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Rye & Spelt Sourdough - Looking for a recipe
hello,
I would like to make a Rye and Spelt sourdough loaf. Can anyone please share a good recipe.
I enjoy the dark rye breads but looking at making something with Rye and Spelt only. I have Rye flour, Wholemeal Spelt and White Spelt flour.
Thanks! | Check out Spelt On The Beach
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/28855/spelt-beachCheers,Juergen |
Wild Yeast Discoloration
My barm has been rocking for months, fed regularly every week (8 ounces of barm to 16 ounces of bread flour and 16 ounces of water). Then a few weeks ago I notice a SLIGHT red/orange discoloration. I shrug and ignore it. Every week since there's been more. Now it's practically across the entire... | I don't know what that is, but it frightens me.
I'd throw the entire thing out. It looks like the red bacteria Serratia marcescens that colonize a shower or toilet. It often grows in standing liquids that are devoid of chlorine.I also see what looks like a blue-purple bacteria. That scares me as well. |
very odd surface to starter
Has anyone ever seen a film on the top of unfed starter like this? I have taken some of the sludge, and plan to feed it but am feeling rather anxious it might be toxic? I was at a friends house, she said she hadn't fed her starter for ages, we took the lid off and it looked like this: | Short answer: No
I have never seen a starter surface that looked like that! Since there appears to be mold growing on container walls (the white dots on the left-hand side), I'd give it the heave-ho and start a new one.Paul |
Finally cracked sourdough!
Well I’ve finally achieved it, after numerous attempts to get a good starter going, and varied success at baking a beautiful sourdough loaf, with them being either too sour, or not rising. I can finally reveal a Sourdough loaf that I’m over the moon with. I was given a great sourdough start... | Congratulations! Getting the
Congratulations! Getting the hang of sourdough is such a rewarding experience. Knowing that you made bread simply using the wild yeast present in the flour and air is something to marvel at. You loaf looks quite delicious. As does your whole blog. The seafood especially had my mouth waterin... |
Is it dead ?
... my starter seams dead... has stop breathing... After a few hours of feeding it has a layer of liquid on top and no sign of bubbles.... Is it gone? | I'm guessing it
is just playing possum. Patience......then wait some more :-) |
Starter Build is Yielding Too Much...Help!
Hi, all. I am here once again to draw on your expertise in the area of sourdough starters. I have kept a successful 100% hydration starter for about 6 months now and have been enjoying using it to make breads, bagels, etc.However - I find I'm having a little dilemma, because a... | The only thing that comes to
The only thing that comes to my mind is perhaps you are forgetting to divide the amount that you need in two, for the two components? For example, if you start with 40 gm of starter and need 100 gm for the recipe, be sure you are adding 50 gm water and 50 gm flour, not 100 gm of each. Asi... |
My starter won't double between feeding!
I was wondering if anyone out there could help me with my starter troubleshooting? I've been at this a while trying to create and store a good starters and I've tried everything. Right now I am using Ed Woods book as help. I have a good starter it smells good and will rise but o... | Temperature?
Hi Sarah ...
What ambient temperatures are you living and baking in? Yeast is highly sensitive to temperature - so you can help control its behaviour, particularly its feeding and doubling habits, by raising or lowering the temperature you keep it in.
Sourness in the finished loaf can also be controlled b... |
Is it normal for my sourdough starter reaching peak too fast?
Hi,I am from Borneo (which located at tropical zone) and I have started a sourdough starter 20 days ago. The details: Water and high protein flour at 100% hydration, storing temperature range 28C~30C and feeding once at every 24hrs. Normally i do the feeding... | No problem, looking good!
No problem, looking good! Enjoy! |
How do I determine hydration?
Hi all, i just started baking sourdough. It's coming out pretty ok, I am still just getting used to getting the loaves looking pretty, but I had a quandary, but I am not sure if it actually matters.however, I hae no idea what the hydration is because I am doing it by look and feel and hav... | Figuring hydration for cups is not very accurate
and can only be a guess at best. A lot depends on exactly how you measure the flour per cup. Anywhere from 125g to 135g per cup for spoon and levelers, up to 150g for scoopers and shakers. Hydration is obtained by dividing the water weight by the weight of the flour a... |
Oregon Trail sourdough
Was getting tired of challah, struan, and ciabatta, so revived my frozen, powdered Oregon Trail sourdough and made pain au levain using the recipe in Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads. Took three days but WOW! I wouldn't have believed that plain flour, water, and salt could taste so good. | Sourdough cultures...
So to link with the other thread in this topic, do you think your revival of the 150-yr old sourdough culture is truly a 150 yr old culture? Or just a naturally occurring sourdough? Would a naturally occurring sourdough taste as good as your 150 yr old culture? How much sentiment goes into the Ore... |
Starting a starter... more questions....
Hi all. I am new to sourdough. So new that I am still working on growing the first one and have never baked with it. I've done some nice baguettes and ciabatta and plety of cakes (so not quite a newbie around the oven) and just for fun (or as a normal evolution?) I found myself ... | Hello, MoonshineSG
- is that smell "normal" ? - how do I know if my starter is "happy". how do I know is it's "hungry" or overfed (can it be overfed)? That's mostly normal, although the acetone odor develops when the starter is underfed, so feed your starter now. Different people perceive odors differently, so you wil... |
And now for something completely different ...
I have trialled storing George (of the Jungle) in a number of different ways. Good thing George adores me ... 'cause some of the ways, he didn't like so much (but he's vigorous enough, that he flatly refused to die).So, sourdough George has been stored ...1/ As a wet sourd... | I just moved Penelope to an
I just moved Penelope to an 8QT food prep container as I'm about to really ramp up my baking experiments. Prior to that she was being housed in an exponentially increasing number of solo cups. They were actually great for portion maintenance but quickly overran my counterspace. I try to ke... |
My first loaf!
Obviously, my starter is smarter than I am! Despite my best efforts to make things difficult, it managed to make a decent loaf of bread!! I have so much to learn and the variables seem endless. I took good notes and already have an idea of what went wrong and what I'll change with the next loaf. I'm just... | Baking bread can
be addictive so why not feed the addition and bake on :-) |
How to store high percentage rye bread appropriately?
