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stretch and folds
Hi thereI'm back after a hiatus. I was wondering, just exactly how important the stretch and fold technique is. Because i was just randomly trying different ways, pulling with one hand, folding then turning it etc. then the second round i put it on a board and sort of tried to do a lamination then d... | What is your formula/recipe?
What is your formula/recipe? A repeatable method is best. It sounds like your method is random-ish.Gluten development is required for what is considered by most to be "good" bread. |
Some sourdough successes...
After baking one loaf that could double as a doorstop, I've had some success. Here's a European rye (my sister's mother in law's recipe from Austria) - fully 1 kg of white and 1 kg of rye flour in this recipe! A dense and chewy bread with sesame seeds and flax seeds in it. Next time, I think... | Gak! No photos...anyone
Gak! No photos...anyone else give me a short photo tutorial? I use Webshots... |
Protein content of flour
I've been reading all the comments concerning the protein content of flour. Is that the percentage of protein listed in the nutritional lable on the bag? If not, how do you determine what the protein content is?Thanks, Collen | nutritional labelling vs. actual protein content of flour
Hi Collen - see my comments on this other posting here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/1982#comment-7536 |
Working wet dough
I have some dough sitting waiting for me to knead it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in order to get big holes, or at least bigger than I have been getting, the dough needs to be wet. I have this issue every time. It's really sticky. How do I knead it without having sticky fingers? EVERY time, it s... | Wet Dough
Hi Steph: Working with wet dough is a learning experience in how to handle it. It is very wet and will of course stick to your fingers and hands if you are hand kneading. I flour my kneading area very little when kneading the dough. You only need to hand mix it for a few minutes. Then, flour a large bowl ... |
Conversion question
I'm looking for help in the method I'm using to convert standard recipes to sourdough. In either Breads from the LaBrea Bakery or The Bread Bible I read the following method: 1) add the total weights of flour and water [I'm using a weight of 140 g./cup for flour and 225 g/cup of water] 2. ... | I'll try the different weights
I'll try the different weights for flour and water as well as starter innoculations and see how things work. I guess Grandma's "till it looks right" method wasn't so bad after all!I love the NYT No-Knead recipe because as a substitute teacher, I often get a 6:00 a.m. notice that I need t... |
Bleached flour in starters
I had a major brainfart when I last bought flour..bleached flour. I bought two ten pounds bags. I just realized it yesterday, when I fed my starter, then as I waited for it to rise just a bit more before I started using it, it fell. Same thing today. I wonder if it because I used bleached... | Chlorine Evaporates?
Well thats the idea i got when we use to let the aquarium sit over night before putting the fish in. It's really hard to find unbleached flour around here, and this isn't a small town, so bleached must be good for something. No, as far as my starters are cocerned, i haven't noticed much differen... |
Made my first sourdough loaf! Good and bad news...
Well, I tried the Thom Leonard Country French Bread from Maggie Glazer's "Artisan Baking" book yesterday and the good news is that the bread tastes yummy! The yeast/bacteria in my starter are definitely a keeper. The bad news? The loaf didn't rise enough - parts of... | It wasn't a case of my mixer
It wasn't a case of my mixer being strong enough, it was a case of having the dough stay in the bowl! Seriously, it was rising up and I had to use the spatula every minute or so to keep it from creeping up into the "gubbins" of the mixer. I guess this is telling me my dough wasn't firm en... |
Wild Yeast Sourdough
My wild yeast sourdough starter is now in it's 10th day.............and I cannot seem to get it to double or anything close. It bubbles, etc. but still smells like alcohol. Have even tried a 1:4:4 build (see picture) but it never rises or doubles. Maybe sourdough lady or Jim can shed some light ... | Starter doubling
Have you been feeding it equal volumes of flour and water? If so, then it's going to be really wet and it looks like you've got a very wet batter. That isn't a problem at all -- it'll make bread just fine -- but as wet as it is, it probably won't double because the starter is so liquid, most of the gas... |
What do you use as a container for your sourdough starter?
I received some King Arthur sourdough starter for Christmas and I will be using it for the first time tomorrow. Wish me luck!My question to the forum is: In what do you keep your sourdough starter?I purchased a 1.6 quart container similar to this:http://www.con... | containers
I use a container much like this one:http://www.webstaurantstore.com/2-quart-white-round-food-storage-container/2710200.html, I actually have one of these stores near me so I just went and bought it but they always have these types of container. I have the 2 quart round white container with lid. It's not a... |
Canvas loaf forms
I'm looking for a picture of the canvas loaf forms so I can show my husband. Can someone provide a link to a picture? I saw one that someone made with just canvas from Walmart. Thanks! Trish in Omaha (where it's -3 degrees this morning!) | canvas pics
Do you mean like this? Mine are canvas (like artist stretching canvas, just something we had in the house. It works great. I never bothered to seam the edges, which is very lazy of me. Maybe I'll make a few more... |
Sourdough Notes
A question on (commercial) yeast in soudough breads made me dig out my notes from a baking seminar from a few years ago, I was extremely fortunate to take a class with Didier Rosada (who at the time was at SFBI and the "coach" of the usa bread team that won the Coupe de Monde.... It was a really cool ... | You'v Jerked Me out of a Rut
Very good comments about how to steer your developing tastes.I have just copied what you have said, opened notes from desktop, hit new and pasted and titled it How to steer sourdough taste - so I can refer back to this when I need it. |
Arizmendi Cheese Rolls!
