When I found this guide on how to start making sourdough I had to give it a try.

I got a bowl and mixed in the flour and water and left it in the kitchen to grow. Feeding it daily I decided it needed a name.. Charlie!

A week and a bit later (our kitchen isn’t the warmest, not the best conditions for cultivating yeast) and Charlie has frothed and bubbled and is giving off a nice smell, showing that he had absorbed some wild yeasts from in the air and had reached maturity!

Following the recipe I added some more flour and water and left it to prove, creating what’s known as a sponge. Came back a few hours laterand voila!

Taking two cups of the sponge for the recipe, the rest was fed and put in the fridge for another day (to be fed weekly now). Added the required ingredients and kneaded it out.

At this point I needed only half the amount of flour given in the recipe, the sponge was

obviously pretty dry.

It rose nicely initially, was knocked out and shaped (vaguely) and put on a tray and left to rise again. It didn’t so much rise this time as spread out, but did eventually double in size.

Was put in the oven and cooked. It took longer than stated, and stuck to the tray even though it had been greased.

It didn’t rise again in the oven, it stayed the same size and shape.. I’m not sure how normal this is.

It’s not made a very large loaf, though currently it’s just for me so that’s fine!

It’s a little too doughy, but has a nice crisp crust and a good tang to it (that’s oddly stronger at the bottom of the loaf… anyone know why that would be?)