Staff of LIfe

I find making bread to be very grounding. The meditative nature of kneading it and feeling it change under my hands is soothing and calming, and the sense of satisfaction when I pull a beautiful loaf from the oven is immense. I especially love working with sourdough. It's kind of magical. 

Years ago, I made my own starter. With nothing more than flour and water, I was able to create the basis for magnificent loaves. It was very forgiving, and though a lengthy process, it filled the house with that delicious aroma, and gave me decent loaves of bread for less that $1 each.

That original starter got neglected and eventually died, but I recently obtained another one from Johanna at Green Gourmet Giraffe, and it has reignited my passion for sourdough.

It isn't a spur-of-the-moment thing, though. I grabbed my start from the fridge late last night, and set up a sponge - all the starter from my jar, mixed with 2 cups of cooled boiled water and 2 cups of plain flour. I used cooled boiled water because it ensures the chlorine has dissipated and the starter won't be killed off. I cover it with a clean tea towel, and leave it overnight. In the morning, it has increased in bulk and is ready to be turned into magnificent bread.

I gathered together the rest of my ingredients - salt, honey, rice bran oil, and flour. Today I decided to make caraway rye bread, so I got some dark rye flour, the seeds and some spelt flour.

Into my big stoneware bowl, I placed 4 cups of the sponge, making sure to leave some in the jug to put aside for the next loaves. I added to that 1 tablespoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of honey and 4 tablespoons of rice bran oil. Any oil can be used, and I often use olive oil for a bit more depth of flavour in a plain loaf. And that's where the careful measuring ends. The rest is done by feel. 

After combining the above, I added a handful of seeds, and about a cup each of wholemeal spelt flour and dark rye flour. I added in white baker's flour until it became too stiff to mix, and turned it out onto a well-floured bench. Then came my favourite part of the process - the kneading! It starts out as a fairly gluggy, sticky mess, but by dint of adding in extra flour and gently kneading, it becomes a pliable, soft dough. Once I get to that stage, I start the timer, and knead it for 10 minutes. In that time, it becomes quite elastic, and springs back when you stick your finger into it. Then it goes back into the big bowl to rise. I spray it with oil, to stop it from drying out, and cover it with a clean tea towel.

I left it rise for approximately 6 hours. It's a friendly thing, that is happy to be left on its own for some time! After punching it down, I shaped it. I usually do 2 loaves - either baguettes or rectangular loaves. Today I made one loaf and 5 knot rolls.

Once again, I covered it with a clean tea towel, and left it. This time for an hour, before placing it in a cold oven, set to about 180 degrees Celsius  and let it cook until it sounded hollow when tapped. The loaf cracked on the top, and it turns out I used cumin seeds rather than caraway seeds, but it tastes good!