Super Sourdough

an autolyse, this rest is something we’ll get more into later because it makes some bakers very excited. This really increases the stretchability (or extensibility) of your dough, and shortens the time it takes for it to come together. The effect of this rest appears to be rather heightened if you leave the salt out, so that’s what we do. Give it 3

You should be (at least) doubling the weight of your starter every time you feed it. As an example, a starter that weighs 100g should be fed with at least 50g flour and 50g water.

Sourdough starters can be started and maintained with almost any flour. However, because I go on about the possibilities of starting starters with any flour, in my humble experience, stoneground, wholemeal, organic flours are the ones that consistently work well. It doesn’t matter whether it’s rye, spelt or wholemeal, just make sure the whole meal

STRETCH, FOLD AND LAMINATION Increase strength by stretching and folding your dough within its bowl once or twice during the first prove. Alternatively, avoid kneading altogether by carrying this out four or more times during the first prove.

Allow your dough to rest in a covered bowl in a warm place for about 4 hours, or until increased by at least 50% in size. This can be extended, after a couple of hours, by placing the dough in the fridge for up to 1 day.

Your sourdough starter is now ready. As a rule, it should be fed in proportions similar to those aforementioned – the new total weight of starter should be at least double that prior to feeding.

MICHE D’ECOSSE This bread is all about flavour. Sod the huge open bubbles of your ultra-aerated loaves; here we go back to basics and make the best loaf in the world.

What Lacto does do, though, is give sourdough the tang after which it is named, and a good chunk of aroma. It is present in huge numbers – in healthy starters it seems to outnumber your yeast by about 100 to 1. This is a vast amount of intracellular (within the cell) machinery and a huge number of enzymes, all working to break down the starches and

Therefore, the trick is to balance extensibility and elasticity, both of which are required for a decent dough with a soft and open crumb. First, we choose a relatively high-hydration dough: you get the dilute formation of gluten as described above. Then we autolyse: your enzymes start to break down a few of those bonds and the gluten begins to spr