Sourdough Bread

Making a sourdough has been on my to-do list for a while and I finally got round to it this week.
I like the idea of fermented bread as its a healthier option on the gut.
We don't buy any bread ever, so I make bread at least five days a week. It has become more of a treat then a staple food. Once its out of the oven, a loaf or batch of buns doesn't survive long in our house.
We stopped packing sandwiches or bread in lunches for playschool and school. They never eat them, so it just was a waste although it was hard to move away from societies norms. We pack slices of meat and cheese instead which they do enjoy and the occasional bun or ginger bread man as a treat along with fruit, yogurt, raisins and a drink.

Back to the bread! I made a sourdough starter last week. This involves put flour, water and our own honey into a bowl, mixing till its like a thick pancake mix. I then cover it with a breathable clean cloth and put it up over the warm range.

I stirred it everyday and by day 4-5 it started to small like stale beer and the whey or liquid separated on the surface. I know it was ready!

I stirred it again and took out half of the starter into a large baking bowl. I put more water and flour to refill or feed the original starter and put it into the fridge. It will need to be feed every two weeks or so to stay active with yeast.

I then added more water and flour into the baking bowl and left it overnight in the warm kitchen. This dough is known as the starter sponge.

By the morning, as you can see it was very elastic and spongy. To this and added butter, olive oil, honey, sea salt and strong flour.

I don't measure ingredient when making bread as I make so much of it that I can tell by the dough if it needs more of something. So I have no idea how much of anything I used.

 Here I divided the dough into two loaves and left them till the evening (5-6hrs) to rise. They did most of the rising in the oven.
Very tasty!

I spent much of today bottling four gallons of ginger beer. It was so good that I was drinking it while I bottled. Very promising as these things usually improve with age.

Oh, the best news of all this week is that the blue cards are back for the department for the cow and calf. So next week I will be booking him in to the butcher for the following Monday.