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Photo by: Marla Burger TEN TIPS FOR BETTER SOURDOUGH BREAD Karl Tessendorf Images courtesy of Fermented .co.za Sourdough is hard. There I said it, so if you’re reading this with the hopes of becoming the next Fools and Fans Golden Loaf champion, then slow your bread roll. What you will get out of this list though is a good idea of how to set yourself up for success. 1. SUCCESS STARTS WITH YOUR STARTER Your starter, mother, seed, or cutely named Clint Yeastwood culture is your secret to success. Sourdough is an unpredictable process of wild yeast and bacteria so you need to train your starter to be as predictable as possible. That means feeding it twice a day, at the same time every day, and knowing how long it will take to rise, peak and fall. Keep notes, learn its patterns and make it predictable. 2. GOOD PET FOOD A starter will eat almost any flour but if you want serious activity and strength then opt for rye. I switched to rye early on after struggling with lacklustre activity. My starter got its name, ‘Lazy Bastard’ from those early days. These days he’s just called Lazy and in hindsight, he wasn’t a bastard at all. I was just an idiot who didn’t understand him. 3. PEAK POWER You want to use your starter when it is at the peak of its rise. This is when fermentation activity is strongest and you need that power to leaven your bread. Most of the time, you will use your starter the night before you intend to bake so make sure you’ve got your feeding schedule worked out. 3. USE THE RIGHT FLOUR Flour is one of the most abused food products. The mass-produced stuff is stripped of nutrients and bleached to ensure shelf life before vitamins and nutrients are added back into it. Rather opt for stone-ground bread flour with as little processing as possible from the smaller millers like Eureka or Gideon Milling. It may cost a little more but most ingredients worth using do. 4. A SOLID BREADUCATION The best way to learn is by making the same loaf at least 10 or even 20 times. Pick a recipe from a reliable source and make it until it’s second nature. I am a fan of the Tartine Country Bread method because it was my first sourdough book, but there are plenty of good recipes online. Don’t worry about understanding all the fancy terminology. Just focus on the basics and bake. 5. LOWER HYDRATION Modern sourdough has a high water content. For comparison, a standard yeasted loaf is around 60% hydration but sourdough tends to start at 75% and go up 100%. Wet dough produces an open, custardy crumb but it’s like wrangling a soggy slug if you don’t know what you are doing. Rather start at 70% hydration and work your way up as your technique improves. 6. READ THE DOUGH People often ask me for a recipe and I usually direct them to the Tartine one. This is partly because I don’t have one written down but mostly because over the years, I have branched off and developed my own techniques. It’s never as easy as just following a recipe because there are so many factors like temperature and flour types at play. Use the recipe as a guide but learn to read the dough and trust your gut. If you think it needs more time to ferment then give it more. 7. GET A THERMOMETER Temperature control is vital for consistently good results. Invest in a digital thermometer and aim for a final dough temperature of between 25 and 28°C. The easiest way to do this is to whizz your water in the microwave until it hits 30°C. The temperature will drop slightly as you mix in the flour. A consistent dough temperature means your bulk fermentation will be a predictable three to four hours. 8. DON’T RUSH THE PROCESS Yes, sourdough feels like a massive time sink but it’s worth it. There are ways you can speed up the process but the results are never as good. Give your dough time to fully ferment and find ways to fit it into your schedule. If you choose to bake on the same day as you mix then accept that it’s going to be a full day process. Alternatively, do your second proof in the fridge overnight and bake the next morning. The process is flexible – bend it to fit your lifestyle. 9. SHAPING TECHNIQUES Shaping is probably the most daunting part of the process. Find a method online that you like and stick to it for a while. The only way to get better is to rinse and repeat. Good shaping determines oven spring and how your loaf is going to bake. If you want that pretty Instagram snap then you need to put in the time and develop some new muscle memory. 10. POT BAKING Without a doubt, the best method for baking at home is with a Dutch oven or flat-bottom potjie. The closed pot creates the self-steaming environment that is crucial for creating that signature sourdough crackly crust. Just be careful when handling the pot because a cast- iron burn at max oven temperature is no fun. EAT MORE, LEARN MORE Karl is starting a sourdough subscription service. This will be launching soon in the West Coast area of Cape Town servicing Tableview, Milnerton, Blouberg and Melkbos. If you’re interested in fresh sourdough send an email to KarlsBakehouse@gmail. com for more information. Once lockdown is over, Karl will be running sourdough classes from his home in Tableview. He wasn’t a bastard at all. I was just an idiot who didn’t understand him ontapmag.co.za | Winter 2020 | 39