Hi,I'd like to know how you guys store your rye bread? What if they contain fruit, nuts or cheese?I used to wrap in baker's linen and just put on the table at room temperature. However, the weather is so hot these day, I'm worried it might spoil...Any suggesestion?m... | You do not define "high
You do not define "high percentage" and it does make a difference. I store 100% rye with flax seeds wrapped tightly in a plastic bag and kept in the refrigerator. I know that this runs contrary to everything said about proper bread storage but this is 100% rye and that is a very different beas... |
quite a flat bread
Hello, i finally had my sourdough going :).. it is quite active (doubles in less than 8 hours) probably because of the very hot weather here (around 37c). i ve been trying the recipe from KAF (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/extra-tangy-sourdough-bread-recipe) for a basic sourdough bread to ge... | Steam?
Are you getting enough steam in the oven during the first part of the bake? Adequate steam is necessary so that the dough can undergo oven spring without the outer crust setting too soon, thus giving the loaf maximum lift. Without adequate steam the outer surface of the dough will set and form a crust before th... |
what is yw?
Hi all, I have been busy reading blogs and posts, and I have noticed that many contain the abbreviation yw. Then somewhere I saw the words yeast water. What is that? is yw the abbreviation for yeast water, as WY is the abbreviation for wild yeast (as opposed to commercial yeast?)Thanks in advance for your h... | Really depends on context, but...
YW is often an apreviation for You're Welcome. Not sure if this is the YW you are referring to.....Frosty |
I have a terrible problem getting my starter going.
I think this is my 3rd or 4th time trying to get my starter working using the pineapple juice method. The 1st and 2nd time using water, flower, and using the recipe from the "Artesian Breads" book from Culinary Institute of America. The 1st and 2nd time, the start sme... | Do you use wheat only?
I have successfully done rye sourdoughs for years, but always had trouble getting a wheat culture to work. Until fairly recently -when I got pointed to a recipe by Frank Sally. He uses 5% wholegrain rye flour in the starter. That seemed to do the trick. I have got a very stable wheat culture as w... |
Sourdough: 2 questions
Sourdough: two questionsQuestion 1: Has everyone heard of this recipe?Watching the Norwegian cooking show and found this recipe suggested:1-Organic apple peals mixed with water and sugar allowed to rest over night, then2-Add rye flour and allow 3-4 days for bubbles to appear; feed regularly.3-Mi... | cheapest way
day 1 mix 30 grams of yogurth + 20 gr of rye flour; stir every 8-12 hoursday 2 add 30 grams of yogurth + 20 gr of rye flour; stir every 8-12 hours. You will surely see the first signs of fermentation.day 3, guess! add 30 grams of yogurth + 20 gr of rye flour. Most likely the starter will rise furiously and... |
Some pictures. Some questions. Some help needed!
Hello,my quest for ears goes on. I have taken on board much of what has been helpfully advised on this wonderful forum but other than gaining experience and lots of tasty bread, I'm no nearer to the spring and ears I so desire.The above is a 15% rye, 65% hydration loaf b... | Overfermented. 7 hours plus
Overfermented. 7 hours plus overnight is too long. What do you mean by "medium humidity"? Is your oven a steam oven? How are you managing humidity? How are you developing gluten? You said "mixer". What does that mean? How long did you mix the dough? I'm seeing scoring that is too s... |
oil vs flour
I have a question: why do some recipes call for placing the dough in a well greased/oiled bowl, turning it to coat the dough, and some call for dusting the dough with flour and placing in a bowl to rise? Does it make a difference if the recipe calls for one act, yet you do the other?Sandy | Oiling a bowl keeps the dough
Oiling a bowl keeps the dough from sticking but dough does not really stick too badly anyway. Not oiling the bowl allows the dough to "grab" the sides of the bowl and some say that this is important in the rising phase. This is largely a matter of preference as I have experienced little ... |
another starter question
My starter is nearly 2 yrs old, made from Peter Reinhart's method, 100% hydration. Trying to establish a path to a good starter has been very difficult as there are conflicting "rules" from different sources. I decided to go by what he said and follow it all the way. I have had excellent result... | Doubling would be doubling
Doubling would be doubling the mass, so 50g starter, 25g water, and 25g flour. I'm not familiar with the Reinhart's sourdough methods, so I can't commend any further; many others here will be. :) |
Too much gluten development?
There's one recipe I normally use, which is very simple, and around 71% hydration (150 starter, 300 water, 450 flour). I never have any problems, so I thought I'd move onto something new, which naturally leads to this post. I didn't follow a recipe, which might make this a little tricky, ... | It probably isn't over-development, Grenage
Did you include any salt in the soaker? If not, enzymes in the flour (white? whole wheat?) may have converted enough of the starches, or gluten, or both, into other things to damage the dough during the lengthy soak. I don't recall seeing any hard and fast rules about use o... |
Using starter out of the fridge
HI all,I feel pretty confident that the question I am going to ask has been asked, and answered, maybe even many times, and I have probably read the answer somewhere on this forum but for some reason my brain is not comprehending, so I am going to ask you all to bear with me, and pretty ... | It may take some experimentation
Starter and starter maintenance is as individual as people are. Listen to all the advice,follow some and discard other.I have adapted my recipes to use a preferment similar to what you are suggesting.THursday night-take starter out of refrig and discard/feed as appropriate (discard can ... |
Authentic Extra Sour San Francisco Sourdough Starter
I purchased a packet of dried Authentic Extra Sour San Francisco Sourdough Starter. Directions called for 1 tbs of the dried culture, 1 cup flour & 1 cup warm water. Cover bowl & ideally put in 85 degree temp for 1 1/2 - 3 days stirring 2-3 times daily. Then trans... | No surprise here
For lots of reasons you are not alone in failing to revive a dried starter by using the directions that come on the package.For the most part it is due to the lack of knowledge of the supplier and has nothing to do with your ability to follow instructions. I could go on and on about what is wrong with... |
how long is too long to proof a culture?
