Sourdough Bread

Ingredients:

• Strong white flour.
• Water.
• Salt.

Method:

• In a glass or ceramic (not metal) bowl/container, mix 1 cup of flour and ¾ cup room temperature water and stir until smooth. Cover with cheesecloth.
• 12 hours later, add another cup of flour and ¾ cup water and stir well again.
• 24 hours later, feed the same again.
• By now, you should hopefully be starting to see a layer of brown liquid appearing at the top and some bubbles. This is the sign the starter is alive and well.
• Feed every day by removing a cups worth of the starter and replacing it with the same amount (1 cup flour, ¾ cup water) of feed.
• After 4-5 days, your starter is ready to use to make bread.
• Take 1 ½ cups of starter, add 2 cups of flour and a pinch of salt and mix well, either by hand in a bowl, or use an electric mixer with a dough hook until it no longer sticks to the sides or bottom of the bowl.
• Place a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
• Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, sprinkle lightly with flour and knead gently, removing any large air bubbles. Knead into a small circle, then shape into a tight ball, pinching the seams together underneath. Place on a well-floured board or baking peel, seam-side down. Cover with a kitchen towels and let rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 230°C and upturn the dough onto a lightly oiled baking tray/cooking stone/baking tray with baking paper lightly dusted with flour or cornmeal.
• Score the top of the dough with a sharp knife.
• Put the dough into the bottom of the oven and a small baking tin with cold water or ice cubes next to it to create steam.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a good crust has formed and the loaf sounds hollow when knocked on the base.

The starter can be kept in the fridge to ‘send it to sleep’ if you don’t want to feed it every day, but still needs to be fed every 1-2 weeks. Do not seal the container as it may explode. Take it out of the fridge and leave to come up to room temperature for at least 12 hours before feeding and using again.