Sourdough September: Durban home baker shares her tips

SOURDOUGH bread has become popular with many families over the years, and as it’s Sourdough September, there’s no time like the present to learn how to bake a loaf or two.

One such family is that of Melissa Govender, a home baker from Sherwood, who says she has come a long way in her ‘sourdough game’.

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Her expertise lies in cakes and cupcakes, however, she has also become quite the ‘sourdough expert’ and says it’s all thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic when her husband asked her to help him bake bread.

“The great pandemic bread bake-off is what got me started. My husband suggested we try to make this bread that everyone was going crazy about. He said to me, ‘I’ll make the sourdough starter, and you do the baking’. I haven’t stopped baking it since,” said Govender.

The couple did a lot of research into making sourdough and discovered the amazing health benefits of this bread.

“It doesn’t spike your blood sugar and keeps you fuller for longer. Sourdough is easier for our bodies to digest than bread made with baker’s yeast. It is also great for good gut bacteria. A true sourdough bread has a lovely sour characteristic flavour, which we have grown to love, especially with a generous spread of butter.”

The taste, Govender says, is far better than store-bought breads.

“It is a wholesome bread made with 100% natural ingredients: flour, water and salt. It also has a lower gluten content. It’s basically a gift from Mother Nature.”

Explaining what a sourdough starter is, she said it replaces dry yeast in leavening the bread.

Essentially, sourdough bread uses natural wild yeast and good bacteria to create a bread that is leavened and full of flavour. The yeast gives the rise, and the bacteria break down the gluten and give sourdough its distinctive taste.

“A ‘starter’ is a live colony of this good yeast and bacteria. It is grown by combining flour and water and allowing the mixture to ferment. You will need to feed this starter equal quantities of flour and water every day until you get a nice bubbly active starter. It usually takes four to 10 days. A starter must be kept alive with regular feedings to maintain its strength and rising power,” she said.

Govender added that sourdough is nothing like making a plain loaf of bread, and it takes time and patience.

“My sourdough journey and South African taste buds have led me to find a perfect sourdough recipe that can be used for sandwiches and to accompany curries, stews and soups – softly textured and subtly flavoured.

“One thing that sourdough has taught me is that, just like this dough, you can rise if you rest,” says home baker, Melissa Govender.

Sourdough recipe:

Before you get started, you will need to have a readymade sourdough starter. There are many videos online that teach the techniques I mention in my recipe. Any flour can be used for this recipe – my preferred is brown wheat bread flour.

Ingredients:

100g active sourdough starter (10g starter, 50g flour and 50g water mixed the night before)
500g flour
300g water
10g salt

Method:

1. Add the flour, water, salt and sourdough starter into a bowl and mix until all the flour is fully absorbed.
2. Cover this mixture and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the dough from the bowl and perform a series of ‘stretches and folds’ where you stretch out the dough and fold it back onto itself. Do this for about 5 minutes – it will give your bread height and structure.
4. Bulk fermentation. Roll the dough into a ball and place into a casserole and cover it with the lid so the dough doesn’t dry out. Leave this to rest until the dough doubles in size. It could take anywhere between 4 – 12 hours, depending on the room temperature.
5. Shaping. Once the dough has doubled in size, line a casserole or banneton basket with a tea towel, flour it well and set aside. Carefully turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently form it into a square – be gentle – you don’t want to squash the dough too much. Tuck in the edges of the dough into the centre, and work around the edges until you have tucked them all in and the dough looks like a ball. Flip the ball over, then using your hands, pull the dough towards you, letting it grip slightly onto the counter, then pull it into a tighter ball. Place this ball of dough (smooth side down) into the tea-towel-lined casserole or banneton.
6. Proofing. Let this dough rest for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature (or overnight in the fridge) until it spreads out and looks puffy.
7. Baking. Once the dough has puffed out, preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius and place a pot of hot water on the bottom shelf to create steam. The loaf will be baked on the middle rack.
8. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured baking sheet and score the top using a sharp blade. Place the dough into the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
9. Let bread cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.
10. Spread on some butter or jam and enjoy!

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