bread isn’t as pleasing, at least to my taste.
2pm - Bulk Fermentation
Bulk fermentation is the first rise of the bread and it is where the strength, where the gluten, is mainly going to be developed (the autolyse starts this process off). Unlike a traditional bread dough that is kneaded, sourdough, at least this method, is pretty hands off.
Before we mix everything together, test that the autolyse is ready by doing a float test. The recipe for the levain makes a total of 125g and we only need 100g for the dough itself, the rest is for this stage. Take a teaspoon of the the levain and pop it into a bowl of water. If it floats the mixture is full of gas and is ready to bake with, if it doesn’t we need to leave it a little longer.
Scrape 100g of the levain on top of the autolysed dough and use your fingers to dimple it into the dough. We want to fully distribute the levain so once the dimpling stops working I start folding the dough on itself until it feels more uniform. Leave the dough for 15 minutes before adding the salt.
Sprinkle the salt over the dough and use that last 25ml water to pour on top of the dough to help the salt dissolve. Repeat the dimpling and folding process until the salt is distributed. At this stage the dough will separate a little due to the added water but just keep folding the dough until it becomes uniform. As with the levain I like to keep the dough in the oven for the whole bulk to control the temperature.
The bulk should take a total of 4-5 hours depending on the temperature the dough rests at, and how warm the water you used was, and during that period you only have one job and that is to stretch and fold the dough.
Stretch and folds are this recipes kneading and it thankfully takes less time and less effort. To stretch and fold the dough take a wet hand and scoop under the dough lifting it up, gently stretching until you feel some resistance then fold it over itself. You do this at the north, east, south and west points on the dough. This is one set of stretch and folds. We are going to do a total of four sets, spaced 30 minutes apart. Some people do more folds, some less but for me four is generally what I go with and what gives me results I like. If when you turn out the dough from the proving basket it spreads out a lot doing this stage poorly might be one of the issues. The stretch and folds give the dough its strength so this is an important stage. When you stretch the dough up we want to be gentle, stretching until you just feel the dough resisting. If you stretch beyond this point you are tearing the gluten strands and undoing all your good work.
Once you’ve done the stretch and folds we just wait. What we are looking for is a dough that has risen about 20-50% and shows clear signs of fermentation. This would mean a dough that jiggles when you rock the bowl gently and a dough that has bubbles on the top of the dough, especially around the edges. Once thats achieved we are ready for shaping.
6-7pm - Shaping
Shaping has always been the part of sourdough I have struggled with, it needs to be done with a quick, light hand and lots of confidence. This is not something to question as you do it, you need to be decisive.
Lightly flour the work surface and use a plastic dough scraper to tease the dough gently from the bowl. At this stage the underside of the dough is floured but the top is still sticky. Using lightly floured hands we are going to do a brief preshape. Go underneath the dough and fold it over itself multiple times as you go around the bowl, forming it into a rough circle. Turn the dough over and cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to relax for 20 minutes.
Whilst the dough is relaxing prepare you proving basket or bowl. If you using a traditional cane basket lightly dust with rice flour. Rice flour is your best friend and is wont be absorbed into the dough and helps the dough release easily from the basket. If you don’t have a basket you can use a mixing bowl. Line the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and dust that with flour.
To do the proper shaping lightly dust the top of the dough with flour and turn the dough over, using a metal bench scraper to help release it from the worksurface, turning it onto a non floured part of the work surface.
Think of the dough as a compass. Gently lift and stretch the east point of dough up and over towards the west. Gently lift and stretch the west point of dough up and over towards the east. Gently lift and stretch the north point of dough up and down towards the south. Finally gently lift and stretch the south point of the dough up and over towards the north. Turn the dough over so the seams are on the worksurface.
This rough shape now needs to be tightened up a little. Using both hands, which should remain in contact with the work surface the whole time, cup the dough and drag it towards yourself for a drag of about 15-20cm. The dough should drag along the work surface and you should feel the ball tighten up. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat the dragging, doing this a few times until the dough is taught and round. Be careful at this stage as doing this too many times will tear the dough.
Carefully lift the dough and turn it into a proving basket, the seams should be showing.
