BakingBreadbyHand
Eastcourt Manor
Bread and Baking Courses
Baking Bread by Hand
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Contents
Introduction
What to with your sourdough starter
Sourdough starter
Weekly sourdough loaf
Weekly sourdough – six loaves
Looking after your starter
Commercial yeast
Other recipes
Kneading
Shaping
Dough tests
Cleaning up
Ingredients
Crust
Crumb
Timings
Further resources
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Version 1.5
© 2012­13 Eastcourt Manor
eastcourtmanor.co.uk
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Introduction
This booklet guides you through techniques and recipes to bake
sourdough bread by hand. Sourdough is a fantastic approach to
making bread: easy to fit around a busy lifestyle, very cost effective
and incredibly tasty.
Eastcourt Manor courses covers the full range of techniques to make
your own sourdough breads including caring for your sourdough
starter, kneading techniques, shaping loaves and tips to bake the
perfect loaf. Everyone takes home a sourdough loaf they have made
during the day, our unique sourdough starter (“Westfield”) and this
comprehensive booklet covering all the techniques and recipes from
the course.
For more information about sourdough and bread­making courses
contact us at [email protected] or go to our website at
eastcourtmanor.co.uk/courses.
What to do with your sourdough starter
The same day you get your sourdough starter (or the day after your
sourdough course) mix your pot of sourdough starter with 600g of
water and 600g bread flour. Cover with cling film and keep at room
temperature for about 24 hours. You can refrigerate that stock of
starter, or use some (but not all) to bake with.
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Sourdough starter
Your sourdough starter is made up of 100g of water for every 100g
of flour (what bakers call 100% hydration). In the flour and water is
a mix of natural yeasts and bacteria that give bread a great texture
and unique and unbeatable flavour.
This guide explains how to look after your starter and how to bake
bread with it. If you don't have some sourdough starter then find a
friend with some to share, follow the instructions below to make your
own or join one of our courses and get some of our beloved Westfield
starter to take home.
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Weekly sourdough loaf
This is the recipe for your basic sourdough loaf. The recipe assumes
you want to bake on Saturday afternoon. There is more advice on
timings in a later chapter.
F RIDAY
MORNING
–
REFRESH STARTER
The starter will keep dormant in the fridge for 6­8 weeks but needs
to be fed with a water/flour mixture at room temperature for the
yeast to be active enough to raise dough.
Take one tablespoon of the starter and mix with 100g of water and
then 100g of bread flour. Cover with cling film and keep at room
temperature for 24 hours.
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S ATURDAY
MORNING
Fresh sourdough starter
Water
Bread flour
Fine salt
200g
290g
500g
7g (1 teaspoon)
Mix the starter with the water in a large bowl. Add the rest of the
ingredients and stir together into a loose mixture.
Turn the dough out and knead well by gently stretching and folding
until the dough is smooth, holds its shape and feels firm and strong.
Return the dough to the bowl, cover with cling­film and proof for
about 4 hours at room temperature. Ideally you should turn out the
dough and gently stretch and fold it once every hour.
Shape the dough into a loaf. To shape for a loaf tin, gently turn the
dough out onto a lightly floured worktop. Pat and stretch the dough
into a rectangle the same length as the loaf tin and 3­4 times the
width of the tin. Gently roll up the dough into a loaf shape and place
in the tin with the seam down.
Cover the dough with oiled cling­film and rest at room temperature
for about four hours. When the dough is ready to bake it will feel light
and puffy with just a little springiness when poked with a finger.
Slash the dough with a sharp knife or razor blade and bake for 55
minutes in a preheated oven. Start the baking at 250ºC and reduce
to 180­200ºC after 10 minutes. When the loaf goes in it is a good idea
to create some steam by spraying the oven interior with some water
or adding about half a pint of boiling water in a pre­heated cast iron
tray.
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Weekly sourdough – six loaves
You will need 3.6kg of flour to make the starter and dough for six
loaves. If you want to make the recipes below you will need just under
3kg of white bread flour and 750g wholemeal spelt.
F RIDAY
MORNING
–
REFRESH STARTER
Take three tablespoons of the starter and mix with 600g of water and
then 600g of white flour. Cover with cling film and keep at room
temperature for 24 hours.
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S ATURDAY
MORNING
To make three loaves of white sourdough you will need:
Starter
Water
Bread flour
Fine salt
600g
870g
1500g
21g (1 tbsp)
And to make three loaves of brown you will need:
Starter
Water
Bread flour
Wholemeal spelt
Fine salt
600g
870g
750g
750g
21g (1 tbsp)
Follow the instructions as for the weekly sourdough loaf.
