You can make the simplest and most basic ferment by mixing some warm water with very good, strong white flour and leaving it in a warm place for 36 hours until it starts to ferment. Anything else you add, over and above flour and water, as long as it is live, like yogurt, or sweet and sugary, like honey or fruit, will feed the wild yeast, boost the

2. Stainless steel mixing bowl – Mine is big enough to comfortably hold at least 4kg of dough. I use it for mixing, resting, and sometimes also for proving the dough.

Fold one side of the flattened dough into the middle (1) and press down quite firmly with the tips of your fingers. Bring the other side over to the middle and again press down firmly (2–3). Now fold the bottom edge into the middle and press down (4), then repeat with the top edge (5). You should be able to see clearly the indents of your

You will need 50g spelt flour 150g strong white flour 20g good honey, preferably organic (if set, mix with a little of the warm water) 150g warm water

Then, with the help of your scraper, turn out your dough onto your (unfloured) surface, ready to work it.

The flours I use come from small, artisan mills such as Shipton Mill in Tetbury, Gloucestershire (which also imports specialist ciabatta and 00 flour from Italy) and Bacheldre Watermill in Wales.

If at any point you feel the ferment is becoming too hard, dense and dormant, and is losing its smell, it is probably too cold for it to be properly active. Simply take it out of the fridge for 4 hours or so to give it time to come back to life, and then put it back into the fridge again.

15. Baking cloths – I have a good stack of thick, natural fibre linen cloths for covering dough while it is resting. You can also use baking cloths for lining baking trays, if you don’t have a baker’s couche (see 20). Don’t use cotton tea towels, as the dough will stick to them. I simply shake or brush my cloths well after each breadmaking session and

Now that the dough is beginning to rise, you want to slow down the fermentation a little, so that the dough can mature gently. To do this, put it in the bottom of the fridge for a further 2 days. If you like your sourdough more sour than sweet (personally, I don’t) you can leave it for 4 to 5 days.