You can write endless things about sourdough. The bread is a real magic and the truth is that no one can tell you the exact time for which it is made. The factors that are important are very diverse - from type of flour, water, protein content of the flour, strength of the sourdough to the room temperature. Would you like to try baking bread yourself? Or are you simply curious and want to know how to make sourdough yourself? Then read on - here's everything you need to know!
Flour, water, salt. That's it. Neither more nor less. If you want to make your own sourdough, you should be a little patient because it takes about 5 days to prepare. But don't panic, because the daily time you have to dedicate to it is only a few minutes. Before you start the actual preparation, you should focus on a few important factors.
- You couldFlour from any grain - be it wheat, rye, oats, etc. However, the use of rye flour is recommended as it speeds up the process. Rye flour is teeming with additional nutrients that boost the entire process. But if you don't have rye flour on hand, a good organic whole wheat flour works just as well.
- Tap watercontains chlorine and that could harm your sourdough. But that doesn't mean you can't use it - you'll need to leave it for 8 hours, or preferably overnight, for the chlorine to break down. If all of this is too complicated for you – just use distilled water! And remember – the water must definitely be at room temperature.
- You need 2 moreMason jarswith at least 1.5 liters each, on which the lid fits loosely and without a ring or clamps - the sourdough needs air.
- OneKüchenwaageis indispensable and guarantees accuracy when measuring the amount of flour. Not only is the flour weighed, but also the water, as this is much more accurate than measuring the water with a knife. The rule of thumb is 1 ml = 1 g of water.
- Asofort ablesbares Thermometerwill help you monitor the temperature of the sourdough and ensure that it is in the optimal range to increase fermentation activity.
step by step
Here we go! All you need to make your own sourdough is 100 g of flour and 100 g of water, which should be at a temperature of around 24-26 degrees. First mix everything with a wooden spoon and then continue kneading with your hands until you get a fairly soft ball of dough. Cover your bowl with a slightly damp kitchen towel and let it rest at room temperature until the next day. The moistened kitchen towel is used to avoid the formation of a rough and dark crust on the surface of the dough. If this happens – you can carefully remove them. After 12 hours, the dough needs to be stirred well.
- The next day you will most likely still not see any difference with the appearance of the sourdough from day one. But don't worry - this is completely normal - making your own sourdough takes a long time, but it's worth it in the end! Now it's time for the first feeding of your dough - throw away half of the mixture and add again 100g flour, 100g water and 1 tsp sugar. Stir the dough well and let it rest for another 24 hours.
- After 2 days of fermentation, your dough will look completely different. Bubbles can be seen on the surface, which have become larger and have a slightly pungent odor that is not unpleasant. This is a good sign and tells you that the leaven has started to activate. Now all you have to do is repeat the procedure from day 2 and let the dough rest for another 24 hours.
- On the fourth daythe appearance of your dough may have changed just a bit. There should be a bit of brown liquid on the surface, which you should carefully remove and discard. This liquid is water with some sugars that come from the fermenting grain. Now you have to repeat the procedure from the previous days again.
- Tag 5 –Can you see it? Making your own sourdough wasn't all that complicated and you did it! It should be creamy, with small bubbles on the surface and smell pleasantly sour. From this moment on you can use your dough to bake various breads,Pizzasetc. use.
Store the dough properly
Anyone who has invested a lot of time and care would hate to lose it. There are always situations in which you have to store the sourdough for a longer period of time - for example a longer oneVacation.
If you use the dough every day,There is no need to store it in the fridge - just leave it at room temperature.
Store the sourdough in the refrigeratorif you only use it 2-3 times a week. To refresh the chilled dough, simply add some flour and water, stir well, and let it rest at room temperature for 2-3 hours.
Drying sourdough –The beauty of dried dough is that you can store it for years without having to feed it again and again. Just add flour (no water!) until you reach a solid mass. Form small balls (1-2cm) and let them dry at room temperature for 3-4 days. You should store the completely dried dough in a well-sealable jar.
Refresh sourdough
After we have explained to you in detail how you can make sourdough yourself, we now want to say a few words about its care. Refreshing the dough is pretty easy and takes place in 2 steps.
First refresher –Take about 20 g of sourdough, 40 g of flour and 40 g of water and stir everything well. When feeding the dough for the first time, the ratio is 1:2:2, which makes the process a little slower because the dough is in a smaller proportion to the total amount. This mixture should rest at room temperature for 8 to 15 hours and we therefore recommend that you carry out this first step the day before baking sourdough bread.
Second refresher –In this step, add water and flour to your sourdough in a 1:1:1 ratio. Stir everything well again and let the dough rest for 2-3 hours. Since you have already activated your dough, refreshing it will take significantly less time this time.
The refreshed sourdough is ready to use when it floats. To check this, take a small piece out with a spoon and place it in a glass of water - if it floats, you can start making bread straight away!
Baking bread recipe
Baking sourdough bread is one of the most satisfying things you can do in the kitchen. It istastier, healthierand also cheaper than any other bread you can buy in the supermarket.
Baking bread recipe:
- 270g wholemeal rye flour
- 300ml water (lukewarm)
- pinch of salt
- 60g starter
Mix the sourdough ingredients well and let it rest at room temperature for 12 hours. The sourdough should have almost doubled in size during this time, but if not - it still needs 3-4 hours.
Main dough recipe
- entire sourdough
- 300 g wholemeal rye flour
- 160 ml boiling water
- pinch of salt
- 30 g Honig
- Shake the boiling water into an empty bowl, add salt and sprinkle the flour over it. Carefully pour the sourdough onto the flour. Now mix all the ingredients either by hand or by machine until smooth.
- Shape the dough into rounds and let it rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes. It should hardly go up.
- Sprinkle the work surface heavily with flour, place the dough on it, lift it up with the palm of your hand from the back and press lightly.
- Turn the dough once clockwise or counterclockwise and lift and press again.
- Let the sourdough rest in a floured basket for another 45-60 minutes.
- In the meantime (about 30 minutes before baking) heat a baking tray together with the oven to 250 degrees. The tray should be on the first rack at the very bottom of the oven.
- Transfer the dough from the basket to the hot tray. Immediately reduce the temperature to 230 degrees and bake the bread until deep brown for 60 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack and enjoy the magical smell of bread in the meantime