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Looking after your starter
C REATING
MORE STARTER
To create a fresh batch of starter you will need:
Old sourdough starter
Water
Bread flour
3 tbsps
600g
600g
The Westfield starter we use at Eastcourt Manor can, cold from the
fridge and given sufficient flour and water, increase in weight by 10­
12 times during a 24 hour period without losing vigour.
Acidic liquid that floats on top of an old starter can either be stirred
in or discarded. I stir it in. It is not necessarily a sign that the starter
needs refreshing.
Cover and leave the freshly mixed starter at room temperature for
24 hours until it is light and frothy, then store it in a sealed plastic
container in the fridge until needed.
R EFRESHING
A TIRED STARTER
After several months the starter can lose the get­up­and­go needed
to raise a loaf. To fix this is a three day process.
Day 1
Old sourdough starter
Water
Bread flour
2­3 tbsps
300g
300g
Mix, cover and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
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Day 2
Starter from day 1
Water
Bread flour
600g
300g
300g
Leave the mix at room temperature again for 24 hours.
Day 3
Store the light, frothy starter mixed up on day 2 in a sealed plastic
container in the fridge until needed. Some of the starter can also be
used for baking on day 3.
R EFRESHING
AN ANCIENT STARTER
The above process can be extended over 4­5 days to revive a starter
that has sat in the back of a fridge for years.
Days 1 and 2
As above
Days 3,4,5
Starter from previous day
Water
Bread flour
600g
300g
300g
Discard 600g of the starter from the previous day, leaving 600g.
Mix, cover and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
By the end of day 5 the starter should be light, frothy with a complex
wine­vinegar­fruit smell.
On the final day store the light, frothy starter mixed up on day 2 in a
sealed plastic container in the fridge until needed.
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C REATING
STARTER FROM SCRATCH
Follow the instructions for "refreshing an ancient starter", but just
use the flour and water to begin with. Some people add raisins or
yoghurt on the first day to help the process along. You will need a
little luck for this to work, but you will only ever need to do it once!
If the mixture goes mouldy and produces offensive smells, discard
and start again. Once you have an active sourdough culture the vigour
and quality of flavour produced by the starter will develop over the
first months and years of use. Try to refresh it often.
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Commercial yeast
Commercial yeast is a lot more vigorous than the sourdough starter.
So do not under any circumstance mix your main stock of starter
with commercial yeast as the commercial yeast will wipe out your
carefully nurtured sourdough culture!
Although commercial yeast lacks the complex taste of sourdough, it
works much faster than sourdough, so you can use it to produce
loaves more quickly – incorporating starter as well if you want the
sourdough taste and to produce a loaf more quickly. Commercial
yeast also produces a lighter taste which is usually more suitable for
products such as brioche, croissants and yeasted cakes. And it keeps
indefinitely in a cupboard so is always available at short notice.
The three main types are fresh yeast, dried yeast and fast action dried
yeast. Fresh yeast is ready to use and can be mixed with the dry or
wet ingredients. Fast action yeast can be added directly to the flour.
Dried yeast needs to rehydrated with a small amount of water and
flour for 10­15 minutes before use.
For 500g of flour you will typically need:
15­20g fresh yeast / 6­10g dried yeast / 5­7g fast action yeast
Most fast action yeast contains flour improvers. The Real Bread
Campaign would like us to be able to make bread without these
additives. But at 0.5g of additives – most of which which do occur
naturally – in an 800g loaf, personally I can live with it.
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Other recipes
B ASIC
WHITE LOAF
/
PIZZA DOUGH
This recipe makes enough for 1 loaf of bread, 2 very large pizzas or 4
normal size pizzas.
Bread flour
Water
Sourdough starter
Fast action yeast
Salt
B ASIC
500g
325g
50g (optional for pizza dough)
1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon
WHITE LOAF
Mix the salt and yeast into the flour and then mix in the water. Knead
the dough. Cover and rest for an hour. Shape into a loaf, put in a loaf
tin, cover and rest for 45 minutes or until soft and puffy to the touch.
Slash the dough and cook for 50 minutes, starting at 250ºC and
turning down to 180­200ºC after 10 minutes.