I am new to sourdough baking, and am using Ed Wood's Classic Sourdoughs as a baseline until I become more familiar with sourdough baking. Due to less than optimal planning, I wasn't able to commence the recipe after the 8-12 hour "Culture Proof" (at room temperature) specified b... | if you have just added water to the dried starter 24 hrs ago
I would say that it is good so. Although I am not familiar with the instructions, I find that 12 hours after first wetting a dry starter (re-hydrating) is too soon if you expect the starter to raise the bread dough. You should see activity in the starter. ... |
Sour Dough recipe questions.
HI All,*sigh* Let me try again to submit my questions- After 30 minutes of typing and copying, somehow I lost the entire thing when I hit save!Anyway, here I go: I have been trying to use the recipe supplied by Gold Rush in their sour dough starter packet (yes, I got frustrated and tried a ... | Sounds like your starter needs help
Sandy,It sounds like your starter needs refreshing or is not active enough. There are numerous formulas posted on TFL that will give you the steps needed for getting your starter activated. Rather than try to critique your method, below is a link to a detail formula (for reference ... |
Week-old starter behavior questions
Hi all,After exhausting myself reading and researching, I have jumped in to the sourdough starter world. I have a few questions about how I'm progressing. Please advise if you see anything in my terminology or technique that needs correction - I will gratefully take any criticisms!I ... | Try 1:2:2 and see what happens.
or even 1:2:3 (s:w:f) You can always split the feeding and race one starter with 1:1:1 and another with 1:2:2 and compare them. Are you sticking with a spelt starter? If not, slowly introduce wheat into the starter food. Start with a small amout and increase all purpose wheat (decr... |
Freezing dough (sourdough) before or after overnight retard in fridge? Or not?
I've done a bit of searching in the forums, but haven't quite found an answer to this one.Hubby prefers fresh, fresh FRESH moist bread. No matter how carefully I freeze freshly baked loaves, there is always a difference between the freshly b... | Frozen dough
Freezing the dough won't kill the yeast - you probably already know that the starter itself can be dried, frozen (almost indefinitely) and be reconstituted when required.I imagine you'd save more time by mixing a large batch of dough, letting it rise (retarded or not) and then freezing it in loaf-sized por... |
Can Bagels from Reinhart Be Made With Sourdough?
So.....I've been making the bagels from Peter Reinhart's ABED for about 6 months now with great success. My entire family is ruined for any storebought bagels (including the crisp, chewy ones we adored from the authentic NY bagel store in town, which have now been declar... | Formula loyality will get you nowhere fast.
Or somewhere slowly.Any recipe, including that one, can be adapted to use a sourdough starter, but since your sourdough starter is different from every other one on the planet (as is your local environment), it really would come down to guesstimates and a bit (or a lot) of tr... |
The power of sourdough (LM)
featuring Renato Bosco. Instagram | Pretty impressive testimony
Pretty impressive testimony to the power of levain. |
My starter's first international voyage!
I'm moving in about ten days, and I'd like to bring my starter along with me. I'm not exactly moving across the street though, and I was wondering if anyone has experience with travelling on airplanes with their starter. I also have the idea that it may not be 100% legal to do s... | Oh heavens no! Don't put anything into a shampoo bottle
it will stink and be bitter and shampoo has stuff in it that isn't good for you to eat. Bad plan!Run a site search on travel starters and there is lots of info. I would try several ideas, drying, firm starters, and label everything for exactly what it is. Whea... |
Salvage starter from bread dough...
So its late, you have worked 2 much all week, drank a bit of beer and wine but want to make bread the next day.Water, starter, flour all in your container... Aaargh all? Yes I forgot to hold some starter back. I froze a part a while ago (not dried) that has worked in the past but no... | As long as there isn't any
As long as there isn't any yeast in it, sure. I have done it. Just take a bit out, let it rise some and then feed it again normally. . |
refreshing rye barm
Hi All. I am making a barm from "The Bread Makers Apprectice" to bake some Pumpernickel. But Mr. Reinheart only gives instructions for refreshing non-rye starters, irritatingly stating, "Use high-gluten flour for the refreshments (except in the case of a rye barm) as it has more gluten etc..." a... | Confused by your confusion.
If that makes sense.You would refresh your "rye" starter as described with "rye" flour. He mentions this in the side bar in the instructions(recipe) for the seed culture, saying something to the effect of: if you want to make a pure rye starter, use white rye flour wherever high gluten flour... |
Starter multiplication question
I need 90oz and 75oz of starter for my Whole Wheat and Cranberry-Walnut sourdough breads, respectively. Is it better to get my starter "in steps" or can I just add amounts of water and flour to it and let it sit longer until it's ripe?I have a wine refrigerator that is perfectly suited t... | Stephan,
My experience with
Stephan,My experience with various starters tells me that the answer lies in the starter itself. I have had starters made with the same ingredients that acted quite differently in terms of length of time to rise and degree of strength within that rising period. Also the flavor profile was ... |
Most sd taste to date
I made my old standby sd bread for company. "Pate fermentee sd baguettes"by Ryeaskrye. Ive baked this recipe many times with consistant results but this time I forgot about 20 oz in the frig. Two days later I took it out,reballed and baked in a pot. The result was a beauty with the taste of San Fr... | Testing the limits
I have done this as well, adding an extra 30 hours or so to the retarding and I did achieve a more sour flavor. I'm wondering how long I can go for, especially if the loaves are already formed. I know they continue to rise in the refridgerator, although much more slowly. I also hesitate to reform the... |
whats wrong with this percentage recipe? I feel stupid...
