Sour Dough Loaf

May I introduce you to Fabio, the starter dough...

He's made from leftover pizza dough... so I thought it appropriate to name him after the gentleman friend of an Italian friend.
It's not a proper traditional sour dough starter - that's just made with flour and water (and maybe a bit of grape, if you listen to Paul Hollywood) - but I had a big dollop of raw pizza dough that had been sitting around for far too long. I mixed it with equal parts flour and water and let it sit in a jar. I added more flour and water every couple of days "feeding it" until it got all bubbly and delicious.

He got so big he had to be moved to a larger flip top jar.
That's where he lives now. I only feed him every week or so now - just to keep the bubbles active. I've used a mix of flours, depending on what was within reach. Strong flour, plain flour and self-raising flour.
Also with a traditional started you're meant to rely on the naturally occurring yeasts in the air and in the flours. I cheated and added a sprinkle of instant yeast every now and then. (See what I mean about not being a proper starter dough?)

Again, my camera has decided to delete some of my pictures without any kind of permission. I no longer have photos of the dough mixing - you'll have to use your imagination. Or google.

Ingredients

460g Strong Flour
300g Sourdough
10g Sea Salt
230ml Water

(Here's where I found the recipe - they even have a video! Watch out for the different quantities on the same pages...)

Weigh the flour into a large bowl - pour in the sourdough and add the salt to one side of the bowl and pour in most of the water (only add the rest if the dough is too stiff. It should be a fairly wet mix, but the wetness of the starter will determine how much is really needed)
Using a flour scraper or a clawed hand mix the ingredients together.
When fully combined turn out onto a clean surface and knead thoroughly.
Once it's stretchy but no longer sticky place it into an oiled bowl and leave to rise for 2 hours or so - covered in cling film.
After it's risen for the first time it can be shaped and moulded. Knock the dough back, and fold on itself to create the desired shape, and put into a basket or bowl to keep the shape. Flour that bowl REALLY REALLY well! (I used a large round bowl to shape it. Next time I'd use two smaller ones!)
Loosely cover and leave to rise again for around 8 hours.

Pre heat the oven to 230oC - I didn't have a baking stone, so heated a second baking tray in the oven.

 

Tip the dough onto a baking tray, slash the loaf with a sharp knife. (Slash deeper than this. The shallow cuts didn't control the rise, it split the crust instead)

 

Place the cold baking tray directly on the hot baking tray, and tip some water into the bottom of the oven.
Cook for 30-50 minutes (depending on the size of the loaf) until dark golden brown, and hollow sounding when tapped on the base.

 

Absolutely delicious warm!!
(Really good toasted as well... with lots of butter... mmmmm)