Sourdough breads and “pain au levain” are delicious tasting breads produced from a dough in which a proportion of it has been pre-fermented using acidifying bacteria and yeast to produce what is known as a “sourdough sponge”

Traditional Methods of manufacture
In their simplest form, sourdoughs (or “levains”, in France) are a pre-fermentation of flour and water, the fermentation being started by naturally occurring yeasts and bacteria in the flour, atmosphere and water, although other external ingredients may be added to promote the fermentation. The stages in manufacture typically involve several steps of refreshing the sourdough and good hygiene is required to avoid infection by undesirable micro-organisms.

Controlled and consistent results with Freebake sourdough culture
Freebake dried sourdough starter is produced by careful drying of selected strains of acidifying lactobacillus bacteria and aromatic yeasts. The acidifying bacteria produce lactic and acetic acids, imparting acidity and flavour. The aromatic yeasts develop carbon dioxide, alcohols and aromatic compounds.

Our sourdough culture is supplied in sachets of 5g and should be used as a single-dose starter culture, so there is no possibility of development of undesirable taints and infections through re-seeding. Sachets must be stored in a freezer and once opened, used within 24 hours.

How to use Freebake starter to produce genuine sourdough:
You can produce sourdough breads using English-milled white flour in the sponge but you will only produce a relatively mild acidity and flavour. This is because, since 1940, all white flour produced in the UK has to be fortified with calcium, through addition of chalk, which suppresses the formation of acids.

To produce genuine, strong sourdough flavour it is best to make the sponge using wholemeal flour, which does not contain chalk. For even stronger flavour, use some rye flour with the wholemeal flour in the preparation of the sourdough. The additional mineral content of rye flour promotes the formation of higher level acidity.

Part of the fun in making sourdough breads is in creating your own flavour profile by changing the fermentation times and temperatures, the quantities of rye flour or wholemeal flour, or the proportion of sourdough sponge you use in the final dough. However, to get you started the recipes and programmes shown below will produce a range of sourdough breads ranging from mild to very acidic. Sourdough breads also have a different texture- the more acidic the sourdough, and the more you use in a dough, the closer and more chewy the texture. High levels of sourdough and longer bulk fermentation time will result in a smaller, denser loaf with a rustic crust rather than a smooth, even appearance. In breadmaking machines, longer programmes will produce denser breads and uneven crusts, but strong flavour

Stage 1: Preparation of the sourdough
Whether you are going to bake conventionally, or use a breadmaking machine, you will need to prepare the sourdough the day before. It’s very simple, and only needs to be mixed and kneaded for a couple of minutes, but the key to getting a good sourdough flavour is to find a really warm place to keep it. Ideally the temperature should be about 32C, so a boiler room or airing cupboard is ideal. Try not to put the container in direct contact with hot pipes or cabinets because you don’t want the temperature too high, as this will kill the bacteria and yeasts.

Rinse out a clean glass or plastic mixing bowl with boiling water to pre-warm and sterilise it, then add the following in this order:

During this time, the acidifying bacteria and aromatic yeasts will develop and the dough will at least double in size and develop a spongy texture, becoming almost liquid.

Stage 2: Final dough:

Add the following ingredients, in this order, to the fermented sourdough:

Hand kneading: Knead the dough by hand on a floured surface for about 10 minutes, until it becomes smooth and elastic, re-flouring the surface as necessary to prevent sticking.

Food mixers: We test our breads on KitchenAid and Kenwood high quality, robust food mixers. Use the dough hook and mix as follows:

Bulk Fermentation:
After producing the dough, you now need to allow it to ferment further to produce the characteristic sourdough or levain flavour:

Place the dough on a floured surface and allow it to rest, covered with a plastic bag or clean cloth to prevent it drying out, for about 15 minutes.

Then shape it into a ball, lightly dust with flour and allow it to ferment, covered, for about 1 hour.

Moulding, proving and baking:
Now follow the techniques shown in What works best: “moulding & proving by hand”, but make sure that you only gently flatten the dough, otherwise the characteristic open texture will be lost.

For rustic rolls you can gently roll out the dough into a circle about 2cm/1'' thick and divide the dough into 6 or 8 wedges.

Cover the dough and allow it to at least double its size, then carefully place it in a preheated oven at 230C/450F (Fan assisted 210C/410F), Gas mark 8.

Immediately reduce the temperature to 210C/410F/Gas Mark 7 (Fan assisted 200C/400F) and bake tin bread for 30-35 minutes or rolls for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Follow the chart below to find the best programme for your machine

Make sure the mixing blade is fitted, then add the following ingredients in this order:

• Vegetable oil

• Boiling water

• Cold water

• Salt

• Strong White flour

• Freebake bread improver

• Freebake dried instant yeast

• Sourdough sponge

Start the machine, and after mixing has started, use a plastic or wooden spatula to carefully scrape any flour clinging to the sides of the mixing pan into the mix.

At the end of the programme, remove the bread from the tin immediately, and allow to cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing

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