Sourdough adventures

Two weeks ago, I have started my sourdough adventure and I'm excited to share one of my first breads with you!

Ignac (my sourdough starter) was growing very well from the beginning. I don't have much experience with baking, so I was surprised that he was so happy and that I could take care of him. He kept bubbling and growing, and after 5 days I decided to try him out and made some pancakes. They were delicious but not as fluffy as I expected, so I kept feeding him for 5 more days.

Then I tried to bake focaccia bread. It took 2 days to bake it as working with sourdough requires a lot of time. I added some garlic, rosemary, and olives and the smell in the kitchen was amazing. When I took it out of the oven it looked like real focaccia and I couldn't be more proud.

We tried a piece and it was perfect! It was fluffy and light but still chewy at the same time. Later, when I was cutting the other half of the bread, I saw that it didn't grow how it should have and it was tough and very chewy. Apparently, I somehow folded the dough while placing it on the baking sheet and this should be the reason why it happened. I will try it again as it was delicious but it still requires some improvements.

Now to my third attempt to make sourdough loaf..

And this one turned out perfect!

It's WHOLEMEAL RYE SOURDOUGH BREAD and I have already started another batch as it's so good.

I have used my wholemeal rye sourdough starter for this recipe and wholemeal rye flour as well. The result is a small loaf that is a dark compact bread that resembles Nordic bread. It has a very light sourdough taste but it's not sour at all. My husband loved it and ate half of the loaf already!

It's very easy to bake but it requires a lot of time. However, it is possible to make it in one day! But you can only eat it one day later...

---

I prepared my fermentation starter at 10 AM. In a large bowl I mixed 1 tbsp of bubbly starter with 200 g lukewarm water (37 degrees Celsius) and 150 g wholemeal rye flour and stirred it well to combine. Then I covered it with the plastic wrap and let it rest for 9 hours. The starter should double in size and have many bubbles. It could take anywhere between 9 to 12 hours.

---

At 7 PM, I added 230 g lukewarm water to the properly fermented starter and stirred the mixture well with a whisk. Then I added 300 g wholemeal rye flour that I combined with 1.5 tsp salt. I took a spoon and mixed everything properly, so that each grain of flour came in contact with the water and the starter. It only takes a minute or so, but it is a very important step, so don't omit it! I covered the mixture again and let it rest for about 2 hours.

---

At 9:30 PM, I removed the plastic wrap and transferred the mixture (using a spoon) into a form (26116.5) that I greased with plantbased butter. I smooth out the surface of the dough with the spoon and covered it with 1 tbsp wholemeal rye flour. My dough was ready for the final rest.

---

At 10:30 PM, I preheated the oven to 250 degrees Celsius and placed a sheet at the bottom of the oven. At 11:00 PM, I removed the plastic wrap from the form and prepared 1 cup of water. I placed the form in the oven and quickly poured the water in the prepared sheet at the bottom. Then I closed the door, changed the temperate to 220 degrees Celsius and baked for 25 minutes. After that I changed the temperature to 200 degrees Celsius and baked for another 35 minutes.

---

At midnight I removed the loaf from the oven and carefully removed it from the form. Then I put it back in the oven for 10 minutes. When I removed it again it was golden brown and crunchy.

But we couldn't eat it yet even though my husband tried to convince me that it was a good idea. This loaf needs to rest for 12 hours before you cut and enjoy it! If it doesn't have enough time to rest it could be crumbly and wet inside.

We were finally able to try it today for lunch and let me tell you that it was worth the waiting. I wanted to say that it was worth the effort but honestly, there is not much effort. It's truly all about waiting for the next step.

I will try many more sourdough recipes, but I will come back to this one again as it was really good. This recipe is originally from a Slovak sourdough baker and I wrote the exact steps and time that it took ME to prepare this loaf.

The flour that I used is freshly milled flour. A friend of mine sells the grains that he can also grind for you. If you buy the flour that is not freshly milled your experience will be slightly different. Your loaf will be more light and fluffy.

AND THIS IS HOW WE ENJOYED IT...

With plantbased butter, and garden cress and radishes that I grow at home! Yum!

I would also like to show you some progress in my inside garden. I thought that I would have to keep my celery in water forever but it finally started to grow some roots. It took more than two weeks to get to it. Patience is everything in this case.

Here you can see the difference between the celery that is 1 week old and my first one that is 2 weeks old. I might plant the older one in soil next week.

And my leeks...

The right one is the champ! I don't know why it's growing much faster than the other one but it is fun to watch them. I guess that this one is going to be the first one that will land in my soup...

And my onions behind the leeks are growing well too!

Thank you for reading!

Cheers!