Introduction to Sourdough at Companion Bakery

In a previous post I raved about the sourdough bread from Companion Bakery at Oatlands in Tasmania's southern midlands. Last week I was lucky enough to attend their one day "Introduction to Sourdough" class. It was a fantastic day, immensely enjoyable and instructive. It provided both a good introduction to sourdough baking and an inside look at the world of a professional bakery and baker.

We had a perfect day for it, one of those lovely early autumn days we get in Tasmania, sunny and mild with a hint of the crispness to come as the weather gets cooler.  My day started with a 45 minute drive to Oatlands, mainly winding up through the Cole River valley, with only the last few minutes zooming along the Midlands Highway. It was a good start to the day.

The bakery is in a lovely, light and airy (if somewhat snug) building. The classes are kept to a maximum of eight participants and run from 9am to 5pm (-ish). The day revolves around baking a batch of sourdough, starting with a starter prepared by Graham, the baker and class teacher, the night before. The day is barely long enough to achieve this, and the periods waiting for the dough to prove are filled with discussions about sourdough baking, lunch and a tour of the Callington Mill. It all makes for a full day that flies past.

There really is no substitute for spending time with somebody as knowledgeable and generous as Graham, and getting your hands into the dough. The details of touch and smell are so important to this sort of process, and no amount of reading or videos can replace a day like this. 

The day is a good balance of learning about sourdough in a way that is directly relevant to the home baker, and seeing a professional (but artisan) operation that is way beyond this. The centrepiece of the bakery is their huge wood fired oven. It is fascinating to see the oven in action, and to learn about how it is fired and used over time. The dough and the oven really seem to set the rhythm for the bakery.

The highlight of the day is seeing (and smelling) the finished loaves coming out of this magnificent oven. I must admit that I drove home at the end of the day wearing an idiot grin, with my four loaves on the seat next to me (along with a sack of Callingtom Mill flour and my precious piece of starter).

While I say "my" loaves, I appreciate just how little credit I can take for them. Graham's gentle guidance throughout the class really shapes this bread - guiding the overall timing of the proving stages, managing the oven etc. So it was with some trepidation that I set out to make a batch of sourdough at home this week. It is a very different process without Graham taking a gentle poke at your dough and reassuring you that it looks ok. After a slightly nerve-wracking day I did, however, end up with four more serviceable loaves that I can more fully call my own.

I suspect that this class could be a little overwhelming if you had never baked a loaf of bread before, but for anybody with a modicum of baking experience and interest it is something I would highly recommend. Thanks to this start, I am looking forward to many more happy hours practicing, experimenting and learning.

Now if you will excuse me I have to go feed my starter ...

Update on 8:31 Saturday 13 August 2011 by John

It has been a bit over four months since I attended this class and I am still baking sourdough every week and loving it. For an update on my progress and my current method in gratuitous detail, check out this post.

For the full list of posts relating to my sourdough baking exploits, including pizza and pide, see the Sourdough Diary.

Comments

[Maedi]

Thanks for the read! I've added a link to this post from our classes page, cheers.