Baking Real Sourdough Bread
by The Artisan Bakery School
All contents copyright © Penny Williams and Dragan Matijevic 2013
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Published by Pendragan Publishing
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This book cannot be copied, reprinted or redistributed for sale by any mechanical, electronic or other means. The design, photographs and text remain the properties of the authors.
The information contained in this text has been verified and documented as carefully as possible. No warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, as to the accuracy of this information or its suitability for a particular purpose, are made. The Artisan Bakery School disclaims any and all said or implied warranties, and does not make any warranty or guarantee, or make any representation whatsoever, said or implied, regarding the use or result of any information or services provided by this document. The authors and The Artisan Bakery School will not assume any liability for any loss or damage of any kind, arising out of or caused by, directly or indirectly, the use of this information.
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Smashwords Edition
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Pendragan Publishing
Old Home Cottage
Sparkwell
Plymouth PL7 5DQ
United Kingdom
First Edition 2013
Table of Contents
Baking Real Sourdough Bread
What Is Real Sourdough Bread?
How to use this book
Sourdough Magic – the Starter and the Leaven
Creating a sourdough starter
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Leaven factors
Using and Maintaining the Starter
Starter →Leaven→Dough→Loaf
Four Basic Sourdough Bread Recipes
Read this first! 4 essential stages of the dough!
What flour to use.
Basic White
Basic Brown
Basic White with Olive Oil
Basic White with Rye Flour
Basic Tools
Managing Your Time - Three Modes of Baking
The Seven Steps
Step 1: Measuring and kneading
Step 2: First rise, folding and Flexi Point 1
Step 3: Scaling, pre-shaping and bench rest
Step 4: Shaping and Flexi Point 2
Step 5: Proving
Step 6: Scoring and decorating
Step 7: Baking
Storing
Festive Bread Recipes
The Recipes
Apricot and Almond Bread with Cardamom
Olive Bread
Cocoa Bliss
Beer Bread with Figs, Ginger & Fennel
Seeded Honey Rye
Spiced Prune and Walnut Bread
Herby Garlic Bread
Essential Tips for Better Baking
Life in a mixing bowl (and how to control it!)
Controlling Taste
Controlling Crumb, Texture and Size
Controlling Crust
Controlling Shape
Essential Techniques
Shaping
Chafing or Tucking
Proving
Scoring
Steaming
Essential Baking Terms
Fermentation
Retardation
Hydration
Bench-rest
FIFO
Maillard Effect.
Adding Seeds to Your Recipes
Seed Varieties
Seed Combinations
Ingredients
Flour
Water
Yeast
Salt
Last Note
Thank you for purchasing this book!
Other Books by The Artisan Bakery School
Building a Wood Fired Oven in a Day
A Million and One Original Bread Recipes
Artisan Bread for Beginners
Perfect Pizza
Baking Low Gluten & Heritage Breads
The Microbakery Blueprint
The Micropizzeria Blueprint
About The Artisan Bakery School
Contact Us
About Dragan
About Penny
Services
Useful Links
What Is Real Sourdough Bread?
Real sourdough bread is a joy to make, to eat and to look at. It is the pride of passionate artisan bakers, and the delight of foodies all over the world. And it is not as hard to make as it looks. It used to be made in everyone’s home, every day. In fact, its history is almost as long as humankind’s.
Real sourdough is dough – flour, water and salt – raised purely or primarily by a natural leaven. The magic ingredients are the wild yeasts, acids and friendly bacteria naturally present in all flour, as well as in the air itself. This book shows you how to make, manage and maintain your own natural, wild yeast leaven.
Because wild yeasts vary according to their environments, a San Francisco sourdough will naturally be different to a Devon sourdough or one made in Croatia, or anywhere else in the world. Yours will be unique to where you live. The taste of real sourdough will never be truly ‘sour’ but it will range in flavour across the spectrum from milky to vinegary, (lactic to acetic acids) depending on how long you leave the leaven and the dough to mature. This book teaches you how to bake sourdough that tastes the way you want it to.
Sourdough bread offers health benefits that factory-produced breads full of additives