ok....I am experienced enough with bakers percentages and make all my recipes with them.it must be the lack of sleep of late because I don't see what's wrong with this recipe.total flour weight: 1000 grams.percentage 100% hydrated sourdough 20% (its summer after... | if you mix the flour and water without the starter it's 61%
hydration so that is rather low for a wheat bread flour or any absorbant flour. So, yes, it would be dry. If you added the salt, even drier. That is often why salt is delayed as it absorbs a lot of the moisture that could be used to moisten the flour.I woul... |
Tartine Starter refreshing question
I recently got the Tartine Bread book and started a Tartine starter. I'm trying to follow his method exactly, but have a question about it. A few days ago my starter reached the point where it's yeasty and rising and fall predictably.On page 46, he talks about the refreshing process ... | It all seems like a
lot of work to me and a huge waste of flour too but maybe that is what is required to keep a large commercial bakery humming along - I wouldn't know about that. I keep 80 g of starter at no more than 70% hydration in the fridge and feed it once a week after making a couple of loaves of bread a week... |
Sourdough Starter "Tang"
Silly question but.........over time does a starter lose some of it's sour tang? | Its supposed to get better
I am new to making starters, mine is only a week old. But from what I hear, the flavor supposedly gets better with age. |
very stiff starter experiment
Hi, in October I will be for 3 weeks out of the country and have nobody to feed my rye starter which is now about 11/2 year old. So I wanted to experiment with a stiff starter which as I learned keeps much longer unfed. In a whim I took 90 gr of mother starter, fed it with 50 gr. water and... | It will last "forever" in the
It will last "forever" in the refrigerator. I have a 50 gram 50% white flour starter(2 years old) that I totally neglected for about 9 months. I did nothing to prepare it for it's 9 months of neglect. Never even screwed the lid on tight. It was totally dry, and had developed a greyish crus... |
Storing sourdough starter?
Hello all you lovely bakers,
I have managed to build up a great sourdough starter over the past 6 months or so and wondered if it could be kept at room temperature, indefinitely. The reason for this is so I am able to use it for baking immediately and also I find it incorporates into the othe... | I also store my sourdough
I also store my sourdough starter at room temperature, because I always have it ready, when I need it. The hydration of mystarter is 66 %, so it doesn't ferment as fast as a liquid levain with a hydration of 100 or 125 %. Every three days I refresh my starter at the ratio of 1:2:3, i.e 1 part ... |
Uneven surface after proofing
Hi,The surface of my bread doesn't look even after I finished proofing it and there's a "whole" or "depression" in the middle. Does it indicate I didn't shape it correctly? It's a sourdough bread with white flour and ~70% hydration. | If that is after proofing, is
If that is after proofing, is way over proofed and or fermented. Enjoy! |
Starters using bleached all purpose flour
Why is it that I read people say stay away from bleached all purpose flour? Does it affect the starter in a bad way? bad taste? | Theoretically, it should be
Theoretically, it should be much harder to "start a starter" using chemically bleached flour as many would presume that the bleach has killed most, if not all, of the organisms living on the grain.Not saying it's impossible, just probably much harder. Many have difficulty enough starting a s... |
Looking for a healthier sourdough brioche recipe
Maybe this is a contradiction in terms, but I'm looking for a sourdough brioche recipe that doesn't involve butter or at least minimises the amount of butter included. I'm just trying to be healthier and not eat too much artery clogging carbs :)Does such a thing exist? O... | A brioche without butter.
If such a thing exists, it would take novelty to a whole new level.Alas, butter has no carbs. If that's your concern, perhaps a recipe for brioche without flour?Try it.Let us know how it turns out.I'm thinking "French omelettesque".There've been greater catastrophes in the kitchen, like Veal à... |
Will using less leaven mean more time to bulk ferment?
Hi,It seems like since summer is hear (Pennsylvania) my Tartine Country Bread is bulk fermenting (overnight) a bit too fast for me.So my solution I am thinking is cooling down the water to around 35° and using a bit less leaven..........175 grams instead of 200 gra... | That is only a 12.5%
That is only a 12.5% reduction. Since the leaven will still grow at the same rate the result will be a bit slower but not dramatically slower. The cold water and cold flour would slow things down a bit. A teaspoon of yeast will eventually leaven five pounds of flour and a tablespoon is quicker. You... |
Converting a recipe to sourdough only
I found this interesting recipe on TFL, posted by David, and want to convert it to using sourdough starter only instead of the partial baker's yeast. Here it is: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/22023/horst-bandel039s-black-pumpernickelHow much should I increase the starter amount ... | Did you see Andy's version?
Did you see Andy's version? It appears to be all sourdough.http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/17254/horst-bandel039s-balck-pumpernickelShould be enough there for the adaptation, if there is need to. |
Science question - localized bacteria and impact on crust formation
As you know, David Snyder and others on this site have been trying to replicate the distinctive flavor and character of San Francisco sourdough. For me, a significant part of the SF SD flavor and experience is a thick, crunchy, deeply carmelized crust... | It may not be confined to SF
Once scientists knew what to look for, they started finding L. sanfranciscensis in starter doughs in other countries—in French levains and German Sauerteigs,for instance, and in the dough for Italian panettone. Wherever it shows up, says Michael Gänzle, a microbiologist at the Technical Uni... |
Cooking my sourdough in my Weber Baby Q
[/URL]" />[/URL]" />Who knew it would cook as evenly and as well as it did. The crumb was a little gummy but I have that issue when I cook in my home oven as well. | looking good !
and no heat in the house. |
Rye sourdoughs
HiI would be grateful if anyone could tell me if it best to have rye in the starter or is a white flour starter okay to use in a rye bread?Many thanksAndrew j | I keep my starter, 60 - 80 g of it,
in the fridge at 33% each Rye, WW and AP. When I want to bake with it, I take about 20-25 grams of it and build it over 3 stages for what ever bread I am making. If I am making rye bread the first stage 20 g of rye flour and 20 g of water making a total of 60 grams, 4 hourd later ... |
Sizzling Starter
I wasn't working on anything esoteric, just doing a two stage build of a rye starter. A formula for "Abfrisch" from Plotzblog's post on the Wild Yeast site stirred my imagination into working on a sourdough version instead of the preferment version offered. I didn't think it could be that difficult si... | Ah! an air tight container! Naughty! Yup!
