Sourdough bread from the Jagglhof

The recipe of a sourdough is a really good kept secret. There are lots of recipies in different books and forums in the internet and the smell of the sourdough is making backers and gourmets mouths watering. And the sourdough is just ah mix of flour and water. Even though its ingredients are so simple, the sourdough remains a mystery. 

Baking with sourdough is absolutely fascinating for me. Of course I would be quicker when using a little bit of yeast, but the work is nearly the same. The only thing that is different is the amount of time needed for a sourdough. You need enough time and good organisational skills. Your patience will pay off! A sourdough bread does not only taste delicious, it is also easily digestible, you can keep it for a long time and when using it with a rye dough, the consistency is amazing. 

Making your own sourdough

If you do not have a sourdough at home, you can easily make one on your own. All you need is (rye) flour, water, a bowl, a cooking spoon and 4-5 days of time. One the first day you mix 100g of flour and 100g of water until the mass is thick and looks like a pudding. Then cover it and leave it to rest at room temperature. After 12 hours, stir it and then leave it again for 12 hours. Then add 100g of flour and 100 g of water. Repeat the whole procedure 4-5 days until the sourdough tastes a bit sour and the consistency is homogeneous. (Keep in mind that after 2-3 days the dough does not really look very good, but keep carrying on and don't be frightend by the way the sourdough looks). Then you can use your sourdough for baking. Do not forget to put aside a small amount of dough and keep it in the refrigerator. 

Constantly use your sourdough 

Once you have a sourdough at home, you can constantly use it. You can even use it for years, if you regularely add flour and water to it and stir it thoroughly. For example, for our recipe you need 600g of sourdough. Put the sourdough out of your fridge, mix it with 300g of flour and 300g of water, stir it, then cover it and leave it over night. Before you mix the sourdough with the rest of the ingredients, put a little bit of the dough aside and put it in the fridge again - so you always have some at home and can constantly use it for baking bread. 

And if you like to try some sourdough bread now, just try out our recipe :)

Ingredients pre-dough:

  • 50 g sourdough
  • 300 g rye flour
  • 300 ml water

Ingredients dough: 

  • 600 g sourdough
  • 550 g rye flour
  • 100 g spelt flour or whloewheat flour
  • 20 g salt
  • Bread herbs
  • Approximately 400 ml water

Preparation:

  1. Put your sourdough (approximately 50 g) out of the fridge and mix it with 300g of rye flour and 300 ml of water until it is a thick mass. Cover it and leave it to rest at room temperature for about 8 hours. 
  2. Again put away approximately 50 g of the sourdough and keep in in the fridge until you need it again for baking. Mix the rest of the sourdough (approximately 600 g) with flour, salt, bread herbs and water. Again, cover it and leave it for about 6-8 hours to rest. 
  3. Form two loafs out of the dough and put them in small baskets, where you leave them to rest again for about one hour. 
  4. Pre-heat the oven on 240° degrees. 
  5. Put the two loafs on a baking tray and bake them for about one hour, after 15 minutes reduce the temperature to 200° degrees. 
  6. Take the bread out of the oven and leave it to cool off. 

Good luck while baking and enjoy it!

Marget