7.30pm - Proving
Pop the dough into the fridge and leave overnight
8.30am - Preheat The Oven
We are going to bake the bread in a cast iron pot, something like a large le creuset (I use a pot called a Lodge Cast Iron Combi-Cooker which I love for bread). We want it blisteringly hot so preheat it, as high as it will go, at least 250C, for a full hour.
9.30am - Baking
Take the dough from the fridge and carefully turn it out onto a crumpled piece of parchment. You can either leave the dough as it is or dust with little flour. If you leave it as it is the ridges for the cane basket will be more visible, which is a nice look.
To control how the dough opens up as it bakes we are going to score it with a sharp blade. I use the traditional lame, a razor blade attached to a handle, but you can happily start with a sharp bread knife. The key to this stage is depth and speed. We want a cut that wont disappear as the dough bakes and we want to work with speed so the cut is nice and clean. To start off I simply do a single cut along the length of the dough. I hold the blade at an angle, almost perpendicular to the work surface which encourages the cut to open up into whats called an ear, a bit of the crust that goes really nice and crisp. Trust me when I say it takes a few goes to get a little more confident with this so don’t worry if its not perfect the first time. If we don’t score the bread it will rip and tear randomly so scoring is advised.
Remove the cast iron pot from the oven and remove the lid. Cut away the remaining parchment and carefully transfer the loaf to the pan and place the lid back on. I advise you to do this wearing oven gloves, even if I don’t wear them, as this pan will be blisteringly hot. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Baking the loaf in the pan helps to trap the moisture from the dough, creating steam so the crust is slow to form and the bread can rise to its full potential. Reduce the temperature to 220C and remove the lid and bake for a further 20 minutes or until the crust is nice and dark. If the loaf browns too quickly, in under 10 minutes, you’ll find the crust will soften quicker than desired. If this happens reduce the temperature next time to 200C after removing the lid.
Even though it is very tempting to cut into the bread immediately leave it at least an hour before enjoying otherwise it will be a little gummy.
Edd Kimber June 19, 2019
Sponsored by Doves Farm Organic Flour
Nothing says summer to me more than strawberries, especially when British strawberries come into season and they are as flavoursome as you remember them in your head. I could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner when they’re at their best. When baking with them I don’t really want to mess with them too much, I want to let them shine, but there are a couple things we can do to amp up the flavour and make this strawberry cake something special.
For this recipe I have gone with a sheet cake style, partly because it’s unfussy, partly so the ratio of fruit to cake is higher and partly because I just love a sheet cake. The cake is a very simple affair, a classic cake mixture using Doves Farm Organic Self Raising White Flour (LINKED) and sour cream for the perfect texture, almost like a moist pound cake. The topping is built around strawberries that have been very lightly roasted in a little sugar and lemon juice to intensify their flavour (this a great recipe if your strawberries are not quite as ripe or flavoursome as you’d hope). To marry with the strawberries I sprinkled the cake with flaked almonds for a little extra texture, a few small dollops of jam, to amplify the strawberry flavour and a little white chocolate. Now the chocolate, let’s talk about it for a second. Sure, white chocolate and strawberry is a classic combination, but take a closer look at the cake, the chocolate has browned a little. As the cake bakes the white chocolate actually caramelises a little, giving us hints of that caramelised white chocolate we all love.
Once the cake is baked you can serve it a few different ways; on its own, warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or maybe with some whipped cream and fresh berries. Whichever way you fancy it, once the cake is baked it needs serving with 2-3 days.
Doves Farm organic flours are available at Sainsburys, Tesco, Ocado and from www.dovesfarm.co.uk
Roasted Strawberry Sheet Cake
150g unsalted butter, room temperature
300g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
300g Doves Farm Organic Self Raising White Flour
200ml sour cream
Topping
400g strawberries, hulled and halved
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
4 tbsp flaked almonds
75g white chocolate, cut into chunks
2 tbsp strawberry jam
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) and lightly grease, and line with parchment, a 9x13 cake pan (the same one you use for brownies).
