After moving to Thailand, there was one food item I missed and it was bread. The bread sold here is usually soft milk bread but I was looking for a crispy whole wheat loaf. I started baking yeast breads but because good flour is hard to find here, the loafs I baked were lacking flavour. So I started to experiment with sourdough to create a flavourful loaf of bread. Now I bake twice a week.

Characteristics

The smell is yeasty and sweet but while tasting, the acetic acids are omnipresent.

Viscocity

Taste & flavour

Recipe

Starting ingredients

22% Wholemeal Wheat Flour
23% Bread flour
45% Water
10% Starter

Feeding ingredients

Because Thailand (and my kitchen) are very hot, a starter kept outside would require constant feeding, which is not viable for a home baker. I thus keep discards in the fridge which I then use as the basis for a starter to start bake with. It goes through the same feeding regime as described above, about 3 to 4 times before it’s ready to use in the dough.

Working method

My sourdough discards are not thrown away but are stored in a jar in the fridge. I use them to make waffles, pancakes, apple cake, … Before baking sourdough bread, I use this discard to get a starter going. I take a new jar, add about 10% of the discard and then a mixture of whole wheat flour (with bran) and bread flour (in equal parts) 45% and water 45%. Repeat this 3 to 4 times before baking.

22% Wholemeal Wheat Flour 23% Bread flour 45% Water 10% Starter