Whether it’s traditional bread or Polish white borscht, sourdough constitutes a mandatory ingredient. Preparing it at home requires a bit of patience, but it’s not complicated at all. While I’m at it, I’ll also bake a very simple sourdough bread that prevents wasting flour.
Sourdough Recipe
- flour
- water
I skipped the ingredient amounts because they depend on how long it takes to make the sourdough.
Before mixing the first dough it’s necessary to pick the desired ingredient mass that will be measured each day. I go with 50 grams of flour and water. It could just as well be 20 grams or 100 grams. It’s just worth remembering that the more the ingredients weigh, the more dough will be discarded (or creatively used) each day.
On the first day, mix equal amounts (by weight) of flour and water. Place in a jar and leave to ferment for 24 hours in room temperature. The lid should remain loose so that air can reach the dough. It’s also possible to cover the jar with a piece of cloth.
On the second day, discard half of the sourdough. Mix a new portion of flour and water and combine with the remainder of yesterday’s sourdough starter. Leave to ferment for another 24 hours.
On the third day, discard 2/3 of the sourdough and combine the remainder with a new portion of flour and water. Leave for another 24 hours. Repeat this step every day until the sourdough starts smelling sour. Then place the jar in the fridge and refeed the sourdough once or twice a week with fresh flour and water.
It takes up to two weeks to grow a fresh starter. Sometimes mould starts to form on the dough. In such a situation, it’s the safest to throw it away and start over.
Discard Sourdough Bread Recipe
- all of the discarded sourdough
- strong white wheat flour – 50% of the discard sourdough’s mass
- water – 25% of the discard sourdough’s mass
- salt- 2% of the discard sourdough’s mass
- (optionally) neutral oil – 2% of the discard sourdough’s mass
- (optionally) sunflower seeds or other seeds – for mixing with the dough and/or sprinkling the loaf
- a spoonful of fresh sourdough starter
Since the mass of the discard sourdough depends on the time needed to grow a starter, I base the proportions on percentages of the discard sourdough’s mass.
In the evening, combine all the ingredients except the seeds in a bowl. Don’t knead, just mix until the flour is wet. Cover and let it ferment overnight.
On the next morning, mix seeds into the dough. Transfer the dough to a baking tin lined with parchment paper (or multiple, depending on the tin size and the amount of dough). I usually assume that around 500 grams (1.1 lbs.) of discard sourdough gives one loaf. A kilo (2.2 lbs.) makes two.
Even out the dough’s surface. Sprinkle with seeds if desired, pressing the seeds into the dough – this will prevent them from falling off.
Baking temperature is 230°C (446°F). Bake for 45 minutes or until nicely browned.
After baking, leave on a wire rack to cool down completely before consumption.
Additional Information
The starter can be made with pretty much any flour – wheat, rye or even some less common cereals such as spelt, emmer or einkorn. Wholemeal flour is usually the best, especially if it’s freshly milled. It should contain plenty of yeasts and bacteria, enough to speed up the process of making a sourdough. White flour will take more time.
The sourdough often exhibits activity as early as on day two by creating gas bubbles. This doesn’t mean it’s ready. The readiness can be assessed only based on the sourdough’s aroma.
The discarded sourdough should always be kept in the fridge (or even freezer), in a closed container. Otherwise it’s very prone to grow mouldy.
When the sourdough starter is ready, it requires refeeding regularly using fresh flour and water in a 1:1 ratio by weight. The microbes contained in it need fresh food to survive, otherwise they will show signs of starvation. These include the appearance of a dark greyish liquid on the surface (it’s known as hooch) and an aroma resembling nail polish remover. These signs do not indicate that the starter is dead, but it must be fed as soon as possible. After a few regular feedings, the starvation signs will go away.
Video Transcription
The taste of sourdough bread is one of my pleasant childhood memories. Nowadays, baker’s yeast is in common use, but the taste of traditional bread can be easily achieved at home. All that’s needed is to grow one’s own sourdough starter. Today I’ll show how to do that and I’ll also bake a simple bread using the discarded portion of the dough. Detailed instructions and the recipe can be found on the blog.
The ingredients for starting a sourdough culture are simple: flour and water. The type of flour that works best is wholemeal, with all the endosperm, germ and bran. Research shows that it’s microbiologically richer than white flour.
The flour goes in first. I’m using rye, but wheat will work as well. Then it’s the water. It weighs as much as the flour, which means the sourdough will have a hydration of 100%. I mix the ingredients with my finger. The idea is to let microbes from my hand into the dough. Over time, they’ll multiply and enrich the culture.
I mix the ingredients until they’re combined. As soon as there’s no more dry flour, I finish mixing. Then, I transfer the dough to a jar. It’s clean, but not sterile. I put the lid on, but don’t tighten it. It’s better if microbes from the air can access the dough. I let the jar sit on the counter for 24 hours.
