KC

Inspired by 'the experiment' on the Quest with the 16 bakers, I mixed flour (some shop bought mix for wholewheat bread) and water in a jar on the 6th July 2017 (a Thursday). I left the jar open to the elements with a dish towel over it.

I added about 1/2 small cup of flour and water every day. Where necessary (every 2nd day) I discarded some of my excess mixture as the jar was getting full.

After 3 or 4 days, I ended up closing the jar (food storage jar) - the rubber seal made it tight. In the next few days, I could feel the gas when I opened the top to replenish the mixture.

One week after the sourdough was created, I decided to make my first mixture. I put about 600 gr of flour - say 70% white (organic) and some wholewheat flour (30%) in a bowl, and added about 200 ml of my sourdough starter. I mixed this using a mixture, adding water as necessary so that it became the right texture: not too hard, not too runny/soft either.

Then I added a table spoonful of salt (not overflowing), and mixed the mixture again. I transferred the mixture into a lower and flatter bowl that I had oiled (with olive oil) before hand. I covered with cling film and then left it for several hours.

Over the next hours, I came back to the mixture and kneaded the dough a little adding air where possible, say every 60 to 90 minutes. All in all about 4x. I transferred the mixture a final time into a baking tin and left it for a while. The whole mixture hadn't risen a great deal ... but something was happening.

The final rise was about 3 hours or so ... And then I put the baking tin in the oven. I added a cup of water on the tray in the bottom of the oven to create steam. And baked for 30 minutes at 220°C. Then I took the bread out of the tin and baked the bread for another 15 minutes or so ... just to be sure it was well baked (through and through).

The bread rose remarkably during the bake. I let the bread stand overnight and enjoyed my first slice the next morning. Remarkably tasty, and a way more successful result than I had anticipated.