Finally, sourdough baking

This morning, after 12 hours' retarding of the sourdough loaves, they were ready for the final proving (see yesterday's post). In order to create a warm, humid environment for their final proving I turned on the heating, the oven and put a pan of water on the stove to simmer away, creating the necessary steam. Here's what the loaves looked like before final proving:

Ready for final prove after 'retarding' in cold environment overnight

The final prove took 4 hours. Testing the dough was done by gently poking it to see if it sprang back fairly quickly and it did - hooray! I was so excited to put them into the oven that I forgot the final step - I didn't score the tops of the loaves!! Scoring means slashing the dough quickly down the middle with a scalpel to open up the dough so it can 'bloom' or rise fully. Here's how they looked before being put in the oven (minus the scoring!).

after final prove - ready for the oven

The recipe stated to preheat the oven to its highest setting and when the loaves were put in to spray them with a fine mist of water to stop the crust from forming too quickly. I could not find my spray bottle, so I put a shallow pan of water in the bottom of the oven and this simmered for the entire duration of the bake.

After 20 mins I turned the trays around and swapped shelves so that all loaves baked evenly. At this stage I could see that they were baking more in some spots than others, so this step was vital.  Finally, after another 10 mins of baking, I decided they smelled ready and looked almost burnt and should come out. Indeed, one of them was a bit overdone, but when I cut into it, it was fine.

Here's the final result, and I must say, I was thrilled. It was cooked, the bottom was not soft and the best part - look at all those lovely holes!!!

Now for the moment of truth - the taste test. I am thrilled to report it was just so delicious. It was tangy, chewy and so very moreish. I had the first two slices with just butter and it was enough.


the taste test - only butter needed

Except I needed a cup of coffee and thought that apricot jam might be nice ...

the final taste test - with apricot jam

Verdict:
I am so inspired to keep my sourdough starter going for a long time and make sourdough on a weekly basis. After all, a lot of effort went into making the starter and now I have one established I intend to use it.  (Sourdough starter can even be frozen, so I put 100g in the freezer for the time I might need it).

The Bourke Street Bakery's by-line says it is the 'ultimate baking companion', and after really studying it I can vouch for that claim. The book starts off with 20 pages on 'before you begin', all about ingredients and equipment. Then there are nealy 20 pages on bread, different stages and techniques, all very detailed. The bread section alone has close to 40 pages on sourdough and derivative breads and then a further two chapters on yeasted and olive oil breads (which I am going to try). Then a large section on pastries, and a final section on cakes, biscuits and desserts.

Highly recommended.

Bourke Street Bakery, Paul Allam & David McGuinness