While we’re doing snippets, try this.
Imagine the scenario. You are a smart young thing wanting to impress. You have an important dinner party coming up at the weekend and need to knock ’em dead. If only I knew how to make my own sourdough, you think, that would show them. Then on the shelves at Tesco (well alright, Waitrose) you see a bag marked “Pain de Campagne – Sourdough Premix. Just add water and salt”. Could be the next big thing …
Not exactly a thing of beauty, but this is the prototype. A loaf made from flour premixed with dehydrated starter in about 30 hours from scratch.
That gave Rick something to think about when he was up at New Year. It’s an absolutely pure sourdough made from organic flour. But along with additives and frozen dough we don’t approve of premixes, do we?
The PArtisan Baker 
Not far removed from my own practice of drying (on parchment) and then freezing my own sourdough for future use. But I don’t think I’d trust it to make an instant loaf! Seems like it’d need a few refreshings first.
Actually it looks like it proofed nicely – are you sure it didn’t have a tiny bit of commercial yeast in there too?
What a slur!! I’m deeply shocked. Commercial yeast has not darkened my doors for years.
I made a premix, made a sponge with half the premix and all of the water, let it ferment for 24 hours, mixed in the rest of the premix and the salt, let it ferment for about four hours, shaped it and whacked it in the tin (tins are useful for seeing how the dough is rising – don’t normally use them) baked after about another four hours.
Send me an email address – I have a drfugawe related story I’ve been meaning to send you for a while. Might offend some people.
Waitrose you say? So what is in this packet, dried sourdough and flour? Have you tried reproducing the premix with your own sourdough? If one can’t reproduce this then there might just be something else in the packet???
And, you didn’t say what it tasted like… was it acceptable to your delicate palate or a case of the emperor’s new clothes?
Vaguely curious…
Sorry Zeb, you missunderstand. I made the premix, it works, I am joking that it will be the next best thing since sliced …., and the supermarkets will snap up my invention.
ah – but I have seen sourdough bread mixes in aldi so the Germans have beaten you to it, though I think those ones are loaded with other stuff –
Dragons Den for you and Rick then…