Sourdough workshop

Happy Wednesday everyone! It's a beautifully sunny and warm day here in Southern Ontario, Canada, and I am working from home today because I wanted to bake bread during my workday. It actually works out really well the way that I do it - I get everything started before work start around 7:30am. By 8am, the ingredients are mixed and processing. Then I just work for 55 minutes, then take a 5 minute break to pay attention to my dough. Repeat this process a few times until the dough is ready to pop in the fridge (either overnight ideally, or just even just a few hours to set the dough texture just right before baking). This means that I can either have a not-quite-as-fermented (but still totally delicious) loaf ready for dinner that day, or a super tasty and probiotic-rich loaf the day after. Either way, it's a win.

Today though, I took a chance I normally wouldn't - I didn't bother to actually measure much of anything and instead, I was working just by how the ingredients felt. Watching how the dough reacts and develops without feeling tied to strict measurements was actually a really cool experience - this is something that I am personally not that good at (just "winging it"), but I am trying to learn and improve.

So instead of trying to get the measurements absolutely perfect and obey every rule, I got my hands right into the dough, elbow-deep, and have been continuously adjusting things like the temperature it is resting at (in the oven, light on versus light off, door open versus door closed) and the tightness of the ball that I work it into after every set of stretch and folds. I am trying not to handle the dough too much, as I know that sometimes less is more. But other than that, I am not really sticking to many of the sourdough rules that I thought were etched in stone at all.

Sourdough bread, which is risen with active cultures instead of traditional bread yeast, contains probiotics and healthy fibre. This leads to good gut health!

This is a really weird experience... but I also feel like this might be the turning point in my sourdough baking journey. Will everything get better after this....?

Here's hoping. Regardless, it is a delicious experiment.

....which actually got me thinking of something as I baked today. I would love to share this sourdough experience with people! Why not run a workshop? Share some of my starters ("Bready White" who is 100% rye, or "Angelina Dough-Lee" who is 75% white bread flour/25% rye), teach people the basics, and send them all home with a loaf that is ready to pop in the fridge and then bake the next day?

Nothing better than freshly baked sourdough bread, hot out of the oven!

So now, I put the question out to all of you - would this be something that you are interested in attending? You will get to learn the process hands-on and will take home things like your very own sourdough starter and a recipe card with thet instructions... plus a loaf that is all ready to bake the next day! Please comment below and let me know if you this something that interests you.

Finally, just to get you all a solid start if you have never tried baking sourdough (or even just regular bread) before. Remember, these measurements are a good starting point, but once you get a feel for how your starter reacts and how the dough ought to feel, you may have a completely different end result.

• Flour - 400 grams

• Water - 272 grams (68% hydration)

• Bread yeast - 1 tsp.

• Sourdough starter - 80 grams (20%)

• Sea salt - 8 grams (2%)

Standard bread baking procedures work here, without conforming too strictly to the rules:

1. Measure out the water and add the bread yeast (I like heating it up for 20-25 seconds in the microwave first, as this helps activate the yeast). Stir and let sit for a few minutes

2. Combine the flour and water/yeast. Mix into a rough dough, cover with a damp cloth, let sit for 1 hour

3. Measure out the sourdough starter and pour it over the dough. Using your hands, work it in, massaging the dough as you go. Cover with a damp cloth again, let sit for 30 minutes

4. Do a set of stretch and folds (I like starting off with a set or two of slap and folds to build even more sough strength) every 15 minutes for the next 2 hours, covering in between sets. Let the dough rest until it has doubled in size

5. Stretch the dough out on the work surface and add any inclusions evenly. Fold the left side over one-third of the way, then top that piece with more inclusions. Fold the dough over again so the inclusions are all contained. Roll the dough up tightly and place gently in a floured banneton basket (proofing basket). Cover (I like using a shower cap) and pop this in the fridge for at least a few hours but ideally overnight

6. When you are ready to bake, heat the oven to 260C / 500F. Let preheat for an entire hour to completely saturate the oven with heat

7. When you are ready to put the bread inside the oven, move it from the proofing basket to a baking tray. Add a tray with a few ice cubes to the bottom of the oven to create steam

8. After 10 minutes, score the bread deeply to help create expansion

9. Bake for 10 minutes more, then uncover and bake for 20 minutes longer

10. Let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing (if it is not completely cool, you may end up with a gummy texture to your bread). Enjoy!

For now, I have to go poke my bread dough again... have a delicious day!