Join our head baker Chris for this virtual tutorial on how you can adapt any classic white sourdough recipe to include extra flavours and ingredients.

Chris takes you through how to incorporate seeds, cooked starches such as porridge and quinoa, roasted veg like potatoes, beetroot and pumpkin, plus herbs and spices to your dough.

The aim of this video is to help equip you with some basic baker’s percentages so you can adapt and experiment with any flavours you might want to try out going forwards.

Chris’s base dough recipe for a classic white sourdough is below, he’s doubled it up to make two loaves in the video.

Video link: Shipton Mill (@shiptonmill) • Instagram photos and videos

You can also find a write-up of the video and it’s measurements here Sourdough Inclusions (shipton-mill.com)

Classic White Sourdough Recipe

Our go-to for a pillowy, beautifully fermented dough.

For this recipe, Chris uses our organic no. 4 and our organic 100% wholemeal flour, but you can use any strong white and strong wholemeal bread flours. You will need a Dutch oven / casserole pot, and some baking parchment.

Makes one sourdough loaf

• 450g strong white flour
• 50g strong wholemeal flour
• 350g water (around 40°C)
• 100g sourdough starter (wheat)
• 10g salt

METHOD

Place the flours, water and sourdough starter in a mixing bowl.

Combine until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, cover, and leave for 30 minutes to autolyse.

Next, add the salt and a tablespoon of water. Work this well into the dough, cover, and leave for 3-4 hours in total.

Fold the dough once every hour. Once ready, the dough should feel pillowy and have increased in volume by a third.

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a round (or your shape of preference).

Place into a floured prooving basket and leave it for one hour at room temperature. Then place the dough in the fridge overnight.

Preheat your oven to 250°C, and put your casserole pot / Dutch oven in to heat up in advance.

Flip the loaf out of the basket on to some baking parchment and slash.

Lift the loaf on the parchment paper into your hot casserole pot and place in the oven with the lid on for 30 minutes.

Carefully remove the lid and continue to bake for 15-20 minutes until you get the desired colour on the crust.

Remove the loaf and leave on a wire rack to cool for at least an hour.