Makes
Two large loaves
Ready In:
1 hour (plus 1hr45 for proofing)
Good For:
Classic sandwiches like Reuben, corned beef, Croque Monsieur, Philly steak etc
Ingredients
- 1 kg white strong flour (plus some when shaping and finishing)
- 600ml warm water
- 350g mature sourdough starter (well-fed)
- 10g dried yeast
- 25ml olive oil
- 24g salt
- 4tsp chopped fresh rosemary
- 5 cloves garlic-peeled and thinly sliced
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
Please don’t be put off by the proofing time, as it’ll need no monitoring, and you can do other things. Making bread isn’t the quickest task, but this recipe explains everything in an easy-to-follow process and it’ll be worth it.
Step 2
To begin with, ensure your sourdough starter has been fed for a few days or is lively/bubbly and ready to use.
If you only have a smaller mixing machine, then half the recipe and make one loaf.
We will use a mixing bowl with a bread hook, but you can always make it by hand (kneading is quite strenuous).
Pour 90% of your water into the mixing bowl, with yeast and the sourdough starter. Rest this mixture for 5-10mins.
Step 3
After resting, add rosemary and chopped garlic, olive oil, salt and all the flour.
Start mixing on a low speed (if necessary add the rest of the water). The mixture shouldn’t stick to the bottom of the bowl after 5mins of mixing. but rather clump around the dough hook. If the mixture doesn’t do this within 5 mins, add more flour.
If it’s too sticky, add more flour until the dough comes away from the base of the bowl.
Increase the speed of the machine a little and mix (or rather knead) the mixture until smooth and elasticated. This will take about 10mins.
Step 4
Once the dough is soft, smooth and stretchy, empty it into a greased bowl twice its size to allow it to bulk-prove until almost twice its original size. The bulk proving will take about an hour. Speed up the process by placing the dough in a warm place.
Spray oil on the surface of the dough and cover with glad wrap while bulk proving.
Step 5
When the dough has almost doubled, sprinkle a little flour over the top and gently empty the dough onto a clean and floured surface.
Sprinkle a little flour over the top of the dough and gently, (without breaking the trapped air), cut the dough into two pieces.
Place the two pieces, cut side down onto a clean surface and gently pull the dough with both hands to stretch and cloak the bread, forming a shape as you do this.
This can be done 2-3 times to help shape the loaf. Don’t press, but rather pull.
Place each piece of dough onto its lined baking tray and dust a little flour on the top. If you like, you can cut the top to make ridges.
Step 6
Cover each loaf with glad wrap and leave in a warm place to increase in size by about 80%. This will take about 45 mins. After 30mins, turn your oven on to preheat. Set the temperature to 190˚C.
Step 7
Once the loaves have almost doubled and the oven is hot and at temperature, place a little container (small metal bowl) of water in the bottom of the oven. This will help the ‘spring’ in the bread and will help form a crust on the bread.
Place both loaves into the oven, and after 15mins, swap them around, placing the loaf on the top shelf on the lower shelf, and vice versa.
After 15mins, after swapping the breads, reduce the temperature to 175˚C and continue baking for a further 12-15mins until cooked. Total cooking time is between 27-30mins.
Step 8
The bread should sound hollow if flicking the base, be quite light when comparing it to its raw weight, and have a good colour and crispy crust, it should also be of good size to when it was first baked (about 10-15%bigger).
Step 9
Remove the bread from the oven, off its tray and onto a cooling rack. Leave to cool for at least 15mins before cutting. Use a good bread knife when cutting these types of bread with thick crusts.
I’d love to see your creations. Just post and hashtag #familykitchenwithmark
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