Kombucha Sourdough

Serving 2-3 pax
Preparation Time 1 hr (excluding standing time for starter kit)
Skill Intermediate
Ingredients

Sourdough starter:
For best results, create your starter a few days before baking. An easy way to remember starter ratios is 1+1 flour and liquid,

125g Flour
125ml of Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp^

^Any Remedy Kombucha flavour – our team recommends Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp, which is what we have used in this recipe.

Sourdough:

  • Levain ingredients
    50g (2 tbsp) Sourdough starter
    80g (80 ml, or ⅓ cup) Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp
    75g (½ cup) strong bread or pizza flour
  • Dough ingredients
    500g (500ml or 2 cups) Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp
    700g (4⅔ cups) strong bread or pizza flour, plus extra for dusting
    2½ tsp fine sea salt
Sourdough starter:

Method
Mix 125g flour + 125g Remedy Kombucha, stand for 12-24 hours. After this time, discard half of the starter and then feed it the 60-75g each of flour and Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp. Repeat this step every 12-24 hours until your starter is doubling in size and smells of both apples and bread.

Sourdough
For the recipe, use about half of your starter, and keep the other half in a jar in the fridge for future baking. Feed this fridge based starter every few days, by discarding half of the mix, and feeding it fresh flour and Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp.

To make your bread, first make a mix of your starter, flour and more Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp. This first stage makes what is called Levain, or a ‘sponge’. More flour, liquid and salt are then added to create the dough. The quantities of Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp and flour below are a good guide, however sometimes your mix will need a little more flour, or a little less liquid depending on the weather, temperature, and type of flour used.

Sourdough:

Method

  1. Feed your sourdough starter to get it active, 4 — 8 hours
  2. Make the levain. Combine your starter, flour and Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp in a medium bowl. Mix it until combined, and then cover with plastic wrap and leave it to stand in a nice warm part of the kitchen. Overnight works best. By morning it should have expanded and look very bubbly.
  3. Make the dough. Combine the levain with half the Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp set aside for this stage, and then mix until smooth, add the remaining Remedy Kombucha Apple Crisp to the mix. Sift the flour and salt, and then add to the wet ingredient mixture. Mix this with a wooden spoon until you have a very basic rough looking dough. Cover this bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for an hour.
  4. Unwrap the bowl and take a corner of the dough in one hand. Stretch it away from the dough slightly, and then fold this stretched piece back on top of the dough. Turn the bowl 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and repeat this step three more times. Cover again with the plastic wrap, and set aside in a nice warm place for a further 30 minutes. Repeat this process four to five more times. By this stage, the dough will look very uniform and smooth. After the final folding, cover again and let it stand for about an hour until the dough is puffed.
  5. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Cut your dough into two pieces. Shape these two pieces into two loaves. At this stage, you can use a loaf tin, proving baskets, a dutch oven, or a baking tray to shape the type of loaf you want. Use non-stick baking paper to line or place the loaf for baking. Once shaped, cover your loaves with a floured tea towel, oiled plastic wrap or baking paper, and then stand somewhere warm and draught free for a final rising.
  6. Preheat the oven to 240 C (220 C fan forced). Place the loaves in the oven and throw in a handful of ice cubes into the bottom of the oven. This will help create a great crust!
  7. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature by 20 degrees (220 C, or 200 C fan-forced). Bake for another 15-20 minutes until the crust has a nice deep colour to it, and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Take the loaves out of the oven to cool on a wire rack for about an hour. DELISH.

Helpful tip! The best part of the recipe is there is no kneading. The activity of the live cultures does all the work! You just fold the dough a few times with rests in between. 4-6 times works best.

Once you’ve mastered the art of Kombucha Sourdough, start experimenting with all your favourite Remedy flavours!

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