It's alive!

My sourdough starter was very big and bubbly last Friday (right on schedule), but I had to wait till the weather cooled down a bit before trying it out in a bread recipe. Using the oven in over-30°C heat was not gonna happen. :p

We started the process on Tuesday, mixing the dough according to the recipe in extra curricular - plain white flour, wholemeal flour, water, and sourdough starter. I also 'fed' the remaining starter with more flour and water and put it back in the fridge for next time.

Yesterday, I floured the risen dough and left it folded in a clean tea towel to rise some more. Then in the evening I baked it, and we scoffed the lot with butter and honey and assorted jams, while the bread was still warm. :)

A lively starter (side-view)

Cook's-eye-view

The dough, well-kneaded by Willie

After 12 hours or so rising time

After flouring, and rising for another 4 hours

Bread!

Much softer inside than it looked, but quite a dense bread.

I imagine the bread would have been rather brick-like if we'd left any till the next day, but it was lovely while still warm and moist inside. Next time, I want to try using 'high grade' or bread flour (if I can find any), and leave it to rise for longer. I figure that will give me a slightly lighter result.

Both the method and the flavour of sourdough bread are different from the yeasty bread I've made in the past (mostly with a no-knead method). I like the long rising times with the sourdough, because it doesn't feel like a big job to make a loaf of bread, just a few small spread-out steps. My kind of baking!