The microbe culture in the sourdough develops over time and generally ends up including a few species of yeasts and a double digit number of bacterial strains, lactic and acetic acid ones. The sources of microbes include the flour itself, the air, the surfaces that the sourdough touches, as well as the baker’s hands.
On the next day, I feed the sourdough starter. There isn’t any visible activity yet, and the dough just smells of flour. The feeding starts with removing half of yesterday’s sourdough. Normally this would be discarded, but I’ll use it in a few days’ time. I place the discarded dough in a separate jar.
In a bowl, I place a new portion of flour. I also add water again, in the same ratio. And finally, I top it with the remaining part of yesterday’s sourdough. I mix everything with my finger. Once the ingredients are combined, I return the dough to its jar. It’ll sit on the counter for another 24 hours. The discard jar goes into the fridge. There isn’t a lot of microbial activity there and I don’t want mould to appear.
On the next day I already see a lot of activity in my starter. There’s a lot of air bubbles and that might look like the end of my job. In reality, there’s still a few days to go. The telltale sign of a ripe sourdough is its sour aroma, which is still missing.
I repeat the feeding procedure. I transfer two thirds of my sourdough §to the discard jar. Then I mix fresh flour and water with the remainder. As usual, I’m using my finger to introduce more bacteria into the mix. Then I put the sourdough back into its jar and give it another 24 hours. I repeat this for as long as it takes to obtain a sour smelling dough. Since my kitchen and my hands are already full of yeasts and bacteria, it takes only five days in my case, but anything up to two weeks is normal.
The exact properties of the produced sourdough starter are somewhat unpredictable. Depending on the microbial composition, it can have different leavening capabilities. Some starters will produce very well risen loaves, others will not. Fermentation speeds vary from one sourdough to another. The appearance and aroma may also differ, as different microbes produce various chemical substances. While it’s pretty much always sour smelling, sometimes, the sourdough is more yeasty, sometimes it’s more lemony, fruity or vinegary.
My sourdough starter is ready, so it’s time to test it out and bake a loaf of bread with it. I’ll be using the discard dough, as well as some strong white wheat flour, water, salt and a neutral oil. It’s important to get the proportions right, so a kitchen scale is very useful. The necessary information is available in the blog post.
I start by transferring some of my starter to a bowl. The remainder needs to be fed using the usual method: by mixing in some flour and water in a 1:1 ratio, by weight of course. I don’t really need to use my finger anymore since there’s already enough microbes. I mix the starter well, then I close the jar and place it in the fridge. From now on, this is where I’m going to store it. The cold will slow the fermentation down, so the sourdough will require only 1-2 feedings per week, as opposed to feeding it daily.
I open the discard jar and transfer the dough to my bowl. I’ve already weighed it, so I know how much flour and water there is. In my case there was enough for one large loaf, but if growing the sourdough culture takes more than a week, it’s probably better to bake two loaves. I give the dough a rough initial mix.
Then I add the remaining ingredients. Salt goes in. Then, the oil. And finally, white flour. Using a dough scraper, I mix all the ingredients until they are well combined and there’s no more dry flour left.
I cover the bowl to prevent the dough from drying. Then I let it ferment overnight on the counter. The microbes from the sourdough will quickly multiply and start munching on the newly added flour.
Next morning, the dough is ready for the next step. It’s grown considerably and it’s very spongy. This means my sourdough is active.
I add an extra ingredient: some sunflower seeds. Then I mix the dough to degas it and evenly distribute the seeds.
Once the dough is mixed, it’s time to transfer it into a baking tin lined with parchment paper. I will not be shaping the loaf in any way. I pick up pieces of the dough and move them to the tin. Then, I wet the dough scraper and smooth out the dough’s surface. The dough is sticky, so I end up switching to using my fingers instead.
On top, I add a layer of sunflower seeds. They will get toasted in the oven, which I think works great with rye sourdough bread. I press the seeds into the dough using the dough scraper. Once I’m done, I let the loaf prove until it grows by at least 50%. In my case, it almost doubled in size after proving for over 3 hours. It has a notable sour aroma. I spritz it with some water and place the tin in a preheated oven. It’ll remain there for 45 minutes or until nicely browned.
It’s time to take the loaf out of the oven. I place it on a wire rack where it’ll cool off without getting soggy. I can easily turn it over without all the sunflower seeds falling off. This is why I pressed them into the dough.
Tasting time! The crumb is relatively tight, but that’s normal in this type of bread. There’s a light sour note on the nose. Very pleasant. The crust is crunchy, the sunflower seeds are coming through in the taste. It’s fairly complex due to the earthiness of the rye mixed with the wheat. The sourness is also there. Super simple to make, but really delicious.