Ugly White Sourdough
Because I spend so much time playing with flavours at work, I’m not into excessively 'interesting' or experimental recipes at home. I like simple food, done well. Good ingredients, mindful preparation, etc, etc. I like to make ordinary things from scratch and appreciate how much better they are than their shop-bought counterparts - puff pastry, pasta, corn tortillas—and of course, bread.
I usually go for something dense and seedy that fills me up and gives me a fibre boost. But sometimes, only a squidgy white loaf will do.
This is a high-hydration sourdough. Using a lot of water gives bread a glossy, moist crumb. I used to work as a professional sourdough baker and was very confident shaping wet doughs—not so much these days. I spent quite a while beating myself up and wondering how I could have lost the muscle memory until I reached a point of acceptance. It can be liberating to be bad at something you used to be good at! (When you think about it, kinda). So now my rough method is:
Mix the starter, water, and flour, give it a loose knead/ stretch just to get some gluten going, and let the mixture autolyse for 2 hours.
Squidge in the salt water, shape the dough into 2 equally-sized balls, and place them into lined tins.
Cover with a bag, let them rise on the counter for about 4 hours or until the dough is just approaching the rim of the tin.
Transfer to the fridge overnight.
Bake.
You couldn’t charge money for this loaf, imperfect as it is. But, it tastes great and I like it. Also - I keep a starter alive, I make my own bread. I do not need to prove anything by having a perfect crumb or wheatsheaf scoring.
It makes amazing toasties, French toast, or just toast. And when it’s freshly baked and slathered in salted butter—oh man.
Makes 2 loaves – if I’m going to heat my oven to a high temperature, I like to double up.
Ingredients
650g lukewarm water
400g active sourdough starter
1kg strong white bread flour
1 tbsp salt
100g extra water
Mix the 650g of water and the starter in a large mixing bowl. Make sure the starter floats on the surface, even if only briefly—that’s a good sign it’s active. Use a whisk to mix until the water looks milky.
Add the flour and gently knead (really more of a pull-and-fold motion) for about 5 minutes. You should see the dough go from rough and shaggy to smoother and more elastic.
Cover and leave to autolyse for 90 minutes to 2 hours. This lets the flour fully hydrate and encourages gluten development.
Sprinkle over the salt and the extra 100g of water, then squidge it all in with your hands until fully incorporated.
Line two loaf tins with parchment paper. Divide the dough in half—roughly 1100g per loaf—and gently shape. You don’t need to be precious here: just scrape the dough across the counter to create a smooth-ish surface, then place into the tins.
Cover loosely with a plastic bag, tie the ends with an elastic band, and leave to rise at room temperature for 4–5 hours, or until puffy and well risen. Then transfer to the fridge and prove overnight.
The next morning, preheat your oven to 240°C. Take the loaves out of the fridge while the oven heats up.
Bake for 30 minutes in the tins. Then carefully remove the loaves from the tins and return to the oven for another 20 minutes directly on the rack.
Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.
