First bread of the season
The sourdough starter I wrote about last time has come to life, and I baked my first bread of the season with it this weekend.
To make the dough, I followed a simple recipe I discovered during my earlier bread-baking adventures this year. I had to make a few adjustments to it, though.
Because of the type of flour I use—both for the starter and the dough—I needed to increase the water ratio slightly. Without this adjustment, the dough would have been too dry and tough. Though, I still need to either refine the ratio or pay more attention to the proofing. This loaf turned out to be bit tighter and not as tender as I would like it to be.
I want to have freshly baked bread for breakfast, but I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night to prepare the dough. So, I start the process the evening before, letting the dough ferment overnight in the fridge. First thing in the morning, before I start making breakfast, I preheat the oven and a cast iron casserole. Then, I take the dough straight from the fridge, place it into the preheated casserole, and bake it for 30 minutes. By the time everyone is awake, I have a warm, nice, loaf ready for breakfast.
Since I don’t bake bread every day, I store my starter in the fridge. To activate it, I take it out and feed it the morning before I plan to bake. This gives it 10–12 hours in a warm place to come out of hibernation.
So far, I’ve only tried simple bread recipes using just water, flour, and salt. In future loaves, I’d like to experiment with adding herbs or seeds to enrich the flavour.