Before you make the cake, prepare the strawberries. Toss together with the sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Pour onto a small rimmed baking tray and roast for about 20 minutes or until the strawberries have softened a little, whilst still holding their shape, and have released some juice.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, with the beater attachment attached, beat the butter and sugar together for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Don’t underestimate this stage as if you under mix this part the cake will be denser than intended. Add the vanilla and salt and mix for about 30 seconds to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until fully combined before adding another. Add the flour in three additions, alternating with the four cream, starting and finishing with the flour. Once you have a smooth cake batter pour it into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer.
Scatter over the berries, reserving the juice, and repeat with the almonds, white chocolate and jam, placing small dollops across the cake. With all the toppings don’t press them into the batter as they’ll sink a little as the cake bakes, if you press them in before the cake goes in the oven they may sink too far.
Bake the cake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until golden brown or a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Edd Kimber June 12, 2019
Sponsored by Doves Farm Organic Flour
I would love to title this with all the different ingredients that make this dish great, but it would make the title far too long. The tomatoes are hiding a delicious layer of zataar and cream cheese and are topped with a sprinkling of salty feta and parsley, all cosily packed inside a buttery pastry made with cornmeal and coated in a generous amount of sesame seeds. There’s definitely a lot going on in terms of flavour but in reality, it’s an incredibly simple dish to make, perfect for those summer days where long bakes and hours in the kitchen isn’t something we always want.
The beauty of a galette, a free form tart, is that the more rustic it looks the better it looks. You can make them savoury as I have done here or make use of all the wonderful summer fruits and make an incredible dessert. The pastry is a mix of Doves Farm Organic Plain White Flour and cornmeal, which gives the dish a delightful texture and it comes together in minutes. This dough is my go-to for galettes and in the summer a galette is exactly the style of baking I prefer, quick and easy and a little bit homey. As you probably know, I have worked with Doves Farm before, they’re a UK organic flour producer and you can almost always find a few different bags of their flours in my cupboards. Plain flour is the obvious choice here, we’re letting the filling do the talking, but if you wanted a little extra boost this would be amazing with a little buckwheat flour subbed in too, Doves Farm also have a brilliant version of this flour too widely available in supermarkets. The filling is more of an assembly job than any real work. The base is spread with a generous layer of cream cheese and then topped with a mix of zataar and olive oil before being covered by a scattering of tomatoes and if you want to take it a step further a final addition of feta is always a good idea. This is the sort of dish I would make with friends coming over for lunch over the summer, making the pastry in the morning and then assembling as they arrive serving this fresh from the oven along with a glass or two or rosé.
Doves Farm organic flours are available at Sainburys, Tesco, Ocado and from www.dovesfarm.co.uk
Summer Tomato Galette
Serves 8-10
Cornmeal Galette Dough
185g Doves Farm Organic Plain White Flour
75g coarse cornmeal
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
2-3 tbsp water
4-5 tbsp sesame seeds
Filling
185g cream cheese
1 tbsp zataar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 large tomatoes, sliced into 5mm thick rounds
400g cherry tomatoes, halved
25g feta cheese
1 tbsp chopped parsley
In a large bowl mix together the plain flour, cornmeal, salt and sugar. Add the butter and toss together to coat in flour. Rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the water a couple tbsp at a time, mixing together with a butter knife. Add enough water so that when you squeeze some of the mixture together it holds as a ball of dough. Tip the mixture out onto the work surface and use your hands to briefly bring together into a uniform dough. Press the pastry into a disc and wrap in clingfilm before refrigerating for at least an hour before using. At this stage the pastry can be refrigerated for up to a week.
About 30 minutes before you assemble the galette prep the tomatoes. Place the sliced tomatoes onto a couple layers of kitchen roll and place a couple more layers on top. Do the same with the halved cherry tomatoes, cut side onto the kitchen roll. Set these aside for 30 minutes so that a little excess moisture is removed from the tomatoes, which will prevent the galette becoming soggy.
Preheat the oven to 190C (170C Fan).