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P IZZA
Gluten development is important for pizzas, so in addition to
kneading the dough well you could try an autolyse (mix 300g flour
and 325g water, leave for 20 minutes and add the other ingredients,
mix and knead) or retarding the dough (mix and knead all the
ingredients, cover and leave in the fridge overnight) or a pre­ferment
(mix 100g flour and 100g water with a tiny pinch of the yeast, cover
and leave at room temperature for 8­12 hours, add the rest of the
ingredients, mix and knead).
Mix and knead the dough well. Shape into 2­4 balls, cover and rest
for an hour.
Roll out the dough on a well floured work­surface, or stretch it out
on the work­surface and then on the backs of your hands. If the
dough becomes too springy to shape, let it to rest for an additional
10mins. Patch up any holes with some spare dough. Place the
stretched out dough on a baking sheet (a hot one if you can manage
it). Add a thin layer of tomatoes (tinned, stewed or fresh) and chunks
of mozzarella cheese. Bake at 250ºC for 12 minutes.
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S OURDOUGH
PANCAKES
Starter
Beaten eggs
Milk
Sugar
Salt
about 200g
2
about 40­80g
2­4 tbsps
a pinch
Mix the ingredients to form a batter with the consistency of double
cream. Fry the pancakes in butter.
C URRANT
AND CINNAMON LOAF
Bread flour
Unsalted butter
Fast action yeast
Fine salt
Soft brown sugar
Cinnamon
Water
Currants
350g
25g
1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon
50g
2 teaspoons
225ml
250g
Rub the butter into the flour. Add the yeast, salt, sugar and cinnamon.
Add all the water, mix and knead well. Let the dough rest for 5­10
minutes and then incorporate the currants by folding them into the
dough. Cover the dough and let it rest for 45­60 minutes at room
temperature.
Grease a loaf tin. Stretch and pat out the dough into a rectangle the
length of the loaf tin and 3­4 times the width. Roll the dough up into
a loaf shape, put into the tin with the seam side down and cover with
oiled cling­film. Rest in the tin for 60­90 minutes and bake at 180ºC
for 45 minutes.
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Kneading
By kneading the dough you are achieving three things.
Firstly, the ingredients of the dough are more thoroughly mixed.
Secondly, the gluten in the flour needs to be developed. Gluten, when
developed, is flexible and strong enough to hold the bubbles and
starch that give a loaf its structure.
Thirdly, introducing air pockets into the dough. These are important
for the yeast to thrive and for the dough to be able to rise effectively
with an open texture.
H AND
KNEADING
Nearly all hand kneading techniques involve stretching and folding
the dough. A variety of techniques are possible although for the most
part they give similar outcomes.
After a few moments of stretching and folding a piece of dough it is
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possible to feel changes in the gluten structure. The ball of dough
becomes stronger and more resistant to stretching.
As you continue kneading, there will be a transition from a sticky
rough mass into a smooth shiny structure that can hold its shape.
Kneading a ball of dough typically takes 5­10 minutes.
It is important to knead dough gently. Over­stretching or tearing the
dough disrupts gluten development and leads to a dense loaf. Be
sensitive to the changing nature of the dough and don't fight it or
muscle through it. After 5 minutes of gentle stretching and folding
the dough will feel like it doesn't want to stretch out very much any
more. If the dough no longer wants to stretch and you feel it needs
more kneading, give it a rest for 5 minutes and then continue.
It is best to knead with either no flour on the worktop or only a very
light dusting. The picture below is the maximum amount of flour you
would want to use. Through kneading, the dough will become easier
to handle and less sticky.
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G LUTEN
DEVELOPMENT WHILE PROVING
The texture of the dough will continue to improve while it is rising.
Very gently stretching and folding the dough every hour or so during
the first rise can further contribute to the strength of the dough and
texture of the bread.
No­knead doughs rely on this stretching and folding, combined with
a very wet dough, to allow the kneading stage to be skipped.
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Shaping
F INAL
SHAPE OF THE LOAF
There are many techniques to form the final shape of the loaf.
Common themes are stretching the outer layer of dough to give a
good shape and help crust formation, and folding the internal layers
of the dough to help incorporate more air and to stretch the existing
bubbles which helps give the loaf better shape and texture.
Effective shaping gives the dough a glossy smooth outer surface and
a pert presentation without knocking out too much of the air.
It is often helpful when shaping to cover your work surface in a thin
layer of flour. If the dough becomes too elastic or springy to shape
effectively let it rest for 5­10mins and try again.
