On Thu, 22 Apr 2021 21:04:10 +0100, "Nicholas D. Richards"
Nope. You've got it. Mine is a fake sourdough because it doesn't
contain any -erme- sourdough. Flour, water, salt and a tiny amount of
yeast[1]. Mix them all up and put them in a comfortably warm place and
let it do its own thing in a sealed plastic bag for 18 - 36 hours -
depending on how comfortably warm the comfortably warm place is.
When you come back to it the next day you should have a bubbling mass
of dough. Bake it in an excruciatingly hot oven inside a pre-heated,
lidded container. My son uses a cast-iron Dutch Oven, I use an
enamelled metal casserole. The lid keeps the steam in and makes the
crust crusty. Try not to disturb the bubbling mass too much and keep
any re-shaping before baking to an absolute minimum.
Bake it at that excruciatingly hot temperature for 15mts then turn it
down to about 180 for another 15mts. Then turn it out of the tin and
bake it on the oven rails for another 15+ minutes at about 140 until
it passes your test for being "done."
Nick
[1]This is one recipe I do by proportions rather than weight. Three
units[2] strong white flour to 1 unit of warm water with a sensible
amount of salt + about 1/4 teaspoon of yeast regardless of how big the
loaf is going to be. In 24hrs that yeast is going to have buggered off
and got busy in all corners of the dough.
[2]Cups, tin cans, whiskey glasses, buckets, whatever