This gorgeous loaf still requires patience, but instead of a challenging ‘starter’ it uses kefir. Both contain similar bacteria and yeasts for leavening and flavour development – it’s just that one requires a week’s prep before you can start to bake, the other you simply pick up in the chiller aisle
Sarah, a former food editor, has now been writing and styling recipes for over 10 years. Born in NZ, to Irish-English immigrants, and married to a Polish-Scot, her food is as diverse as her family, with a particular passion for baking mash-ups.
See more of Sarah Cook’s recipes
Sarah Cook
Sarah, a former food editor, has now been writing and styling recipes for over 10 years. Born in NZ, to Irish-English immigrants, and married to a Polish-Scot, her food is as diverse as her family, with a particular passion for baking mash-ups.
See more of Sarah Cook’s recipes
Subscribe to Sainsbury’s magazine
Rate this recipe
Print
Ingredients
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra to dust
1 tsp fast action dried yeast
1 ½ tsp fine sea salt
200ml plain kefir
Share:
Step by step
Get ahead
Keeps for up to 2 days ,or can be frozen (well-wrapped). A defrosted whole loaf should be crisped up for 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 160°C, fan 140°C, gas 3.
Start this the day before you want to eat your bread, beginning in the morning. Weigh 100g of the flour into a medium-sized bowl and stir in the yeast. Add 150ml of lukewarm water. Mix to a batter, then cover and leave for 5 hours at room temperature.
After 5 hours, weigh the remaining flour into your largest mixing bowl, or a stand mixer, and stir in the salt. Mix your kefir with 50ml water, then add this and your now bubbly batter to the flour. Mix to a smooth dough, progressing from a wooden spoon to hands. The dough will be very, very soft. Tip onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is very smooth, elastic and springy. It will be fairly sticky but try to add as little extra flour as possible. If you’re using a stand mixer instead, the knead time will be halved.
Return the dough to the cleaned bowl, cover and leave to rise overnight at room temperature.
In the morning, scrape out the bubbly batter-like dough onto a floured work surface. Leave to settle and spread for a few minutes, then gently stretch and fold the dough over itself, from each of the 4 sides. Repeat this a few times to help strengthen the dough’s structure; it will start to hold its shape. If it is really too sticky to handle you can incorporate a little more flour as you go, but only if it’s absolutely necessary; this dough is meant to be quite slack and stretchy, not like a normal bread dough. When it will hold a rough ball shape, flip onto a sheet of floured baking paper so that the ‘folds’ are underneath, and finish shaping into a neat ball. Leave to rise, uncovered, for 45-60 minutes – don’t worry if it spreads out a bit.
Meanwhile, place a deep, lidded casserole dish into the oven and heat to 240°C, fan 220°C, gas 9 (the casserole acts like a miniature steam oven, trapping moisture from the bread and giving a better rise).
When the casserole is really hot, carefully lift in the loaf on its paper. Score a pattern in the top, cover with the hot lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid (use oven gloves) and bake for 15 minutes more until the crust is dark golden. Cool on a wire rack before slicing and eating.
Tip
This gorgeous loaf still requires patience, but instead of a challenging ‘starter’ it uses kefir. Both contain similar bacteria and yeasts for leavening and flavour development – it’s just that one requires a week’s prep before you can start to bake, the other you simply pick up in the chiller aisle.
There is no single best ratio, but I've found a ratio of 1:5:5 fed twice daily at 12-hour intervals to produce a sourdough starter that's strong and healthy. This ratio corresponds to 20% ripe starter carryover, 100% water, and 100% flour (a mix of whole grain rye and white flour) at each feeding.
Essentially making a sourdough starter is not an overly difficult process, but it does require a commitment of time and patience, as well as some dedicated equipment. Sometimes there are factors which mean making sourdough starter could be difficult. Perhaps you're working long hours or go out of town regularly.
The oldest sourdough starter that is still being used daily belongs to a bakery in Chorzów, Poland, dating back to 1842. The statistic states that the bakery in Chorzów, Poland, has the distinction of possessing the oldest sourdough starter that is still actively used on a daily basis.
It strikes a perfect balance of softness and structure, making it an ideal choice for various recipes. Due to its wide availability and affordability, all-purpose flour is often my top recommendation for creating and maintaining a sourdough starter.
Adding whole grain flour: Whole grain flour, particularly whole rye flour (pumpernickel), tends to promote more sour flavor in bread for two reasons. First, the type of sugars available in whole rye (or whole wheat) flour encourage a shift toward acetic acid production.
Creating a healthy and vibrant sourdough starter can take anywhere from 7 to 14 days depending on several factors. The temperature of your kitchen is the most important factor to consider. Starters thrive in a warm environment, ideally around 75°F (24°C).
As long as your sourdough starter has been well looked after then it can last for years. In fact, it can last indefinitely with proper care! By proper care, I mean how it is maintained, the environment it is stored in, and how often it is used.
On the other hand, making your own sourdough starter can be a rewarding experience and allow for more control over the fermentation process. Homemade starters are also unique to the environment in which they are made, which can contribute to the flavor and character of the resulting bread.
For most bakers, the answer is a clear no. Maurizio Leo, author of the award-winning bread cookbook The Perfect Loaf, still uses the first starter he ever made; it's now 12 years old. And while he's sentimental about that starter, he says its age doesn't really impact his bread.
The mother-dough is made of a mixture of flour and water fermented with bacteria such as Lactobacillus, Acetobacter and Saccharomyces. To create it and keep it alive requires patience and constant care. The mother-dough is a great leavening agent and makes a highly digestible bread.
This thin liquid (called “hooch”) is merely alcohol and water generated by your starter's wild yeast as it feeds. Hooch is a visible cry for help: Your starter is hungry. Once you get it back on a regular regimen of care, it should recover just fine.
*If making sourdough is new for you, do not be discouraged if you starter takes longer to get active than mine – stick with it, it will happen! *Tap water is usually fine, if you are not sure, use boiled and cooled water, you can use it at room temperature or cool; do not use distilled water.
Distilled water might seem like a good option, but it's actually not great for your little yeasty friends. They need some minerals and stuff that are usually filtered out in the distillation process. So go for filtered or bottled water instead, and your starter will be living its best life in no time.
What Flour Should I Be Feeding My Sourdough Starter With? You can feed your sourdough starter with any flour you like, as long as it provides the starches the wild yeast in your sourdough starter need to convert to Co2 to rise your dough. The flour you choose should always be unbleached flour.
It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.
A 100% hydration sourdough starter is a culture which is kept and fed with water and flour at equal weights. Like for instance 5 oz water to 5 oz flour. A 166% hydration starter is fed with equal volume of flour and water, which most typically is one cup of water (8.3 oz) and one cup of flour (5 oz).
Place your starter in a warm spot to rise and activate, ideally 75-80 F. Temperature is really important. The warmer it is, the faster it will rise. Your starter is active when it shows the following signs: doubles in size, small and large bubbles appear, has a spongey or fluffy texture and exhibits a pleasant aroma.
While the age of your starter won't make your bread any better — turns out, only good sourdough practices can do that — it's a link in the long legacy of sourdough, one of the oldest forms of baking that exists. Whether your starter is a week or a decade old, you can become part of that lineage as well.
Introduction: My name is Lidia Grady, I am a thankful, fine, glamorous, lucky, lively, pleasant, shiny person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.