But maybe you have read "cover the starter loosely" or "do not seal air tight" because of what the build up of CO2 gasses can do. This is very powerful pressure and can break glass jars and pop plastic lids across the room. That's why I like a simple plastic sandwich ... |
King Arthur Sourdough recipe
I am contemplating making the King Arthur recipe, Merlin's Magic Sourdough. Here is the link to the recipe. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/merlins-magic-sourdough-bread-recipeMy question is this... The recipe calls for 1 cup of starter AND 2 teaspoons instant yeast. The sponge c... | KA Recipe
Heidi, I can't give you a "technical" response; but I looked at the comments following the recipe and didn't see any problems mentioned like the ones you are worrying about. The KA people know their stuff, so I'd go ahead and try it out. Read through the comments and see if you agree. You can send me a "pile ... |
a never ending obsession for tartine bread..macaroni and cheese with homemade sausage meatballs..IN A TARTINE BREAD BOWL!!
hey gang!here we go again...the last batch of bread we made we made 2 small bread bowls and froze them...thawed perfectly!!...so we are always trying to come up with new things to enjoy this perfe... | If you have problems with the cheese sauce curdling
try blending a scant teaspoon of starch or flour into the sour cream or milk before adding. It can also be added in the beginning with the butter to brown a tiny bit before adding dairy or liquids. Simple trick that works. The cheese then melts nicely into the hot ... |
Day 6 - triple rise
It looks like this time was a lucky one. Mine was a rye starter (30 g flour, 30 g water and a tea spoon of pineapple). I fed with rye flour 30 and 30 water twice a day. It looks like today tripled (it has been doubling the last 3 days). Am I ready to bake with it? Can I feed with AP? I am at day 6. | If you wish
You can keep it as 100% wholegrain rye, which has many advantages, or slowly change it to AP flour. Rye keeps so well, is relatively low maintenance and is very hardy. Now you wish to slowly increase your feeds and see how it fares. SO if I understand you correctly your feed for the last few days has been 1... |
White interior on loaf - is this mould?
Greetings everyone, I am no bread expert nor baker, however I thought that this forum would be the best place to get advice on an issue I’ve been having.I buy my sourdough from my local shop. This is the second time that the interior of the loaf is completely white, “bleached”, ... | Wow, cruel to your bread, eh?
It almost looks like freezer burn. Anyway, it could be caused by chilling the loaf. Chilling speeds up the otherwise natural crystallization of the crumb quickly resulting in stale bread. The first day or two of a fresh loaf should never be chilled or frozen as the moisture in the interi... |
My own sourdough bread
Hi all, this is my first post on this forum. I've been an enthusiastic home baker for some years now, also a big fan of pizza making ;). About a year ago I started my own sourdough culture using the pineapple juice method from the BBA. Tried some breads with it back then, and a couple of months a... | Nice!
Thanks for sharing the bread and recipe. |
Finally a Sourdough to share
This morning I finally baked a sourdough that I feel good enough about to share with all the amazing bakers on this site. Syd I can not thank you enough, I used a modified version of your technique. It was still underproofed when it went into the oven but, hey I'm not complaining. Sorry the... | Looking good!
The crumb looks great too! :) |
New from old?
I have a very strong white sourdough starter that has been going for about eight months. I'm now going to begin a whole wheat starter.My question is, do I start from scratch or just keep feeding some of the white starter with whole wheat flour?Wanderer | Multiplication by division
Take a portion of your white starter and start feeding it an increasing percentage of whole wheat and a decreasing percentage of white flour. For instance, do a couple of feedings with 20% whole wheat and 80% white. Then a couple of feedings at 40% whole wheat and 60% white. And so on unti... |
Sourdough falls after 2nd proof
I'm a very beginner in making sourdough bread. I've baked 2 round loaves. Great flavor but the consistency of a brick. Both loaves fell during the process of removing from proofing basket to peel and onto the baking stone. Do I need to proof a 3rd time on the peel or what? I just kn... | Without any recipe details I
Without any recipe details I am guessing but your loaves are almost assuredly overproofed. You need less proofing not more.Jeff |
i'm feelin' swiss...i was an exchange student in switzerland..fondue+tartine french country bread+sprungli=Himmel auf Erden! ...
hi gang, took a trip down memory lane...my swiss host brother was just in town for a visit!...i was a rotary exchange student in switzerland...while he and his family visited...we made them o... | Tartine
Fondu and Chocolate- Not Fair, Nor Fair and Not Fair Looks absolutely yummy!!!! |
Crust gelatinisation and shiny crumb
Hey thereI've been experimenring with my ourdough and thanks to one tip in particular about cooking for longer, I'm starting to feel that my sourdough is improving.I've seen a few pictures of bread crusts on here and elsewhere that have a brittle shinyness (this is called gelatinisa... | dry
your bread looks nice to me, but I guess that a shiny crumb requires a much higher hydratation than the one you seem to be using. |
'Breakthrough' sourdough bread
So today I again made a sourdough bread, this time just a simple white flour bread. Since my sourdough journey started back in mid-march, I've been trying different techniques to finally get a perfect loaf. In that regard, today was a real breakthrough. Apart from the fact that the breads... | Slashing?
Congratulations!"Next time around I guess I need to proof them longer to avoid the ripped sides caused by the oven spring. Apart from that it seems I finally am where I want to be. "Maybe slashing the loaves just before baking will prevent the breaking out at the sides. I doubt that they were underproofed.Fo... |
Suddenly No Oven Spring
Hi. I am having a bit of a dilemma and wanted to see if anyone has the same problem or if one of the experienced bakers here that I respect so much might be able to diagnose the difficulty.
I have a sourdough starter that I began about 3 months ago. It is 100% hydration. I have been keeping it r... | Oops...Error in First Post
...sorry...I meant to say the original recipe included 125 g. mature starter added to 250 g. water which is then added to 325 g. bread flour, 27 g. white whole wheat and 28 g. rye flour, totaling 375 g. flour, not 355. |
Starter maintenance and volume
I've been searching the forums but I'm still confused about what amount of starter to keep in the fridge in between baking.Let's just say I keep 100 grams of starter in my fridge (which I call my 'mother starter'). A few days before I want to bake, I pour off 50 grams in another container... | I'm not an expert, but...
