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Andrew Murray

I tossed up whether or not this should belong in the game recipe section, I mean technically, sourdough is full opf living organisms and I've cultivated them after initially capturing them but no, it's going in "Off Topic". Making sourdough really wouldn't work that well in the field either because you need the starter. I mean you could take a loaf that is in it's proving stage but that just gets a bit awkward...

Ever made your own bread?

It's very easy, especially with Sourdough, which is how bread has been made for thousands of years (up to 20,000 after some recent finds in Australia although more traditionally accepted is 5000 years originating in Egypt).

Sourdough involves the cultivation and maintenance of your own yeast culture known as "starter". To make this start you mix water and flour and just leave it out, the next day, mix some more, leave it out. You continue this with ever increasing amounts. By the second day you should notice bubbles in the flour. This is yeast beginning to eat the flour and multiply in the flour. The yeast is literally just floating around in the sky and the flour acts like a fly trap, once the yeast hits it, it's gets stuck in there, but instead of killing it, it's the perfect environment for it.

Once your starter is mature, you mix it with bread flour, salt, water, then let it prove over about 9hrs and then bake!

To maintain the starter I just keep it in the fridge and feed it flour and water about once a week. When I want it for making dough, I pull it out and leave it on the kitchen window sill to warm up, top it up with flour and water and wait until it starts bubbling really actively.

Sourdough, being fermented like yoghurt and beer, is much healthier for us as human beings. The fermentation process breaks down the gluten and flour, releasing much more nutrients from the flour and helping our gut with the gluten. The rise of gluten intolerances are linked to our modern bread production processes. People who are gluten intolerant, not allergic or coeliac, can eat sourdough with no problems in most cases.

I'm just about to pull a loaf out of the oven while I'm writing this post.

Nothing like fresh bread and nothing like making something yourself.