L I V I N G | BAKING
Daily bread
Making your own sourdough is satisfying and sustainable. But learn to love the mess Words P E N D L E H A R T E
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hat could be more satisfying than a fresh loaf of crispy, fragrant sourdough? Don’t we all have a fantasy version of ourselves where we are effortlessly removing perfectly cooked, springy loaves from our domestic ovens, feeling capable and connected to the earth, part of a long-standing human tradition? It’s not hard to understand why an interest in baking bread is something that often dawns on people trying to find new meaning in their lives, while focusing on sourdough has countless benefits for gut health. And as a hobby, breadmaking fulfills a variety of needs. It occupies time, it’s creative, there’s lots of scope for variety and improvement. There’s even quite a lot of kit that you can acquire. What’s not to like? Well there is quite a lot not to like actually. Getting the starter right is the very first thing you need to do, and while the instructions are simple – as any enthusiast will tell you repeatedly – this fertile mix of flour and water is needy and messy. Regular top-ups require the scooping out of some of it and throwing it away, and any resulting drips will instantly turn into cement needing to be scraped vigorously off the countertop/floor. The starter will sit unattractively in a kilner jar, bubbling ominously, until the temperature becomes too warm or too cold, when it might give up the ghost. Your best bet is to have several on the
Once you have a thriving starter, breadmaking is a rhythm
go at once, lining the shelves of your dream kitchen not with pretty jars of colourful pulses but with growing (possibly overflowing) bacteria with a mind of its own. But it is all worth it. Once you have a thriving starter (it take about five days), breadmaking is a rhythm that may or may not fit with your existing routine. Sourdough takes longer to rise than yeast-based dough, so it can be left overnight and then proved again – you’ll need to get to know your timings and your kitchen’s warm and cold spots. Anyone obsessed with lovely empty surfaces might not appreciate baskets of dough covered with comedy shower caps carefully placed on windowledges and strategic spots near radiators, but breadmaking is a labour of love. You’ll learn to love the thin dusting of flour that will inevitably cover your kitchen, as well as the new sounds your oven will make as it comes to terms with its highest setting. But the taste, and the gut benefits, make it all worth it.
SOURDOUGH KIT YOU WILL NEED…
NETHERTON FOUNDRY DOME AND CLOCHE This is an oven-within-an-oven that creates an intensely hot space in which your bread can thrive and achieve the perfect crust. netherton-foundry.co.uk
KILNER JARS Lots of these. It’s worth having more than one starter on the go.
PROVING BASKETS TIP: cover them with shower caps; it’s more sustainable than clingfilm.
HOME SPRING 2019
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