The Klipdakhuis Kombuis brings you Philadelphia Sourdough

40% Rye/60% Wheat Sourdough Bread

Makes 2 loaves weighing roughly 750g each.

Here is a recipe for a traditional sourdough bread whose biggest ingredients are time and patience. You will be rewarded by a dark, crusty loaf with an interior that has a wonderful mix of airy bounce, satisfying chewiness and  creamy, tangy  yeasty flavours.

And the thing about a bread made only with quality flour, natural yeasts, a bit of salt, water, time and heat is that living processes transform these simple substances into a nutritious, easy-to-digest wholefood.

Some special equipment and preparation is required for this bread; nothing fancy or expensive but essential to getting a perfect finished product.

A baking stone- the bread stands on this in the oven. Options available are natural terra cotta, granite or quartzite. It is important that no chemical sealants or lead-based glazes have been used on your stone.

• A water bottle with fine sprayer.
  
• A piece of stiff cardboard to assist in sliding the loaves into the oven.

INGREDIENTS

Flour- Use the best flour you can get, this is the very substance of the bread. I use Eureka Stone Ground rye and white bread flour. You can get their flour at the outlets shown here: http://www.eurekamills.co.za/distributors.php

Water- the other main ingredient. Not much you can do if you don't have a fresh mountain stream nearby but running it through a basic commercial filter should at least get the chlorine taint out of it.

Salt- Not just to release the flavour of the finished loaf but to condition the mix and provide some mineral nutrients for the fermentation. The dead white iodated crystals that take up shelf space in the supermarkets work but you are making something special here. Get a real unprocessed sea salt like Khoisan or similar.

Starter:

The engine that will drive your bread's rising process. Get this done a couple of days before you start baking.

50g rye flour

80ml tepid water

1/2 teaspoon yeast

1/2 teaspoon sugar or honey

 

Put the ingredients in a jam jar, mix together thoroughly. You should end up with a fairly runny paste rather than a dough. Cover with a loose fitting lid or piece of cloth and leave in a warm area. After about 12 hours the starter should be showing signs of life: slow bubbles followed by rising. Depending on temperature and time left to stand it can get a life of its own and climb out over the edges of the jar.

I took this one step further where I wanted to exclude commercial yeast from the process and create a wild yeast starter. Not only would I save a whole Rand spent on a yeast sachet but have the satisfaction that I had harnessed free-floating little organisms to work expertly on my bread.

 

If you want to go all primitive and do it this way then leave the yeast out of the above mix and catch some wild yeast.

 Leave the cover off the jar and let it stand for half a day or add a slice of unpeeled onion or potato to the mix. Be patient and don't get despondent; this is a slow and  suspense-filled waiting game.

After a 4 to 7 days the yeasts should be making their presence known. Congratulate yourself and take out the piece of potato or onion.  

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Sourdough:

Here we make the sourdough by adding the starter to the freshly made rye dough and allowing it to get this larger dough mass seething and rising.

480g rye flour

400ml water

80ml of starter as above

In some recipes for Italian breads this dough is known as the "biga". Add ingredients to a deep mixing bowl and mix using a mixer with dough hook or by hand with a strong spoon/paddle. Be thorough, making sure any dry flour at the base of the mix isn't left out.

Mix for about 6 to 10 minutes. The finished mix will be an almost runny batter rather than a solid, stretchy dough ball because of the lower gluten content of the rye.

Leave the mix in the bowl, cover and leave for 8 to 12 hours. The dough should rise to at least one and a half times its original height. Time taken is temperature dependent. At 25C and above it will bubble up steadily under its own steam. In winter you can help it along by placing it near the fire or other heat source or putting it in an oven that can be manipulated to maintain a low temperature. Don't let the mix get higher than about 35C- it could stress or kill the yeasts and dry out the dough.

 

The biga or sourdough

Important: make more starter using the residue of the old one and the same quantities of flour and water.

*****

The Final Dough

The addition of the wheat flour, last mix, and final maturation is carried out in this final stage before baking.

720g white bread flour

 400ml water

2 rounded teaspoonfuls of salt

80-100ml of starter

Add all of the ingredients to the sourdough and mix. If using a mixing machine us a dough hook. Most models of mixer will be operating at maximum capacity with this recipe. I'm not fond of electric kitchen appliances anyway and a better result is obtained by throwing the dough onto a well-floured surface once the ingredients have had an initial mixing by machine or spoon in the bowl. You will also get an arm and shoulder workout and develop a righteous appetite for the end product.

So, mixing or kneading, the idea is to get a stretchy, springy and creamy dough. Use flour generously on the counter and hands and fold, stretch and pummel your way through the metamorphosis.

Shape the dough into a round, sprinkle with flour, cover and leave to rise for 45min to 1hr. It should be about one and a half times its starting size.

Place the baking stone in the oven on a rack set in the middle of the oven. Turn on your oven to 240C. If you have a thermofan or other mechanism to speed and hotten up the heating process then turn it on. This bread needs to be cooked hot.

Divide the dough into two, Knock it down. In other words, knead and fold so that more air is introduced but the outer surface is never broken thereby conserving the gas bubbles within the mass.

Shape each dough portion. I make them round but you could do longer ovals. Place them on the cardboard (heavily floured) in such a way that you will easily be able to slide each of them from cardboard onto the baking stone inside the oven.  Cover.

Whilst the oven gets close to 240C let the dough rise again for 30 - 45min in a warm place.

Ready to go into the oven

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Getting it Baked:

This is the easy bit. Quickly sprinkle some flour onto the baking stone. Now slide the dough onto the stone, one at a time. It gets easier with practice. Spray about 20 squirts of misted water over the bread.

Total baking time is about 40 to 50min; it will depend on your mix and oven.

 The bread will rise and darken quite dramatically in the first 15 to 20 min. Open the door and let off another 20 squirts over the bread and all over the oven.

After 20 - 25 min of baking the temperature can be decreased to 220C. Turn the loaves if they are cooking unevenly or spots are darkening excessively. The crust becomes a very dark brown almost rusty chocolate in hue. After 40 min the loaves will be nearing readiness: tap the crust and it should ring hard and hollowish. The base will do the same to a lesser extent.  Rather opt for a longer bake the first time around. A thicker, harder crust is the worst result of this bread being a bit overdone and you can cut the baking time to suit your precise taste next time.

A handsome pair of Philadelphia Sourdoughs

Remove the loaves and allow to cool for at least one-and-a-half hours.

I usually freeze one of the loaves once it has been left to cool for 6 hours and after wrapping in up well in a plastic bag. Or be generous and give the second loaf to a friend or relative. Only a deserving one, mind you.

Final word: look after your starter. Use the residue from your last mix, add flour and water, cover loosely and put in the fridge. You can safely leave it in cool hibernation for a couple of weeks. It may form a skin on its surface which can easily be lifted off. Take it out of the fridge the day before baking and re-energise with a bit of flour and water.

 Sunday, 17 May 2009