banner image

Organic Shipton Mill Sourdough

- 400g Shipton Mill Traditional Organic White Flour

- 230ml tepid water

- 5g salt

- 160g sourdough starter (see below for instruction on making your own sourdough starter)

(if you want to make two loaves, simply double the recipe)

Sourdough Loaf Instructions:

Combine the flour and salt, mixing well.

Add the wet ingredients (water and sourdough starter), mixing well with a curved dough scraper or knife.

Do NOT add any more flour, the dough will be quite wet but you need to persevere.

Once full combined, transfer to a work top (not floured) and knead for a good 10 minutes, or until you have the nice window pane affect. Note that the dough will be really wet, just keep going!

Use a dough scraper to make a nice ball, then transfer to a bowl (with no flour or oil, it will stick) and cover with a tea towel. Leave to rise for 3-4 hrs.

After the dough has risen for 3-4 hrs, transfer it to a work top and knead lighltly for 30 seconds maximum.

Make a nice ball using a dough scraper.

Transfer to a floured banneton basket (also flour the top of the dough) and leave to rise for another 3-4hrs.

After 2.5hrs (or half an hour before you end the second prove), get your dutch oven pre-heated at about 230 degrees celsius. You want it to be really hot and ready to go.

When the dough is finished with the second prove, transfer it to some baking parchment - slice the top of the dough with your desired pattern (using a sharp knife or razor blade). Then gently transfer to your dutch oven. Replace the dutch oven lid and place in the oven for 30 minutes with the lid, then take the lid off and leave to bake for another 15 minutes. Once the baking time is done, open the door, switch the oven off and leave the loaf inside of the oven for 20 minutes whilst the oven cools down. This will give the loaf a really lovely crust and crumb.

Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Sourdough Starter:

To make your sourdough starter simply combine 100g flour and 100ml water (always equal parts water and flour), mix well and leave in a bowl with a tea towel covering the bowl for about a week, or until you start to see foamy bits and bubbles. Check it every day or so and stir if it starts to seperate. Once you see the foamy bits and bubbles, transfer to a glass jar with a screw top or whatever you have available. Twice a day you'll want to do the 'pour and feed', which means you pour some sourdough starter out, then add equal parts flour and water - I normally do 100g flour, 100ml water twice a day. Before using the starter, you want to make sure you've recently fed it and it's had some time to expand and activate nicely. To check if the starter is ready, take a spoonful out and drop it into a bowl of water. If it floats, then its ready!