Sourdough update

Sourdough tweak & update...Think I have the sourdough sussed out now.. **does happy dance** Since changing to our home made probiotic yoghurt (A post & clip will be coming in the near future on this) as the liquid used to feed the starter the loaves have all risen great & have a nice light in texture..

  They are nowhere as dense as the first loaves we were making & I am slightly relieved by that.. The "brick loaves" (right) may have tasted great but were just not up to scratch I think..
The starter is a few months old now & has matured nicely if the resulting loaves of late are anything to go by.. I was keeping a milk starter as well as a yoghurt starter but, as we always have fresh made yoghurt on hand, I have cut it back to just the yoghurt one.. I will be experimenting with splitting the starter & feeding one with just water again to see if will give us the same results.. I have a feeling the great results may have more to do with the age of the starter rather than the use of yoghurt as the liquid... I suppose the yoghurt could of helped it along so it will be interesting to see how it goes without it..
So, here is the recipe we have been using for the past few weeks now...


RB's Tried & Tasty Sour Dough Loaves..
I make 2 different loaves at a time so will give you the run down for both..
The sponge...
(a separate lot is made up for each loaf)
300g of flour per loaf (we use ATTA)
250ml of warm water
1/3 cup of Sourdough starter

• On the morning we plan to make the sponge the starter is removed from the fridge & fed ½ cup each of yoghurt & ATTA flour & then mixed well.. (if I was to make just 1 loaf I would only feed with 1/3 cup of each)
• Later that evening, once the starter has doubled in size, mix the starter, flour & water well with a wooden/plastic spoon... You can also get your hands in there if you feel the need but if you persevere with the spoon it should come together fine..
• Place the mix into a bowl & cover with cling film or seal into a Tupperware style container..
• Leave to rest overnight & grow into a "sponge"..

Left is the sponge just after mixing...

Right is 12 hours later, about doubled in size & with lots of gas bubbles...



Plain Sourdough loaf...
300g of flour
2tsp bread improver
2Tbsp milk powder
2Tbsp Rapadura sugar
50ml warm water
Sponge (made the night before)

• Mix all ingredients together & knead for 10-15 min.. I have only done the manual knead once as I have been cheating & using the kneading function on the Thermomix.. You could use any appliance that has a kneading function if you wish, even a bread maker if you have one at your disposal..
• Form into a ball, place back into bowl/container & cover..
• Leave in a warm/sunny spot until it doubles in size which is about 3-4 hours here on a 20°C winter day..
• Punch dough down & manually knead for 5-10 min... I do it for 5 & always get a nice rise out of the dough now..
• Form into log, place into bread tin & cover with a greased piece of cling film..
• Leave to rise until loaf has risen to desired size (about 3-4 hours in a warm spot here)
• Pre heat oven to 220°c with some water in a pan on the bottom shelf (helps to form a great crust)
• Add loaf tin once the oven is to temperature & bake for 10min..
• Reduce heat to 180°C & bake for a further 10min or until the loaf is golden on top (some ovens may need more time) 
• Remove from loaf tin & cool on a rack..
• Let loaf cool before slicing.. (yeah right!!!)

5 Seed Sourdough loaf...
Pretty much the same as the plain loaf except for a bit more water & the seeds...
300g of flour
2tsp bread improver
2Tbsp milk powder
2Tbsp Rapadura sugar
75ml warm water
2Tbsp sesame seed
2Tbsp chia seed
2Tbsp pumpkin seed
2Tbsp sunflower seed
2Tbsp poppy seed
Sponge (made the night before)

• Mix all ingredients together & knead for 10-15 min..
• Form into a ball, place back into bowl/container & cover..
• Leave in a warm/sunny spot until it doubles in size, about 3-4 hours here..
• Punch dough down & manually knead for 5-10 min..
• Form into log, place into bread tin & cover with a greased piece of cling film..
• Leave to rise until loaf has risen to desired size (about 3-4 hours in a warm spot)
• Pre heat oven to 220°c with some water in a pan on the bottom shelf..
• Add loaf tin to oven once the oven is to temperature & bake for 10min..
• Bake for a further 10 min at 180°C or until the loaf is golden on top.. (some ovens may need more time) 
• Remove from loaf from tin & cool on a rack..
• Let loaf cool before slicing..

I normally like to add 4Tbsp each of the sunflower, pumpkin & chia seeds but the spawn & B have rebelled & made me cut down the quantities..
A few tips...
As sourdough loaves take longer to rise than breads baked with commercial mass produced yeasts, we have used the oven to help prove some of the loaves on the colder days or when time has gotten away from us.. All we do is turn the oven onto its lowest setting then, turn it off once it reaches temperature (about 30-50°C) then let the dough/loaves prove in there.. I like to turn the oven on & repeat the above once an hour until the dough/loaf is ready for the next stage..
Another pointer is that if for whatever reason the loaves do not get turned out of the tins once baked the bottoms & sides tend to sweat a bit making them soft.. When this has happened we return the loaf to a hot oven (180°C) on its side for a few minutes or until the base & sides crusts up nicely..

I would still like to pop up a recipe for the sprouted loaves but that recipe is still a bit of work in progress & we only just received a sizable amount of wheat berries to play with for that, SO, I suppose that's about it for now on the sourdough front... I am still reading "The complete idiots guide to fermenting foods" by Wardeh Harmon so I am sure I will revisit sourdough baking here in the future...
Hope that helps someone out there..
Have a great one all... ...