I only keep about 50 grams in the refrigerator. I also don't like the idea of keeping old starter in the fridge. After you pour off your portion that you want to build for your recipe, do keep the additional 50 grams in the fridge and then build your starter to a little over what you need for... |
no big holes
I am so jealouse of all of the wonderful Sourdough breads I see posted on the site. Darn!! they all have big holes! My starter is made from organic raisens and has turned out to be active and have a genuine sour taste. Makes great soudough English Muffins but my bread although sour and has a good all aroun... | Pam, remember that sourdough
Pam, remember that sourdough breads generally don't rise as high as yeasted breads. Generally speaking, they also need more time to rise than yeasted breads. What could also be the case is that you just used a too low hydration dough. The high initial oven temperature could also be a factor... |
Mature starter gone flat - how do I get it sour?
Greets! I have a starter that is fairly healthy but has been sleeping in the fridge for a few months. I revived it once, and the bread was flat (ie not sour!) as a board. I had been feeding it with AP/Bread flour and I've learned this will not be sour.It will take sev... | Alan, I am a fan of rye.
Alan, I am a fan of rye. Either 100% rye or a high percentage of rye should work. Whole rye is best. It is good practice to take some of your original starter and build the rye starter. That way if there is a problem you still have your original.As far as sour taste, you can ferment your dough ... |
When to use sourdough starter?
At what time in a sourdough starter's cycle is it best to start mixing? About the time it should be fed? When it peaks after feeding?Does is vary according to what kind of dough or method will be used? | Greetings
Hi, Olof.I use my starter as it is near peaking-point, but I'm pretty relaxed about it. My starter takes about 4 hours to double, so I feed it when I get home, and use it somewhere between 3 and 5 hours later; I have not seen a difference in results between an early and later use - I'm not quite as advanced ... |
Stiff vs Liquid Levain in matters of final loaf digestibility
I was pondering...With the goal of making the most digestible and nutrient packed loaf of sourdough bread (forget about flavor for the moment), which form of a starter would be best? My guess would be a liquid starter, as it would create an environment that... | My initial answer would be to
My initial answer would be to agree and say liquid...However after a second thought I can't see why a stiff leaven would be any different. The same processes happen in both.I would say that the real answer has nothing to do with stiff vs liquid and more to with the flour. If you want nutri... |
Determining rye starter "doneness"
I can usually tell when a wheat flour based sourdough starter is ready to use and at a good potency when it doubles and begins to fall after about 4-6 hours. I use a 1:4 build, usually works fine. I just keep repeating it until I get a peak and fall in about 4-6 hours like I said.
How... | More details required
Hi,Can you give us a bit more details about your rye starter? Hydration, feeding regime? Temperature?In my experience with wholegrain rye starters,at about 80% hydtation there is quite a bit expansionat 100% hydration there is more than doubling in 12 to 16 hours at 26C (79F)over 150% hydration yo... |
Ethics aside...
So the commercial bakery industry is dominated by one strain of yeast and flour that has been 'bred' to have a very strict set of parameters, despite possible evidence that we as humans are not able to digest it very well. Would a group of sourdough bakers be able to 'breed' a set of yeastie beasties so... | Ethics? It's just grains and fats
This is a really large subject area that should be discussed here and hasn't been thus far that I know. The question of wheat being hard to digest and possibly not being very good for our human system is being discussed seriously all over the world at this time. I'll touch on just a fe... |
Sourdough crumb
Hey thereI was wondering if someone could offer me some pointers please as my bread seems to have gone awry somehow.I've recently returned to sourdough baking after a year or so's break (pregnant wife went off sourdough taste). I remember making chewy flavoursome bread with a softish crumb before I stop... | At 76% hydration, it will be moist
Knowing that color representation from one person's camera to another person's monitor can be wildly unreliable, I'll say that the bread appears to be rather lightly baked. If that is true, you could a) remove the cloche half-way through the bake, b) increase the oven temperature, c)... |
Starter Questions
How do I increase the quantity of my starter to bake 12 -18 loaves of rye over a two day period, every week, using 1/2 - 1 cup per loaf?Is my math correct? If I add 1/2 - 1 cup of 100% hydration starter to 80% hydration dough it shouldn't alter the dough's hydration. Thanks in advance. M | Missing info
Quantity of 80% hydro dough? |
starter question
When a recipe calls for a 50-50 starter is that by volume or weight?thanks from Iowa | Good question
In baker's percent, flour is always 100%. So...not clear what 50 -50 is meant to be. I'd assume it means, in baker's percent terms 100% flour and 100% water - or, equal weights of both. I doubt the formula is meant to be one of volumes.Larry |
Tossed Flatbread
Recently I was feeding Pierre (my starter :) ) and I had a bunch of starter to throw out. Hadn't baked all week due to a busy schedule. However I went about this as an experiement:Add some flour (didn't measure) and knead briefuly to make a doughLet rise for like 5 hours, then retard in fridge overnig... | Great way of utilizing
Great way of utilizing leftover starter, mendozer! i keep a very tiny amount of starter (a tablespoon worth of 100% hydration), so i have minimal waste. |
My first sourdough bread
After i read the instructions for making the sourdough starter I decided to give it a try. Now I have a lively starter stored in refrigerator and 2 days ago I baked my first loaf of sourdough bread. I used a basic recipe of flour, salt and water with a little canola oil. 2 cups of white flour 1... | Sourdough and Kouign Amann?
Nice combo. I also portion my dough to make kouign amann too, but never sourdough. Congrats on you firsdo sourdough, i'm having a rough time with proofing time.Thanks for sharing! |
diagnosis needed for my sourdough challah please!
Dear fellow bakers, I've wanted to try a sourdough challah recipe for some time and finally got around to doing that, using Maggie Glezer's recipe very helpfully posted here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4200/sourdough-challah-photos-recipe
Everything seemed fine al... | I think it could have proofed a little bit more before baking
It is very easy to rush a sourdough when comparing to instant yeast. Otherwise the color is excellent! Looks like some condition might have set the crust too prematurely forcing the oven spring between the braids. Steam? A little bit of riping would not... |
Reducing acid load in starter (warmer weather)
Now that the temperatures are getting warmer, I noticed my starter is becoming more acidic. The starter has been maintained in a proofer @ 76F, but the ambient temps are getting warmer than that. For the entire winter months I fed twice a day; 1:3:5 with AP flour.My goal i... | Measurements?
