The easiest of breads. I tried bread so many times. I did, I was so seduced by its magical beauty, its simplicity, its sustenance. It is, for so many, the stuff of life. For others, the representation of nurturance and nourishment.

I created all sorts of bricks. I cut open a steaming loaf only to find that the inside of my loaf was a sticky, unappetising dough. My loaves were under kneaded, over (or maybe under?) proved. There was flour under my fingernails and encrusted on the work surface. I wasted so much time, with such little return, that I swore that I would not attempt it again until I was forty years old. Because when you are 32, this feels a lifetime away.

I turned forty in July, not long after I had discovered Kat Goldin. Her instagram is compelling and real. Beautiful but just so utterly real life normal (if normal means goats and a house cow). And she does online courses and has a lovely youtube channel. There are lots of clips on her IG stories, she does bakealongs every so often but I went so far as to buy her beginner’s sourdough course. From that day on, sourdough was foolproof, unfailingly successful, easy and tidy.

A little note on starters. This post and video do not cover how to start a starter. It is very simple, especially if your house is not very clean. I swear we have lots of wild yeasts in the cottage because we do not clean a huge amount, and we do not use any antibacterial or bleach based products. We took the starter on a family weekend away one year and my sister-in-law, an intensive care nurse, sprayed everything with anti-bac cleaner. Even though the starter had a lid on, it never recovered. I always knew housework was a weapon of the patriarchy. I digress. There are lots of videos and resources on how to get a starter started. Hobbs House Bakery also sell very old ones, and Kat Goldin will let you have a jar of hers if you’d prefer.

The recipe, including all the amounts and measurements, is below.

Ingredients:

• 200g hydration starter

• 400g tepid water

• 650g strong bread flour

• 10g salt

Method: 

1. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients until the flour is completely incorporated.

2. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 3 hours, depending on the warmth of the room.  Every so often (at least 3x), stretch and fold the dough to help with the gluten development.

3. Tip dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a tight round. To get a nice surface tension, stretch the dough from the outside and bring it into the centre all the way around. This will be considered your seam.

4. Place seam side up in a banneton seasoned with rice flour or bowl lined with a lightly floured towel. You can either leave for about an hour in a warm place and then bake or place in the refrigerator over night.

Baking:

1. Place your dutch oven in the oven and heat the oven to its highest temperature. (I have an everhot which is adjustable but in the same way as an oil tanker is turnable. It’s best just set and left. Mine is set at 210 degrees, this is fine for all of the bake.)

2. When the oven has reached temp, place your baking parchment on top of your banneton, then the chopping board top of that and flip your bread out of the banneton onto the board.  There is no need to remove your bread from the refrigerator prior to this, in fact it is easier to work with a cold loaf.

3. Score your bread using a super-sharp knife or razor blade.

4. Slide the loaf into your hot dutch oven and put the lid on.  Place it back in the oven and reduce the temperature to 220c/430F. Bake for 25 minutes with the lid on. Remove the loaf from the dutch oven and bake for another 20 minutes or until the crust is brown.