L OAF
TIN
Scrape the dough out of your bowl onto the work surface and gently
pat it out into a rectangle about 2­3 times the size of the tin. Fold the
short sides into the centre, sealing them with fingertips. Then fold
the long edges, allowing for quite a lot of overlap and sealing the
dough with the side of your hand. The final fold on the long side
should bring the loaf into a roll the right size to sit in the loaf tin. Put
the dough seam side down into the tin.
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R OUND
LOAF
Pat the dough out into a rough circle on a lightly floured work­
surface. Gently fold the dough by picking up the half to a third of the
dough closest to you, stretching it a little over your fingers and onto
the top of the main dough, then sealing it in with your fingertips.
Rotate the dough 5­6 times, each time folding the piece closest to you
on top. Gently round out the dough with the palms of your hands.
At this stage you can put the dough into a round banneton, smooth
side down and seams at the top, or leave the dough on a lightly
floured work­surface for 10 minutes and shape again before placing
in the banneton.
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Dough tests
This section contains some useful tests to see how your bread is
developing.
I NGREDIENTS
There is nothing better than carefully weighing your ingredients to
begin with! But it is possible to assess the texture of the dough by
hand and to check the level of salt by tasting the raw dough.
F IRST
RISE ( BULK PROOF )
Slash the loaf with a knife or razor blade – there should be bubbles
in the dough. The quantity and size of bubbles should be broadly in
line with the type of bread you are making, although not at their full
size. Another technique is to lift up the side of the dough using a
dough scraper and observe the bubbles.
S ECOND
RISE
Poke the dough with your finger when you think it is ready to put in
the oven. If you want to be specific, for a normal sized loaf you could
use your index finger and push it in up to the first joint, a floury finger
if the dough is sticky.
If the dough is springy and elastic, it is underproofed so leave it 10­
15 minutes longer before trying again. If the dough is light and puffy
with just a little springiness then its ready to go into a hot oven. If
there is no resistance then the dough is probably overproofed.
If you’re not sure if the dough is light and puffy or springy and elastic
it only takes a couple of baking sessions to get the feel for what is
needed.
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This is a great bread making tip because it makes such a big difference
to the end product. No matter if the kneading was uneven or the
ingredients slightly out of proportion this tip virtually guarantees a
nice open loaf with plenty of texture and structure in the crumb.
Often a recipe says “rest for X minutes or until doubled in size".
Variations in temperature of the ingredients, variations in the sugar
level of the flour and the age, quantity and activity of the yeast will
all affect the timings.
Doubling in size often isn’t as obvious as one would hope as the
dough often spreads out as well as rising in height, even in a loaf tin.
Bread that is seriously under­proofed will be dense, possibly too
dense to eat, but more or less the intended shape. Bread that just
right will spring up in the oven, with any slashes opening up and will
have a good texture. Bread that is over­proofed will come out dense
at the top with a blistered skin.
C OOKED
The traditional test of knocking the bottom of loaves for a hollow
sound to test whether they are cooked leaves enormous room for
error. The loaf will often sound hollow 20mins before it is fully
cooked.
You can get some indications from the colour of the loaf and whether
it feels light, but ultimately a timer and some experience are most
useful.
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Cleaning up
Dough is sticky stuff and can be difficult to clean up.
Using plastic bowls really makes a big difference as you can just leave
the dough to dry out, scrape off the hard bits and give the bowl a a
quick wash. A dough scraper that fits your mixing bowl is a great tool
and is also easy to clean.
Dough doesn’t stick to flour. But be careful using excessive flour as
it will change the composition of your dough which will affect the
taste and texture of the bread.
Dough doesn’t stick to oil. An oiled work surface and oiled hands can
make it easier to knead sticky doughs. Oiled cling­film is also really
useful for covering sticky doughs.
Water also reduces stickiness – if your dough scraper starts to stick,
clean it up and dunk it in a bowl of water.
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Ingredients
The ingredients used on our bread course are:
Shipton Mill Untreated Organic White No. 4
Shipton Mill Organic Wholemeal Spelt
Fine salt
Tap water
F LOUR
There is no particular need to use strong flour to make bread.
Traditional European breads (for example baguettes) use soft flour.
You may need to adjust the recipe by reducing the amount of water
by 5­10% but you can make wonderful bread using plain flour and
the taste can often be very good. On the other hand very strong bread
flour will require an additional 5­10% water to achieve the same
consistency.