How are you determining the total acid? TTA is the accepted assay and it is a difficult measurement to make.When you say you are feeding twice each day, do you mean that you are feeding at 12 hr intervals? If it is kept in a 76°F proofer, what temperature is it now that the weather is warming up. Certai... |
my first attempt Rye with rye sour (DMSnyder's adaption of Greenstein's Rye Sour)
This is my first attempt Rye with rye sour. Baked it in the pan since the dough was a little bit more than a bit sticky. I also did not know if my starter (3. stage) was really ready because it was not foamy but well risen after about 10 ... | Very nice rye, bread basket!
I'm glad you enjoyed it!David |
How often to feed starter
I am on day 17, I feed my starter once a day. In 12 hours it expands to a solid double if not more and is just begining to collapse. At 24 hours it is back to just above original volume. My problem is that it would be very difficult for me to fit a second feeding into my busy day. My starter a... | A few thoughts
When I had to restart my levain after throwing it away (an indicator of what sort of person is writing this, perhaps) I pretty much stuck to the 8 hr feeding schedule I use for the mature culture, and although the changes in the mixture were more in texture than in volume initially, it was ready to bake ... |
Sourdough rolls
I derived this formula by combining from several sources and doing some rounding.
Preferment:
3 ounces starter (100 % hydration)
8 ounces KA AP flour
8 ounces water
Mix and let stand overnight
Dough:
Preferment
12 1/2 ounces flour
5 1/2 ounces water
2 t salt
1t yeast
68% hydration
Mix in bowl and let st... | Trying now
I've got a batch of these now on theirfirst proof...will update a bit later on howthey turned out! |
First Sourdough Loaf!
My first sourdough loaf! Not very sour but my starter is young, about 10 days. The texture is chewy and crust and crumb good. Just have to work with the mother. Barrie | Shiny ...
What makes it so shiny on top? *puzzled look*Oh, and congrats. Isn't it great to bake with your own leaven? *smile* |
Brioche
Has anyone ever made a sourdough brioche? Am interested in giving one a go but don't want to work blind! | Yeah, everytime I make
Yeah, everytime I make Panettone, Pandoro or Colomba... |
Ok... so I dont know what Im doing and I need help :P
Poor thing, I have a feeling I'm not making it happy.We're on Day 5 and last night I noticed an alcohol type of smell.. Today its pretty strong, but not "blow-you-away" strong.I started it with whole wheat oragnic flour and water in a clean jar (jar is not so much a... | Method
Are you using one part flour one part water by weight or volume? |
whole wheat starter and AP flour bread
i have a very lively starter i made with whole wheat flour no other flours added to it. i would like to know if i can use it to make bread with AP flour or should i add some wheat flour too? i dont kow much about sourdough and have recently started baking with sourdough starter. i... | While I find my starter to be
While I find my starter to be much more active with white flour, it does apparently vary from person to person (or starter to starter?). While I imagine it will be fine, you could try some of your starter in a separate jar with AP flour - keeping two going in the short run. |
Recipe please!
Can anyone please help me with a fairly easy sourdough bread roll recipe? I work full time so I need one that isn't going to be overly time consuming! Thanks! | Try this one I see it's a 1-2-3 formula
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/13693/hooked-sourdough#comment-84282Leah was working with fitting sourdough into her work schedule. |
Need an easy recipe for starter from scratch
I'm not used to working with starters and some of the recipes posted look confusing. Does anyone have a simple way to make a first batch? Would a large mason jar be adequate to begin keeping starter in? Why does the kind of flour matter? | Chewing gum and skipping rope can also read complicated
but it's not. There are many recipes for starting a starter here. The trick it to pick one and stick to it and don't switch back and forth between them when you get worried. Patience is a key and so is reading Debra Wink's Pineapple solution #2 and solution #1... |
Two sourdough levains. Why is one more sour?
Two sourdough levains.1000 g flour, 1000 g water, 10 g starter, 12 hours fermentation, 76 F.1000 g flour, 700 g water, 10 g starter, 12 hours fermentation, 76 F.Why is 2. significantly more sour than 1., all other things being equal?Isn't it temperature that affects sour, wi... | You have fallen under a
You have fallen under a common misconception that lactobacillus prefer cold temps or produce more acid at colder temps. Not the case. Both yeast and lactobacillus work slower at colder temps.Time, temperature, hydration and flour type all have an influence.Dough 2 with the lower hydration will w... |
Initiating a new starter with fruit and veg
I hadn't really considered this, but I have been fascinated by the question of where all the microbes in a starter come from, particularly in the light of the paper by Landis et al The diversity and function of sourdough starter microbiomes , which has of course been discusse... | Hey, me too :)
I kicked off a new flower-inoculated starter on June 1. It has been really lovely, and yes, more like a mature starter early on. It was strong and would have been ready for the levain build the evening of day 5, and baking bread on day six if I hadn't waited for the negative control to catch up, but I wa... |
my levain for Syd's SF Sourdough not rising,
Hello, How do I know when the levain is ready to be incorporated into the sponge? I want to try Syd's San Francisco Sourdough Bread found on the Home Page. My 100% sourdough starter has been taken out of the refrigerator and fed in 12 hour intervals over the past week. My... | Temperature
If the starter is active and the water is filtered or bottled, then the problem is likely temperature.Temperature of the levain when you made it (cold starter, cold water, cold flours), temperature of the oven (which can sometimes be colder than room temperature, unless you turn the oven light on (or the ov... |
Is this considered good rise?
First off, happy Easter to all of you!Yesterday evening I baked my 2nd sourdough bread ever and even though it came at better than the first, I'm still not pleased. When you look at the pics below, you can see that the loaf was still pretty flat after proofing. It did have some oven spring... | Happy Easter to you too!