When ready to assemble the galette remove the dough from the fridge and, between two pieces of parchment paper, roll out into a circle roughly 12-13 inches wide. Pell off the top sheet of parchment and sprinkle over the sesame seeds, coating liberally. Use your rolling pin to gently roll the pin over the seeds, slightly pressing them into the pastry so they stick. Place the parchment back onto the pastry and carefully invert the pastry so the sesame seeds are now on the bottom, placing the dough onto a large baking sheet. This stage is likely to result in a few errant sesame seeds scattering onto your kitchen floor and for that I apologise, but trust me when I say it’s worth it. Peel off the top piece of parchment and spread the cream cheese over the centre of the pastry, leaving a border of roughly 2-3 inches. Mix the zataar with the olive oil and spread this mixture over the cream cheese. Layer the tomatoes on top of the cream cheese, first laying the sliced tomatoes then scattering over the cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle the feta, if using, over the tomatoes and finish with a little salt and pepper. Take the excess pastry and fold up, and over, the tomatoes.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes or so before serving. I like to drizzle the tomatoes with a little extra virgin olive oil just before serving.
Edd Kimber May 30, 2019
How to make a Sourdough Starter
I wonder how many times I have failed at baking sourdough bread? I have been obsessed with the idea of making amazing sourdough at home, imagining the smell as the bread bakes, the crisp crackly crusts I would get, the sheer amount of bread with salted butter I would eat, the joy of learning a new skill. But, try as I might, I could never get much further than creating the starter, it was infuriating, maddening even. Sure I made some bread, but it was just bad. Dense, closely textured, boring flavour and, well, just bad. It’s possible that it was down to the fact that I never really dedicated myself to it. Having made bread for years with no real difficulties I had arrogantly assumed I could swan in and instantly make perfect sourdough. Not so. Sourdough needs practice, you almost need to unlearn a lot of what know about bread, you need to develop a feel for it, learn what the dough is telling you, and that takes practice. At the start of this year I decided enough was enough, I need to conquer my baking nemesis, I needed to make sourdough and be happy with the loaves coming out of my oven. I started baking sourdough whenever I had the time, pulling loaves from the oven day after day, quickly filling up my freezer, giving loaves to friends, clients I had meetings with.. Thankfully the practice worked and slowly my loaves got better and better, I started getting crusts that shattered like the best bread, a crumb structure that was more and more open and flavours that were just so much better than any bread made with commercial yeast I’d ever made. I became a true sourdough nerd and I love it, almost nothing is more satisfying to me now then taking off the lid from my cast iron pan as the loaves bake and getting my first glimpse at the bread I’ve taken for a couple days to make.
So now I want to pass on everything I have learned and I want to encourage you to try it. As much as it can seem daunting and there are many things you can do wrong. it is absolutely achievable for the regular home baker, and actually it might be a little easier than you think. First things first, the starter. When I was talking to you all on instagram the one topic that came up again and again was you either couldn’t get the starter to become active, or you killed it. Thankfully I think I can help as these were things I’ve struggled with and things I’ve learnt to overcome, but before we get to that lets make a starter. It should also be noted that there are many ways to create a starter, this is just the way I learnt and my preferred method.
Things You’ll Need
A jar with a lid
A 50/50 blend of organic wholemeal bread flour and white bread flour
Digital thermometer
Digital scale
Small spatula
A name for your starter, every starter needs a name (my theory is if you treat it like a pet there’s no way you’ll accidentally kill it)
Feeding Schedule
Day One - 9am
Take your clean jar and add 50g of your flour blend and to that add 50ml water that is at 26C/78F. Use your spatula to mix together until no pockets of flour remain and everything is hydrated. Place the lid on loosely, you want the starter to be able to breath so don’t fully secure it. Place the starter in a dark spot and leave for 24 hours.
Day Two - 9am
Repeat the process, adding 50g of the flour blend and 50ml water at 26C/78F, mixing together. Set aside once again for 24 hours.
Day 3 - 9am
Pour off all but 25g (about 1 tbsp) of the starter and feed as before with 50g flour and 50g water at 26C/78F
Day 4 - 9am and 9pm
From now on we are going to feed twice a day, once in the morning and once at night (it’s normally the first thing I do when I wake up and the last thing I do before bed). The feedings are the same as day 3, discarding all but 25g of the starter and feeding with 50g flour and 50ml water.
Day 5 - Day 7
Now we just repeat the same process as in day 4, feeding twice a day.
