Very Basic Bread: Sourdough

Sourdough is one of my favourite bread taste. In a village next to the little town where I live, there is a bakery where they sell it. So sometimes, I buy some dark rye bread.

But after my first bread experiments with dry yeast, then with poolish, I wanted also try to make a sourdough - bread.

I surfed the net for a recipe to make a sourdough starter. I made 3 different starters with an interval of 3 days. I kept it very small: the first with 1 tsp white flour and some water. The second with 1 tsp of rye-flour and the third with a mixture. Every morning, I stir them and in the evening, I feed them with some flour and water.

What I have learned: 1. the rye-flour works the best; 2. a broad jar works better than a narrow one; 3. the feeding with bio-flour (white) is much better than the flour from the supermarket; 4. best is to cover it with a plastic, perforated foil .

I am so happy with the result: after a few days, bubbles are visible and after 10 days (and a lot of lovely attention), the smell changed to a fruity, a bit sour but agreable smell and the texture is very airy with even more bubbles.

After a few days, the first bubbles appear 

This is the rye-flour starter

More bubbles

More and more bubbles

The smell and texture are amazing! Time for bread-baking!

The dough before rising

The dough after rising (3 hours)

Look at that!!

 I made this bread with the first starter:

Before rising

              

After rising (1 hour)

My very first 'sourdough - bread (a little out of shape)

The shape gets better ...

The taste is wonderful!