I am going to show you how to become your very own baker. It is so much easier than you think! And you do not need a bread maker machine. In fact sour dough bread is best NOT made in the machine as it needs longer to rise than yeast bread.

If you are on a low FODMAP diet this bread is suitable for you. If you cannot tolerate normal wheat bread this may also be suitable for you as ancient spelt flour is much healthier for us, and many people who cannot tolerate normal wheat can tolerate this. Note that it is not entirely gluten-free however so not suitable for people with coeliac disease or those who are actually allergic to gluten. There is something very special about this ancient wheat which was eaten by Roman Soldiers and probably Jesus Christ. It is not so artificial as modern wheat, and has a lower glycemic index certainly than shop bought white bread. And there is something different about the gluten which again means some who are intolerant to gluten can tolerate this. The fermenting process also digests the gluten.

I had been on a low FODMAP diet for a couple of months and bread free (since I hate all gluten free breads I have tried so far!). When I discovered this it was life changing! This video shows you just how easy it really is:

Caring for your Sour Dough Starter

If you know someone who is a sour dough chef, you can get a sample of their starter. Or Amazon and other online stores will sell you a culture that has in some cases been used for more than a hundred years! It is the closest thing to a pet I personally own!

On arrival (or if you take it out of the fridge / defrost it)

Feed your Sour dough with one or two cups of flour and the same amount of bottled or filtered water (NOT TAP AS THIS MAY KILL YOUR CULTURE).

Leave it out at room temperature for 24 hours. Discard half your culture if desired or use for Sour Dough Scones or pancakes (recipe to follow!). Feed again and 24 hours later you have active dough.

This will remain active at room temperature for a few days of not being used. If you want to store it for longer it can be kept in a fridge for several months but will need reactivating. It is a good idea to freeze a sample of your sour dough mix early on in case you damage it at some point and want to start again.

How to Bake a Sour Dough Spelt Loaf

One Loaf Ingredients

540g (4 cups) (1lb 3oz) wholembeal spelt flour
2 table spoon salt
425ml (2 cups) water
240g (1 cup) sour dough starter
Optional: mixed seeds 150g (1 cup)

Method

1. Add one cup of water and one cup of flour to your active sour dough culture. Leave for three hours at room temperature (less if on top of a radiator or in an airing cupboard or other hot place). The culture should show a few bubbles.
2. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl to form a dough. Kneading is not required.
3. Either cover bowl with plastic or a damp towel to allow the dough to rise or spoon the dough into your loaf tin (lined with oiled greaseproof paper (also known as baking or parchment paper) Leave for at least 8 hours at room temperature or overnight. You can accelerate the process by placing the tin on a radiator.
4. Pre-heat an oven to 190C / 375F / Gas Mark 5
5. Bake for 45 minutes

I will include a couple of variations below. One day I decided to make some flatbread / naan bread to eat with a curry. I simply made 1.5 times the recipe and used a third of the dough to cook my flat bread on a grill pan.

One and a half (for flatbread!)

810g (6 cups) (1lb 12iz) wholembeal spelt flour
3 table spoon salt
3 cups (640ml) water
360g (1 1/2 cup) sour dough starter
Optional: mixed seeds 300g (2 cup)

Two loaves Mixed Wholemeal / White / Oats
540g (4 cups) (1lb 3oz) wholemeal spelt flour
270g (2 cups (9.5 ounces) Porridge Oats
270g (2 cups (9.5 ounces) White spelt flour
4 table spoons salt
850ml (4 cups) water.
480g (2 cup) sour dough starter
5 table spoons stevia – erythroyol mixture or sugar (you could add sweetener to taste to the one loaf recipe too if you prefer)

See Also