Sourdough

For the past week I've busily been feeding my first ever sourdough starter.

I have a breadmaker which I often use when I need bread however, I tend to stick with the basic french loaf recipe provided in the instruction booklet. About a week ago I decided I would branch out and try sourdough, which I have always wanted to make, but is very labour-intensive.

I started by mixing strong bread flour and warm water together to form a runny paste. After leaving it for 24 hours, I noticed the natural yeasts in the air had started to form bubbles on the surface. From then onwards, I fed the mixture with fresh flour and water everyday (discarding some of the original paste each time).  After a week it looked like this:

Not the most appertising thing but it meant that I could start making my bread. I measured out 100ml of the starter with 250g plain flour and 300ml warm water.

 
Once all the ingredients were together in a large bowl, I slowly mixed it together with my hand. I wanted to get as much air in as possible, and for the sponge (this stage of the dough) to be as smooth as possible.

Once I'd achieved a soft, liquid batter, I covered the bowl with cling film and left it to ferment overnight...