Right now, I am sitting at my computer listening to the hum of the oven while inside it, three delicious loaves of home-made sourdough bread are slowly but surely rising.
If you have ever made bread, you will know that it is not easy. In fact, it is incredibly difficult. I honestly don't know how bakers do it...
You can buy starter and yeast already made however I decided to make my bread completely from scratch. This meant a 4 week long process just to make the starter! You have to feed the starter every morning (flour and water, nothing else) to keep the bacteria alive and chuck out the excess when it gets too big. As you can probably imagine, it uses lots of flour!!!
Then you have the bread making week - yes, this process takes longer than just 20 minutes in the oven. First you have to feed it 3 times in a day (morning, lunch and night) and then you have to let it prove overnight. The next day is mixing day when you make the dough. Yesterday, I spent 40 minutes kneading my dough while singing along to Blondie - it was great! The third day is baking day which starts bright and early at 6am! Luckily, you just have to take the dough out of the fridge and then you can climb back into bed ;) Let the dough prove a final bit and then chuck them in the oven for lunch.
Just in time for lunch, I have just taken my three loaves out of the oven and boy oh boy they look amazing!!! I am super excited to try them but I won't lie, this process has been a tough one.
Making bread takes a lot of time and I can't say time is something I have a lot of at the moment. I'm very busy with school work and activities that fitting in kneading dough isn't easy. It also takes up a lot of flour and bowls - not super efficient when it comes to washing up. And then you have to chuck out a heap of starter every few days which in itself, is very wasteful. So although we get three delicious loaves of bread every week, I have to ask myself, "is this sustainable?".
Luckily, my mum is awesome and she has helped me a lot with my bread-making efforts (as she used to make bread quite frequently). She fed the bread when I was at school and working, even taking the starter to her shop! She is pretty awesome! I love that this is a team effort but I'm not sure I can rely on her to do this on a regular basis.
The great thing about making bread is that, once you have spent the four weeks making the starter, you can make your three loaves every week. 3 loaves a week! We won't ever have to buy bread again!!! It is made completely plastic free and contains nothing but flour, water and salt! It's amazing!
A new bakery has just opened up in North Balgowlah called Staple. If you are looking for some really good quality bread, definitely check it out! They are always busy in the mornings so make sure you get there early!!!
Then you have the bread making week - yes, this process takes longer than just 20 minutes in the oven. First you have to feed it 3 times in a day (morning, lunch and night) and then you have to let it prove overnight. The next day is mixing day when you make the dough. Yesterday, I spent 40 minutes kneading my dough while singing along to Blondie - it was great! The third day is baking day which starts bright and early at 6am! Luckily, you just have to take the dough out of the fridge and then you can climb back into bed ;) Let the dough prove a final bit and then chuck them in the oven for lunch.
Just in time for lunch, I have just taken my three loaves out of the oven and boy oh boy they look amazing!!! I am super excited to try them but I won't lie, this process has been a tough one.
Making bread takes a lot of time and I can't say time is something I have a lot of at the moment. I'm very busy with school work and activities that fitting in kneading dough isn't easy. It also takes up a lot of flour and bowls - not super efficient when it comes to washing up. And then you have to chuck out a heap of starter every few days which in itself, is very wasteful. So although we get three delicious loaves of bread every week, I have to ask myself, "is this sustainable?".
Luckily, my mum is awesome and she has helped me a lot with my bread-making efforts (as she used to make bread quite frequently). She fed the bread when I was at school and working, even taking the starter to her shop! She is pretty awesome! I love that this is a team effort but I'm not sure I can rely on her to do this on a regular basis.
The great thing about making bread is that, once you have spent the four weeks making the starter, you can make your three loaves every week. 3 loaves a week! We won't ever have to buy bread again!!! It is made completely plastic free and contains nothing but flour, water and salt! It's amazing!
A new bakery has just opened up in North Balgowlah called Staple. If you are looking for some really good quality bread, definitely check it out! They are always busy in the mornings so make sure you get there early!!!
After my bread-making adventure, I have to say I have so much respect for bakers who do this every day. It really is NOT easy and it takes a lot of persistence. I hope that you can all have a go at making bread one day (because despite the effort, it is super fun!) and next time you grab bread, please just take a moment to appreciate how much time and effort (and flour!) went into making that delicious loaf!