I conducted a taste comparison before settling on spelt for wholemeal
loves. I compared khorason, emmer, wheat and rye. For me, spelt
sourdough gave the overall best taste and texture.
S ALT
Salt in bread is required to enhance flavour, strengthen the gluten,
aid the browning process and act as a preservative. Free­running fine
salt nearly always contains additives, so we recommend grinding
your own sea salt or sourcing additive free fine salt.
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Bread is a major source of salt in our diets and there is overwhelming
evidence that a diet high in salt contributes to high blood pressure
which increases the risk of heart disease and strokes.
The UK Food Standards Agency has set a recommended limit for salt
of 1% of the final loaf weight.
This works out approximately as:
1800g flour
1500g flour
700g flour
500g flour
450g flour
1 level tablespoon
a little under 1 level tablespoon
a little over 1 level teaspoon
a little under 1 level teaspoon
a little under 1 level teaspoon
Baking Bread by Hand
23g salt
20g salt
9g salt
6½g salt
6g salt
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Crust
Techniques and ideas to improve the crust on your loaves.
F ERMENTATION
A well­fermented dough will give the best flavoured and textured
crust – the long fermentation gives time for more flavour compounds
to develop and a lighter dough texture which caramelises and goes
crunchy in the oven.
T INS
AND BASKETS
If you want a really crusty loaf you need to abandon tins and leave
your bread to rise in baskets (banneton) or cloths. Ideally a heavy
baking tray should be pre­heated in the oven before the loaf is turned
out, which replicates some of the bottom­heat of a traditional hearth
oven.
F LOUR
Softer or medium strength flour usually has more flavour than very
strong types. However softer wheat/flour is trickier to make good
bread with. So it is possible to experiment by mixing plain or soft
flour with hard flour to produce a stronger flavoured loaf.
S TEAM
Commercial bread ovens are sealed which allows any steam formed
to stay in the oven, slowing the crust formation which gives a better
rise and a thinner harder crust. Most domestic ovens are not sealed,
so a few tricks need to be employed to retain or make some steam.
You can put a bowl of hot water in the oven while the bread is baking,
or putting a baking tray in the oven while it warms up and when the
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loaves go in pour boiling water into the tray to create steam. Be
careful doing this!
H OT
OVEN
A very hot oven helps crust formation. You can go as high as your
oven allows for the initial heat – 250­270ºC and turn it down after
10­15 minutes to 200­220ºC for the rest of the bake. Ovens vary so
a thermometer is a good way of checking the actual temperature.
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Crumb
Techniques and ideas to improve the crumb of your loaves.
S TRETCH
AND FOLD
Gently stretching the dough into a rectangle and folding into thirds
every hour during the first rise can help improve the structure of the
loaf.
I NCREASE
HYDRATION
Although adding more water to dough makes it harder to handle and
more difficult to shape, it does improve the crumb and increase the
size of bubbles. Ciabatta takes this to an extreme with an enormously
open crumb achieved by doughs with water used at 70­80% of the
flour weight.
E XTEND
THE FERMENTATION
Using less yeast or less starter, and/or reducing the temperature of
the dough while it rises to about 10­15ºC allows a more open texture
to develop. Sourdough of course has a slow rise and this does really
help develop the crumb texture.
B READ
MACHINES
Everything in this book should – for preference – be made by hand.
It is possible to use a bread machine to knead a sourdough loaf, but
bread machines cannot adapt to sourdough timings. So once the
dough is mixed and kneaded take it out of the machine and proceed
as described in the recipes above.
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Timings
R ETARDING
DOUGH IN THE FRIDGE
Sourdough timings can be made very flexible by placing the dough,
well covered with cling­film, in the fridge.
B ASIC
TIMING
Friday morning (8am) refresh starter.
Saturday morning (8am) mix and knead dough, cover.
Midday (12pm) shape loaves.
Afternoon (4­5pm) bake.
L UNCHTIME
BAKE ( WITH FRIDGE )
Thursday evening (8pm) refresh starter.
Friday evening (8pm) mix and knead dough, cover and put in the
fridge.
Saturday morning (7am) take dough out of fridge. Leave to return to
room temperature for 1­2 hours, gently stretching and folding every
hour if time and space allows.
Saturday morning (9am) shape loaves.
Midday (12­1pm) bake.
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Further resources
eastcourtmanor.co.uk/bread­blog
eastcourtmanor.co.uk/courses
sourdough.com
shipton­mill.com
thefreshloaf.com
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Notes
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