Can you guess how many ingredients our purple potato sourdough bread contains?
4….yup, only 4 ingredients!!! And that is how bread should be made!
Did you know? The average store-bought bread can contain up to or over 20 ingredients, most of which don’t bring any benefits to the body?!?
Preservatives, bleaches (e.g. chlorine dioxide gas), additives, stabilizers, anti-caking, corn syrup, hydrogenated fats, emulsifiers, bulkers, milk whey, and of course artificial yeast (above other things….list was too long to type out).
It becomes very clear why so many people have a problem with bread, when actually all it should be are 3 ingredients…..water, flour salt, and in our case purple potato flour for an extra superfood boost. Even a natural fermented started is made only of flour and water!
So let’s get straight into the Purple Potato Sourdough bread recipe
- 275g starter
- 30g salt
- 850g water
- 1kg stone-ground whole wheat flour (if you can find a GMO free one, that would be ideal)
- 1 cup PURPLE POTATO FLOUR
-
ceramic pot with a lid
- Mix the water & starter together in a large baking bowl.
- Add the flour & salt slowly, mixing consistently until everything is mixed in. No need for kneading.
- The dough that is formed must not be too dry, there must be a little “stickiness” to the touch.
- Place a damp cloth over and allow to rest for 30min.
- After 30 minutes, you are going to perform a stretch and folding process. Don’t overthink it…..I know many bread makers who get so technical it can scare one off…just see this part as dough therapy and have fun with the feeling.
- Grab a corner of the dough and pull it up and into the center. Repeat until you’ve performed this series of folds 4 to 5 times with the dough. Let dough rest for another 30 minutes and repeat the stretching and folding action. If you have the time (again don’t overthink it if you don’t have time): do this twice more for a total of 4 times in 2 hours
- Shape into a ball, place into a well-floured bowl and allow it to proof for 15-24hrs in the refrigerator (yes, this can take 2 days…..there is a reason why “instant bread” is so unhealthy for you).
- When it has nearly doubled in size and you are ready to bake (ps….don’t let it over proof to the point where it is crawling out of the fridge, keep an eye on it ;), heat the over to 230 degrees Celcius with the ceramic baking pot inside (not with the bread yet….)
- Once it has reached the optimal heat, remove the pot (its going to be fudge hot, so please be careful), gentle “plop” the bread dough into the hot pot.
- If you want to be fancy you can score the dough with a sharp blade.
- Place the lid on, and into the over for 30min at the high temp of 230 degrees C.
- After 30min, remove the lid and bake for another 20-30min at 210 degrees Celcius.
- You will see that the crust goes brown, through the purple.
- Once done, remove and allow to cool.
If you don’t have a ceramic pot (it’s ideal), I use a cake tin. It will bake for a little less, but you will easily see when it is golden brown. Just be sure that the oven rack is in the middle.
To test if bread is baked through, take a sharp knife and insert it in the middle. If it comes out “clean” it is done. If it comes out sticky, it needs a few more minutes.
And that is purple potato sourdough bread making 101.
Now there are HUGE benefits to using sourdough bread, and it’s NOT difficult to make! As I mentioned….there are only 2 ingredients!!
To learn how to make your own starter, and WHY it is so good for you, head on over to EARTH REBEL FERMENTARY to get the recipe and be inspired by fermented foods.
CLICK HERE to learn how to make a sourdough starter (no premixes, there is nothing better than the real thing)!
