Making great sourdough follows a simple recipe: flour + water + salt + time + passion.

However, much of the bread we eat today has sadly taken a different turn. The majority of bread made in the UK is produced using the Chorleywood Bread Process (CBP), developed in 1961, designed to make bread in a short time and using lower-protein wheat. This form of bread-making is often mixed with additives such as Vitamin C, emulsifiers and enzymes.

CBP has its detractors. The industrial scale of the process comes at a nutritional cost, requiring larger amounts of salt and yeast than traditional bread recipes. Others complain about the inferior flavour and texture of bread made in this way.

It is in this context that there has been a rise of artisan bakers who are focused on producing flavourful bread, using quality ingredients. Ed is one such baker who has chosen to focus on the baking of sourdough bread.

Ed wakes at 2 a.m. each working day - this is not an enterprise for the faint of heart. “I’ve had my achievements in life but none has been as fulfilling as making sourdough bread.”

The pictures below show some of the process of making sourdough: making, weighing, shaping and pinching out the dough, putting the dough into baskets to prove, and finally baking. Typically, the process from start to finish takes place over two days.

When some of Ed’s customers nicknamed him Ed baker, it stuck and he’s now adopted it as the name of his business.

Visit Ed iamedbaker.com