I
Happy Easter to you too!I wouldn't know about average rise. I just baked my first sourdough-only regular loaf and it didn't rise this much. Yours looks great. |
Bakers Percentage for Starter
I've been trying to get better at converting my recipes to baker's percentages. I am struggling with how to determine the calculation for how much starter to use to end up with the correct amount of levain for the final dough.In my recent recipe I took my standard starter and used 3.7 oun... | 1:10:10 and 12 hrs
It depends on your timing and temperature, but as a rule I figure it takes 12 hrs to grow a bit of starter up to 20X the original weight if it is at 100% hydration and somewhat longer if the hydration is lower. Of course everybody has a different kitchen temperature which varies over the year so you... |
Still too confused to begin
Hello...brand new here but have spent the past week scrolling the web trying to understand the recipes i have. When there is is list of ingredients for the starter and then a list of ingredients for making the dough, there is no instruction for adding starter to main dough...i thought you j... | If you want to bake rye loaves with a lot of rye in them,
you should get started with growing a rye sourdough starter first. After a week, the starter should be able to help you raise a rye loaf. Sourdough starters vary in the amount of water in them so we talk often about hydration or the amount of water in them. O... |
primanti brother's style sandwiches on tartine french country bread...piled with meat...slaw...a fried egg and FRENCH FRIES!
hi gang!thanks for all the interest in the posting of our sandwiches!! we're back at it...we can't get enough of this bread. we watch the food network and the travel channel alot and came across ... | Frank,
Now that is one heck of a fine sandwich and I love a fine sandwich more than most. I'd add some mustard and put a pickle and some pickled peppers on the side just to keep it kosher :-) That's some nice bread too.Man, I'm hungry for some reason! |
scoring
Why flip dough into proofing basket? If you leave smooth side up would you not get blossoming effect upon final bake similar to no knead? | Why not
Try it, see what happens. |
Levain/preferment vs increased starter volume
Hello... again,I have to ask, because it's been bugging me for a while. Many recipes out there call for a levain, which ferments for 12-16 hours before being added to the final dough; I can see why that's done. A few recipes merely throw a load of 'starter' in with the fi... | Why the separate pre ferment?
Adding a small amount of seed to the pre fermented flour is done for a number of reasons:Control (1) - you can vary the amount of seed quite easily if you are taking it from your storage starter and addding it to the pre ferment. Perhaps a little more when the weather is cold, perhaps a l... |
General beginner's questions
Hello again!I suppose I should start with what I do, and move on to questions from there. I almost always use:1:2:3 ratio (normally 200/400/600g).100% white bread flour starter.10% rye90% UK white bread flour (11% protein).1% saltMy starter never gets refridgerated, and I feed it once a da... | Grenage, that sounds great!
Sounds very much in order of things. You might even want to add an extra fold (#5) and thus shorten the time after shaping (#6) still keeping within schedule. Might help to keep a tighter shape on the loaf. Worth trying...Noisy loaves. Yup, I've heard crackling, a few pops and on occasio... |
Retarding at shaping stage?
I noticed that a few sourdough recipes suggest retarding at the final shaping stage. Is there any particular reason for this? It seems to me that this would be a bad time to do it, because keeping it from drying out in the fridge using oiled plastic wrap etc would be a pain and it seems if y... | Works for me, but curious to hear more
Retarding at the final shaping stage has actually worked really well for me. Granted, it's mostly sourdough whole wheat sandwich dough and not a boule, but it has been successful nonetheless. I usually mix the dough the night before baking day, shape and place it into Pyrex loaf p... |
Feeding the barm, numbers vary
Peter Reinhart suggests doubling the barm whenever refreshing. So for 1 lb barm, he adds 8 oz of flour and 8 oz water. Is this the same as teh 1:1:1 ratio I'm seeing on here? Also, he suggests refreshing after 3 days where here on the 101 tutorial, it's suggested to do so once a week. | You're halfway there
1:1:1 refreshing means literally that: one part by weight of each of the starter, flour and water. Reinhart's formula as you wrote it would be designated as 2:1:1 (twice as much starter as flour and water).But take this with a grain of salt. Starters are very flexible. My Reinhart barm or starte... |
Best strategy to leave a (Rubaud) stiff starter unattended for a couple days
My son is taking me camping for a couple days. Normally I'd not give any thought to taking a starter with about 3 hours or so into a refreshment, and putting in the refrigerator for a couple days. However, I'm pretty smitten with this stiff ... | Keep It Simple
I probably under-think stuff but I feel a few days in the fridge after a generous feed is unlikely to wreak any ecological havoc on your mini biosphere.If anxious you could take out a couple of free insurance policies : a dried sample and a frozen sample. Both are essentially dormant and recover to as-n... |
The basic problem with my sourdough
My main problem with my sourdough efforts is that the dough rises too slowly which means I can't get any oven spring.
When using instant yeast, I make a simple 75% hydration French bread dough which I put in the oven at about 75% of a full rise at 500 degrees. I get great oven sprin... | feeding starter to bake
I wonder if your starter ran out of food and is past its prime.You fed 200 gr starter with only 100 gr flour "the day before".To bake the next morning I feed 1 part starter with 3 parts flour and 3 parts water in the early morning. In the evening I discard and feed 1:3:3 again. I am pretty sure ... |
Getting consistent, miles to go
I began my current sourdough journey about three months ago, and, of course, it continues. I've achieved a measure of consistency with my current process, though I know there are plenty of skills and techniques yet to master. As of now, I'm producing loaves that I like with the dutch o... | Shots of the crumb
Man, do I love it when a plan comes together!! :) Really liking the look of this one.Crumb:Close Up:Hope y'all are having a great weekend......tomorrow is pizza night here. Film at 11..... :)Rich |
Flat but tasty sourdough
Just getting started with sourdoughs, I made a tasty but relatively flat loaf. I have a few thoughts on what may have caused this but would appreciate any feedback or suggestions for improving my process. Background info: I used an active (more liquid than firm) starter, unbleached King Arthur... | Guesses...
Of course there are many things that can go wrong. Without a photo, what does "relatively flat" mean? I've seen a lot of country/peasant breads from levain in Europe that some people would say are "relatively flat" so maybe its just a difference of aesthetics?I think most likely is that you didn't get your l... |
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