By the end of this process you should have a starter that doubles in size every time it’s fed but lets break down what you’ll likely see as you go through this week. After the first feed normally nothing happens, occasionally you might see a lone bubble or two hanging out on the surface, but there’ll basically be no activity. After the second or third feeding you may see a lot of bubbles, it wont be increasing in size, but it will seem super active. At this stage it’s also possible the starter may smell a little unpleasant, maybe reminiscent of sweaty shoes, or bad body odour. In this early stage as you cultivate the natural yeast and bacterias the starter goes through a few different stages of bacteria growth some of which may be unpleasant, some may also make the starter seem super active and bubble up a lot but don’t think its ready to bake with, it won’t be. Once the start is a little more mature it will settle into something more pleasant. My advice here is don’t worry, persevere, a few more feedings will normally bring everything back to a more pleasing odour. It’s also worth noting that even though there might be a layer of bubbles, if the starter isn’t increasing in size its not ready for baking so keep going for now. After day 4 you should start seeing some more obvious activity, you should be able to see it increasing in volume after every feed. At this stage I like to track how active the starter is by marking where the volume starts, allowing me to see if it doubles with each feed, you can do this with a rubber band or simply marking a piece of tape and sticking it to the jar. Once you’ve done this for a week you should have an active starter. It may take a few more days but it will get there.
Tips to help your starter stay active and healthy
Water
using lukewarm water helps as fermentation needs a slightly warm environment to really get going. I use 26C/78F as in my house this means my starter will rise within about 10 hours (and then start to fall within the next two hours). If your kitchen is cool you could up the temperature a little and if it’s warm you can cool it a little, just keep it consistent.
I had heard, for years, that sourdough starters needed to be made with filtered or bottled water, the chlorine used in tap water affects the bacteria. Im not going to say this isn’t the case everywhere but in London where i’m based the tap water works perfectly, I’ve had no issues. If you live in an area with high chlorine levels leave water in an open jug overnight and this will rid it of the chlorine.
Use Organic Flour
The reason this is important is organic flour is teeming with the bacteria and yeasts we are trying to cultivate. I have made starters with non organic flours, the sort you find in every supermarket and they work fine but I have found it can take a little longer.
Use a Blend Of Flour
I like to use a blend of wholemeal bread flour and white bread flour. The reason for this is two fold. I generally only have one starter on the go at a time and so I need something multi-purpose that can be used in all my sourdough recipes. This blend makes it useful in lots of applications. But why not all white flour? Until recently all my previous starters have been white flour but I took some advice from the Tartine Bread book and use a blend as the wholemeal flour helps create a stronger more active starter, you could also use rye flour to supercharge the starter but I use wholemeal for my first reason, I find it a more useful mix for multiple styles of breads.
FAQ’s
Since I am getting a lot of questions over on instagram as we make our sourdough starter together I thought it would be valuable to add a little FAQ section since a lot of the questions are the same and the answer could be helpful
Q. I’ve just started making a starter why does it smell of vomit
A. In the early stages of making a starter this is perfectly normal, in the first couple days unwanted bacteria might grow in the starter and this can lead to very off seeming aromas. Dont worry just keep feeding as normal and the bacteria cultures will settle into something more pleasant.
Q. I am getting a layer of water on top, in the middle or on the bottom of the jar. What is it, should I pour it off?
A. this is known as ‘hooch’ its basically water with a small layer of water. My general rule is if its clear I stir it back in, if its darker I pour it off. Hooch is a sign your starter is hungry so feed it.
Q. I religiously feed it every 12 hours right?
A. I find 12 hours is my rough window but thats because its roughly how long my starter takes to rise and then start to fall. Until you know the rhythms of your starter the level of the starter falling is the best indicator you have that its hungry and needs a feed. In my kitchen using 26C water I know I can do two daily feeds roughly 12 hours apart to keep the starter healthy, if your kitchen is hotter the starter will run out of food quicker so you might want to use colder water to slow down the fermentation to keep it two feeds a day. If your kitchen is on the cold side you might want to use water a little more like 28/29C to speed the fermentation up. This is also why its important to check the temperature of where you store the starter. I like somewhere around 20-25C.
