SOUR DOUGH BREAD...for LIFE!

This blog may change your life (for the better). (click on pics to enlarge)

Hopefully it will become part of your every day life. It's about making sour dough bread. You're sour dough bread. Your statement of independence from the corporate white bread loaf, which has no nutritional value, and which goes stale the next day.

No it's not all too hard. Trust me. In another incarnation I made over half a million loaves of sour dough bread, and I was said to be the best maker of sour dough bread in Australia. I was self taught, it was a matter of trial and error to begin with, but eventually became a labor of love.

The main ingredient of sour dough bread is patience -your patience.
But it's not hard. Follow these simple guidelines and you will make the best orrganic sourdough bread you ever had. Do this for yourself, your loved ones, and the planet.

First of all forget all the myths about bread being fattening. What is fattening is the gunk you put on it like butter or margarine. Wholemeal bread is actually slimming.

This is the Slow-Foods ( a term I coined in the seventies) method of making organic sour dough bread.
First we need to make your sour dough starter. You only need to do this once, and it will last the rest of our life, and whoever you pass it onto.

You need to visit your friendly local health food store, and purchase a kilo of organic wholemeal flour. (If your local health food store is run by a money grabbing creep, and I've met some of these, then go to your local money grabbing supermarket).

In a glassware or earthen ware bowl, measure out about 4 cups of warm water. Add enough flour to this to make a soupy mixture, approx 5 or 6 dessert spoons. Add one teaspoon of honey. These figures are not critical, just a rough guide. Mix well to form a light mixture, not a thick one.
Now your patience comes into play. In warm weather, it will take between 1 to 2 days to work.
In cooler weather it will take longer, up to five days. Just get on with your life, and keep an eye on it. It will happen eventually, trust me.

What happens? It will froth up. You will have fresh sour dough starter.
Once it has frothed up, you're ready to make your first no-fail loaf of organic sour dough bread. You don't have to use it straight away. It will be ok for another day, in fact it become a bit stronger, giving your bread the unique sour dough flavour. Beyond one day it's best to pop it into the fridge


OK so now it gets exciting. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl, leaving almost a cup behind (to make your next mix). Add flour slowly until it becomes stiff enough to lift out and knead. This is your meditation, pouring out your life energy into the bread. Add flour or water to make it a nice consistency. For this small loaf 4 or 5 minutes should be enough to release the gluten and help it rise.


Pop it into a well oiled baking tin, and put it into a pre-warmed oven, or other warm place. It's important that the oven is only warm, not hot.


Once more, the waiting game - just get on with your life. Go to work, or go to bed. It will rise in its own time. About 2-4 hours. It will seem as if nothing is happening, but it will rise, trust me. If the oven cools down, it will help to warm it up slightly. If you leave it, it will just take longer. How to tell when it's ready to bake? When it stops rising, if you're watching, otherwise you can bake it when you get up or come home from work. Or your kids can bake it when they get home. For this small loaf, about 20 mins at moderate heat. If not sure, take it out of tin and tap bottom. Hollow sound means it's done. Unlike horrible yeasted bread, this can be eaten warm. If there happens to be any left (unusual) keep it in the fridge. It will last a month easily, and sour dough bread improves with age.



It won't be perfect, sorry. But the next one will, and every other one after that. You need to persist, experiment (a little bit dryer, a bit stiffer), and be confident. Soon it will be second nature, easy, and very rewarding. The flavour is to die for, especially when you add caraway seeds. Another trick, if you like poppy seeds, is to sprinkle them on the bottom of tin, same with herbs. This way they don't go to waste.

OK, so about the sour dough that you saved. You need to add water and flour to make it about the same consistency as the original mix. Then leave it. In about 2-3 hours it will froth up. Pop it into the fridge. In your own time. You've fed it, and it is content and happy, ready to make your next loaves of bread.

So what would I put on my bread? Tahini, every time. It goes with honey, avocado, cheese or neat. This bread is not just bread, it will become an enjoyable and important part of your diet. Tahini (made from crushed sesame seeds) is a very nutritious food, and goes excellently with sour dough bread.
While you're at your friendly local health food store, pick up a jar of organic tahini, and maybe some organic hommous. Chick peas and bread make a complete protein.


This is the basics of making sour dough bread, a bread that has been the staff of life for thousands of years.

The measurements I gave are for a small loaf (see pic). To make bigger loaves, make a bit more culture, and just add more flour and water - as much as you want. The biggest load I ever made was about 70 loaves. But that was with a dough breaker. It was great bread, but you can't beat home made, hand made bread.
Nothing beats the smell of baking bread. Adding some rye flour to the mix smells even better, but reckon that it won't rise as much as pure wheat.

Once you've got this off pat, (and you will, trust me), try adding organic dried fruit, seeds or nuts. (soak fruit beforehand). Also you can add soaked millet, buckwheat, barley, rice, or almost any grain, to increase its nutritional content. This is your bread. No-one will make it the same. Your social life will improve - everyone wants to invite that cool dude who will bring some home made bread for their dips.


Your local friendly health food store will love you. Maybe where you live there is only a supermarket, well they have all this stuff too.
This is real food you're creating. Notice how satisfying even one slice is. And it makes you soo regular.

Now your life has changed, hasn't it.

Enjoy!