On our radar: Goldie sourdough jar warmer

I’m beginning to wonder if my devices are spying on me. It’s not just my online searches that I’m thinking about – sometimes I think they’re actually listening in to my conversations!

For instance, I was in the garden having a chat with my neighbour about mini-chainsaws… as you do. That same evening, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and, lo and behold, I was shown an ad for… a mini-chainsaw. That’s just too niche… and spooky!

Anyway, a similar thing happened after I posted about a Brød & Taylor sourdough warmer a fortnight ago. This
Goldie sourdough jar warmer popped up in my Insta-feed; a gadget that I would have wanted, if only I know one had been invented… and now there are two on the market.

Goldie by Sourhouse™ provides just enough warmth to keep a sourdough starter consistently in the “Goldilocks Zone” of 75-82ºF (~24-28ºC) where it is the most active and healthy, so bakers can bake their best bread all year round without warming up their whole house…
…Goldie only uses 5 Wh max and it only warms when you starter needs a boost. It is the most efficient way to get your starter active.

The Sourhouse™ Goldie sourdough jar warmer is a far better looking specimen than the Brød & Taylor version. I love its ‘bell jar’ / cloche look. The Goldie is a ‘warmer’; however, it comes with a cooling ‘puck’. It’s stored in the freezer and is put under the jar when the environment is too heated.

The Goldie currently retails at £104.00 / $129.00.

BUY Goldie sourdough jar warmer

On our radar: Brød & Taylor Sourdough Home

I’ve been waiting a very long time for a gadget like the Brød & Taylor Sourdough Home to be invented.

Some of you may have been following my sourdough journey for the past few years. I’m often bemoaning the chilliness of our kitchen (our current one AND the one in our previous house). The cold temperature causes my sourdough starter to be sluggish and makes my loaves slow to prove.

The Brød & Taylor Sourdough Home is the answer to that problem. It acts like a little tepidarium for my glass jar of starter, keeping it at the optimum temperature for the wild yeast to thrive.

Not only that, when I want a break from baking – and a pause in feeding my starter, it will chill it to allow it to go into a sort of hibernation. This will also suit bakers who have a kitchen that is too warm and makes their starter fizz with overactivity… something that I’ve never experienced!

It currently retails at £129.00.

BUY Brød & Taylor Sourdough Home HERE

Cakes & Bakes: Bottle of beer bread

A friend of ours has a micro-bar that sells an ever-changing selection of beers produced by micro-breweries all over the world. Doesn’t everyone want a friend like that?

Anyhow, we looked after their dog for them on occasion, and they thanked us with a few different bottles of beer. One of the bottles, a Buxton Brewery IPA, didn’t get drunk for ages, so I decided to use it to make a bottle of beer bread loaf.

I used my usual liquid to starter to flour ratio, but I felt the resultant dough was a little too wet, so I’ve upped the flour content by 50 grams in my recipe below. Perhaps I needed to weigh how much 330cl of beer weighs compared to 330cl of water!

The time this loaf takes to prepare can vary widely depending on the temperature of your kitchen (ours rarely gets above 15ºC… in the summer), and whether you refrigerate your dough whilst it bulk ferments. Sometimes, if it’s really cold, I shut the covered dough in the microwave (pre-warmed by leaving a mug of boiling water in there).

It is helpful to know when estimating rising time according to room temperature that the rate of fermentation, or rising, is about double for every 15°F [8°C] increase in temperature. The Bread Bible

The resultant loaf was hoppy, tangy and flavoursome. It was delicious with a bit of mature cheddar or just with butter and gorgeous a few days later toasted.

Click here or on the image below to save my bottle of beer bread recipe to Pinterest

Bottle of beer bread

2020-07-23 11:05:05

Yields 1

Cook Time

30 min

Cook Time

30 min

Ingredients

330ml bottle of beer
115g/4oz starter @ 100% hydration
175g/6oz wholemeal flour
375g/13oz white flour
8g/¼oz salt

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Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the beer and the starter, getting rid of a lot of the fizz from the beer
Mix in the flours and salt, then turn out on to a work surface (I like to use a large marble board as it's very non-stick) and knead for 5 minutes
Form the dough into a ball, put it back into the mixing bowl, cover and leave to prove until double in size (the warmer your kitchen, the quicker this will happen)
Scrape the dough out of the bowl back on to the work surface, fold and shape the dough into a round and place it in a well-floured, circular banneton (smooth-side down). Prove again until double in size
Preheat the oven to 250ºC/475ºF/Gas mark 9 (put your cloche or stone [if using] in the oven to preheat as well, at this point)
Once the oven has reached the correct temperature, carefully remove the dough from the banneton, score and bake for 30 minutes (you can take the lid off the cloche for the final 10 minutes to get a lovely brown crust)
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before attempting to slice

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf

I have found my new ‘go to’ sourdough loaf recipe; a run-of-the-mill, no frills method that has worked for me perfectly every time. I give you… **loud trumpeting sound** the Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf!

It’s the unfussiest sourdough loaf recipe I’ve come across, and it’s also the best tasting. With the scarcity of strong bread flour (all flour, to be fair) because of the Covid lockdown, I bought a few kilos direct from Shipton Mill and boy, did their Extra Course Organic Wholemeal Flour make a difference to the finished loaf. The flavour was incredible; I won’t be going back to the common or garden supermarket own brand version.

The recipe came from Gordon, a small-scale baker who bakes 5 times per week, selling his loaves locally. I’m not sure if he’s based in the Devon town of Buckfastleigh – which I think may be the origin of the bread’s title.

The recipe directions are very spare; perhaps not the best to give a go if you’re a complete newbie. However, he gives a more detailed breakdown of the method (broken down into two separate posts) – complete with photographs – on the Fresh Loaf blog.

In it, he reveals his views on the matter… about which I wholeheartedly agree:

Sourdough – I do not think there is any magic to it… Here’s my take; It’s just bread. Get over it and just do it.
Sure – you can apply rules, you can take far more care with it that I appear to do, you can regiment the process and create rules – if what you’re after is something extra special. The one loaf a week you make and you want to take pride in it and make sure its the best there is. And that’s fine. I’m making basic daily sourdough bread here and for that, there is nothing special. No tricky processes, no strict timings or (within reason) temperatures. Gordon, on the Fresh Loaf blog

Want to give it a try? Click here or on the image below to save the recipe to Pinterest

Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf

Gordon

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Course Bread

Cuisine British

Servings 1 kg loaf

Ingredients

100 g wholemeal
400 g white
150 g starter @ 100% hydration
8 g salt
300 g water

Instructions

Mix, knead, leave overnight, shape into a boule, put in a cloth-lined basket/banneton, leave to prove (maybe 2 hours, do the finger poke test) and into a 250ºC oven with a cup of water splashed on the bottom (in a metal tin) and down to 210ºC after 12 minutes for another 25 minutes.

Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf ingredients

Keyword bread, loaf, sourdough