Latest news with #ElaineBoddy
Daily Mail
17-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Professional baker reveals 'wasteful' kitchen error that could be costing hundreds of pounds
While the majority of recipes will instruct people to turn their oven on in step one, a top baker said it is an 'unnecessary' act in any cooking process. Sourdough expert and cookbook author Elaine Boddy claims to have 'proved' your food will come out of the oven the same whether it has been preheated or not. The British baker told Femail she hasn't preheated her oven and baking pans in more than six years, deeming it a 'wasteful' step. 'All of the recipes in all four of my sourdough books have been baked from a cold start, which includes standard sourdough loaves, sandwich loaves, Bundt pan loaves, rolls, cakes, crackers and more,' she said. 'And it's not just baking, whatever I cook at home I now put everything in the cold oven and then turn it on, and it works perfectly every time.' Boddy said a lot of recipes for sourdough call for the cook to preheat their ovens to very high temperatures or to preheat their baking pans for up to an hour before baking. She said this was 'wasteful' and 'unnecessary' as she noticed no difference in the quality of her baking when she stopped preheating. 'I stopped preheating my pan early on in my sourdough journey. I then decided to experiment with not preheating the oven too,' she said. 'I have two domestic ovens, side by side so I put one pan of dough into a preheated oven, and one in a cold oven, and compared the outcome. 'They both rose and baked well and the one that was baked from the cold start, baked to a bigger lighter loaf than the one in the preheated oven. From that day on I have baked everything I make from a cold start.' Boddy explained that preheating isn't necessary in both gas and electric ovens and it doesn't matter how long it takes for your oven to warm up. 'I've never had anything that hasn't baked or cooked properly as a result of not preheating my oven,' she said. 'The food writer, Orlando Murrin, has even proved that you don't need to preheat the oven to make Yorkshire puddings.' Boddy said she hasn't found any instances when preheating is a better option than a cold start but recommends people do whatever they feel comfortable with. 'In the end, if we are unsure about anything that we bake or cook being sufficiently done, it can always go back into the oven for more time,' she said. 'If anyone feels unsure about making that distinction, it's best to stick with what they're comfortable doing.' The sourdough pro added that she's met with 'incredulity' from fellow bakers for her anti-preheating methods. 'It's so ingrained into us that ovens should be preheated, that not to seems crazy, but when they then try it, it works,' she said. 'For anyone that isn't comfortable with the idea, or when it comes to AGA cookers or ovens that are always on, I always provide baking times for preheated ovens as well as cold starts. 'At the end of the day, all that matters is that people are happy with their creations, my suggestions are merely that.'
Daily Mirror
16-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Baker's easy sourdough recipe is 'much simpler' than classic methods
Baking expert Elaine Boddy has shared her 'master recipe' for perfect sourdough, which she says is 'much simpler than you may be thinking' - and warned people are overcomplicating the process. Crafting your own bread at home, like a sourdough loaf, not only gives you full control over the ingredients but also allows you to tweak it to your personal taste. Sourdough is often lauded as one of the healthiest bread options available, with the British Heart Foundation noting its lower glycaemic index, which means it won't spike your blood sugar levels as much as standard bread. While the art of sourdough can appear intimidating, with many bakers recounting numerous trials before achieving their ideal loaf, Elaine Boddy, a celebrated baking guru and author of four acclaimed bread-making books, reassures that it's easier than it looks. "For anyone new to sourdough, keep in mind that it's much simpler than you may be thinking," she encourages. She observes that the process has been unnecessarily complicated by some, causing undue fear and difficulty: "A lot of people have overcomplicated the whole process and made it seem scary and hard to make when it really isn't." Elaine has witnessed countless newcomers to sourdough become bogged down, baffled, and stressed, despite the fact that the process should be straightforward and enjoyable. However, even the most meticulous bakers can sometimes end up with loaves that are too sticky, gummy, or fragile, which Elaine identifies as signs of over-proofing, reports the Express. To help home bakers navigate these challenges, especially in warmer conditions, Elaine offers a valuable tip: "A top tip for home bakers right now: to avoid your dough over-proofing in the warmer temperatures, use less starter. "You can go as low as you need to, right down to 5g and less, and it will still work." The bread-making maestro spilled the beans on her foolproof sourdough method: "This is my master recipe. It's the basis for everything I do and forms the starting point for all of my recipes." Ingredients 50g starter (or less) 500g strong white bread flour, preferably Matthews Cotswold Flour, Churchill's white flour 350g water 1tsp salt How to make sourdough Elaine's method involves a few simple steps, including pulling and folding the dough several times over a couple of hours before leaving it to prove on the kitchen counter overnight. By cutting back on the starter quantity, just as Elaine recommends, the mixture develops at a gentle rhythm, eliminating any risk of over-proving. When dawn breaks, she moulds the risen dough within the bowl to suit a banneton, pops it in the fridge briefly, then slashes and bakes it directly from a stone-cold oven. "No preheating, no hot pans to deal with - works perfectly!" she declared. Once you've cracked the fundamental formula, Elaine urges bakers to dabble with various tastes and additions in their sourdough ventures.
