Mastering the art of sourdough

Sourdough no-knead bread batter, the sourdough starter, and the organic rye flour used to feed the starter.

 A loaf of no-knead sourdough bread made with wholemeal and white flours, and sunflower seeds. Delicious topped with homemade apricot jam and a sharp cheddar cheese.

Who needs a garden for growing things when a kitchen can also be a centre of nourishing biological activity? Seeds can be sprouted, yoghurt and ginger beer starters can be nurtured, and sourdough bread starters can be multiplying away in the fridge.

I bought a sourdough starter from Running Brook Seeds near Auckland recently – all part of the special service offered by this one woman firm. It came in the post with basic instructions and recipes, and I made my first loaf with it last week, following the instructions for a plain loaf exactly as written. Well – eventually – after tipping the not-really-rising loaf out of the tin twice and mixing in more flour because I had not made the batter thick enough.

The recipe is for a batter bread, which does not require kneading. I appreciate this now that I have arthritis in my fingers, and find it hard to knead for any length of time. It makes a moist loaf, which does not crumble, with a open texture like Vogels bread. This makes it great for sandwiches and toast, as well as very nice spread with butter and honey.

Despite the lack of kneading, this is not a quick bread to make because on baking day the starter needs three to four hours to get working again after a lot more flour and water is mixed in, and then the bread takes at least two hours to rise in its tin in a warm room, and longer in a cool one. It also needs another hour in the oven. However, the actual mixing time is less than ten minutes, so it is much less work overall than most home-baked breads.

The flavour can be varied by using different flours, and adding seeds. A fruit and spice bread is another option, and will be my next experiment with sourdough baking. It's great to have such a user-friendly and economical alternative for making bread – I estimate that a loaf made with the starter costs less than half what a bought loaf using equivalent quality organic ingredients costs. So I will keep feeding it – and it will keep feeding us.