Q. This seems like a lot of effort and my start already doubled, can’t I bake with it already?
A. No one said sourdough was quick, it needs patience and attention. To get a healthy starter that will last you for years and years, forever if you look after it properly, you need to dedicate a week to it at least. Creating a healthy consistent starter normally takes 7-10 days. After that we can happily bake with it and even store it in the fridge so we don’t have to feed it every day.
Q. Can I use plain flour, self raising flour, spelt flour etc?
A. Generally I prefer to use white bread and wholemeal bread flours but as we make this together in a time that flour is a little scarce you can basically use whatever flour you have except self raising flour, you cannot use anything with a raising agent in, it needs to be just flour.
Q. What should a healthy starter smell like?
A. all starters will be a little different but I say they should smell a little ripe, and just a tad sour. If it smells like nail polish remover or vinegar this is another sign the starter is hungry.
Q. My starter isn’t really rising should I throw it out and start again?
A. This early stage when the starter seems pretty dormant is probably when most home bakers give up and throw in the towel but just be patient with regular feeding the starter will get there, remember its a living thing and we need to look after it and in return the starter will eventually become nice and active and lead to amazing bread. Just keep feeding and it will get there.
Q. Can I switch the flour I am using.
A. The quick answer is yes but the long answer is yes but try not to. Once a starter is healthy changing the flours isn’t a problem but I find if you change the flour early on, especially in the first week you can slow down the starter so try and be consistent as much as you can.
Q. What can I do with the discard
A. Bake with it. You can basically use it in any recipe that calls for bread and liquid. Since the starter is 50% flour and 50% water just weigh the discard (you can store it in a jar in the fridge adding to it daily until your ready to bake with it) and divide that number in half. Use that number for how much liquid and flour you’ll need to take out from your recipe to replace it with starter. One thing to note is I don’t like baking with the starter until it's healthy, sometimes early starts can have unpleasant aromas and I don’t want those in my baking.
What Now
Okay, you have an active starter what now? I know the reality is that you’re not likely to bake with it more than once a week and feeding it every day, twice a day, isn’t the most practical, that’s just too much flour to wasted. Whilst you can bake other things with the discarded starter I still like to reduce the amount of feeding needed and the amount of flour that will become waste. I’ll talk more about baking with discard at a later point but for now I’d just like to point out I don’t like to bake with the discard at this early stage. Whilst you’re still growing the starter the flavour can be a little off and I don’t want those flavours in my baking, so until the starter is a little more established you will need to be happy with a little discard. You can either throw this away or compost it.
Because of this my preferred method to reduce wastage is to keep the starter in the fridge. The chilly environment of the fridge doesn’t kill the starter it just slows it down, way down. We haven’t been able to cryogenically freeze people successfully yet but with starters we’re basically there. By popping the starter in the fridge it doesn’t need daily feeding, in fact it can hang out there for a couple weeks with needing a feed. There are just a couple things to keep in mind. When you put the starter in the fridge you need to do so an hour or two after feeding it, so that is at the start of the rise and fall curve, not the end of it. Secondly, when you bring it out of the fridge you’ll need to give it a couple feeds to revive it ready for baking. Practically this means that, if for example, you’re going to make the loaf on Saturday I would take the starter from the fridge the first thing Friday and give it a feed that morning and then again that night. Come the morning on Saturday the starter will nice and active. The third thing to note about keeping the starter in the fridge is its smell. Sometimes when you leave the starter in the fridge for a long time it will develop a thin layer of liquid on top, this is called hooch, its basically alcohol. This can give the starter an astringent, nail polish like smell. If this is the case, simply pour off this layer and, yes you guessed it, give the starter a few feeds, the smell will return to normal and you’ll have a nice healthy starter again. Trust me, my last sourdough starter was left abandoned in the fridge for a few months and had a lot of alcohol and smelled like it belonged in nail salon. After feeding it for a few days it was back to health.
I really hope you give the starter a go, its so satisfying when you pull that first loaf of bread from the oven and that s satisfaction only grows when you devour the bread. Next week I will be posting a video from a bakery where I went to get help with making the bread and to get answers to a whole bunch of questions you guys sent me about sourdough, so my go-to recipe for sourdough bread, my house loaf, will be posted the week after that. Until then, happy baking.
