Making your own sourdough bread with Sandor Katz

It’s little secret we reckon sourdough bread is king of the breads.

And while we love enjoying it with poached eggs and avo at our favourite café, making your own at home with a sourdough starter culture is actually pretty easy.

In this edited excerpt from Wild Fermentation, fermentation guru Sandor Katz shows you just how simple sourdough really is (we can already smell the baking loaf!).

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How to start a sourdough starter.

A sourdough starter requires regular feeding and attention, not unlike a small pet. You need about one week and four cups of flour.

I generally use rye flour because it gets bubbly faster, and I love rye bread.

The Process:

• Combine ¼ cup of the flour and ¼ cup dechlorinated room temperature water.
• Stir frequently. A couple of times a day. This speeds up the process and protects the developing ferment.
• Cover with a cloth that will keep out the flies but allow for free circulation of air.
• Ferment. A warm place (21–27ºC or 70–80ºF) is ideal. After a few days you will notice tiny bubbles.
• Feed the starter. Once bubbling is evident, the starter is alive and needs to be fed. In a larger bowl, mix ¾ cup of flour and ¾ cup water, add to the bubbly starter and stir vigorously. The starter will get bubbly, then recede.
• Feed it again. When the bubbling slows, mix together 3 cups flour and water, add to the bubbly starter and stir again. Once this gets bubbly, your starter is ready to use.
• Always save starter. I keep a little in a jar and replenish when I need it using the method above.
• Ongoing maintenance. If you use the starter sporadically, refrigerate it a day after feeding to slow microbial metabolism.
• Pamper it. If you neglect your sourdough it may become acidic and putrid. But it can generally be revived. Stir daily, keep it warm, feed it every day or two. Sourdoughs are very resilient.

Baking bread

Like any ferment, bread requires the harnessing and gentle cultivation of microbial communities. This, in the form of a vigourous starter, is the most important single ingredient for baking sourdough bread.

Natural leavening can take a while, especially in a cool environment. Be patient. Fermentation takes time. Enjoy the smells of the sourdough and the anticipation of how good the bread will taste.

Ready to make your own rye sourdough?

Try Sandor’s simple All-Rye Bread.

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