The cheese rolls at Arizmendi have been a family favorite for years. They are chewy, crusty and impossibly savory. A little part of what makes them special is that we only get to partake when we're out on a day trip to SF either going to Cal Academy or Golden Gate Park. A bag of assorted Arizmen... | If you can post a link or the
If you can post a link or the recipe it would be great. This is right up my alley! Thanks! |
A Question on measurments
I'm ready to bake my first loaves of sourdough bread. I have sourdo lady's starter ready to go and Jim's sourdough starter. Jim's recipe is all in grams. Is it better to take the time to weigh out the ingredients on a scale or is there a conversion chart for cups 1/2 cups etc?Thanks!Trish in O... | Trish: Measurements
Trish, If you already have a scale, use it. Measuring by weight will give you much more consistent (and predictable) results than measuring by volume. If you measure your flour by stirring and spooning, a cup might weigh 4.5-5.0 ounces. If you scoop out a cupful, it might weigh more than 6 ounces... |
Starter not rising?
Hi - I just found your site today and it has inspired me to try this whole sourdough business again. I tried Maggie Glazer's sourdough starter back in November and thought it was working, but it never did "rise". When she says the starter should "quadruple in 8 hours"...well, mine just wasn't doin... | Mine just started to show
Mine just started to show life today, and it looks beautiful... Today was the 7th day... I would never expect it to do anything in 8 hrs. If you get any bubbles in the first couple days, it's usually due to bacterial action. Check out SourDoLady's starter recipe on this forum. Also there are t... |
NEED HELP QUICK!!! --- too late
I have two loaves in the oven. I started at 30 minutes at 400. It has now been 50 minutes, internal temp 165. I've turned off the oven, the bread still inside. The outsides look good. Here's the before (after 30 minutes) and after (after 50 minutes). I've just now taken them out of... | Really Nice Bread
Your doing so good Steph |
On the keeping of many Starters
We have some people who have 5 (SourdoLady)-15 starters. Could someone please explain how one keeps that many; does one let them all dry out and store separately in the refrigerator? If so, how long will they last in that state....cryogeneis?...And how much does one store in dried out ... | Re: Keeping of starters
I actually have 8 or 9 different starters but I find that I use about 3 of them regularly and the rest only occasionally. I dry them to share with other people by mail but I keep all of them in their wet state in the refrigerator. The stiffer you keep them the longer they can live without food. ... |
It smells sour ...
I am on Day 6 of my starter and it smells sour, but I am getting very few, if any, bubbles. The starter is made with SourdoLady's recipe. Should I add the vinegar to try and kick the yeasties in the hiney, or just wait and see if they get going with out any help?TIA!! | Smells like teen starter
I'd give it a few more days, myself, GothicGirl. If it smells sour, that probably means it's already acidic, so adding vinegar probably wouldn't do much. Just keep feeding it, and, if you're able, stirr it a couple of times a day. The yeasts don't need oxygen to reproduce, but they really, rea... |
Drafty, dry winter weather makes for slow proofs
I currently live in an old drafty farm house which in this cold winter weather is dry enough to dry salt in :) My last house was newer and less drafty and had a humidifier.I've seen the proofing times rise dramatically and am trying to find ways to counter this. It's als... | drafty cold house
I hear ya, I just posted the same complaint last week, and we had a little discussion on building proofing boxes here about halfway down the thread, don't know if you caught that. Some neat ideas, I'm going to try the seedling mat with a cardboard box lid that I'll insulate with some old newspapers, a... |
Flavor is elusive
I've been making sourdough for years, have used many different starters, followed many recipes, experimented with almost every baking variable one can think of, yet the flavor I seeks still eludes me. Locally, (Bay Area, home to excellent sourdoughs) I can buy several delicious sourdough loaves. The... | Re: Flavor
Have you tried retarding your dough? It really helps with the flavor. Are you using only white flour? Adding a small amount of whole wheat or rye flour will enhance the flavor, also (I like to use 1/2 cup of white whole wheat in my white breads). |
How many starters have you had at one time?
A bit tongue in cheek, I know. (: I currently have 3 starters, all from different recipes, going (they're in my oven overnight, to combat the cold winter temperature drop). I have a SourDoLady OJ starter (my OJ has added calcium, so I don't know if this one's going to work... | No. of starters
How many? Too -- as in "too many." (This works better as a verbal joke!) Right now on my counter I have just refreshed (A) my faithful 100% hydration starter that I began in Illinois, moved with me to Florida, and then moved to New Jersey. Also (B) one of Hamelman's starters. And, (C) a Reinhart who... |
Rise time and Starter question
My husband does not like Sourdough in any shape or form. My question is at what point in the starter or rising does the dough become sour tasting. I want to use a starter but do not want the sour taste. Any advice? | My first thought....
My first thought about how to keep your bread from becoming too sour is to use yeast. You could add yeast to get the bread to rise while still incorporating some of your starter to add flavor. Imagine it as treating your starter like a small poolish or bigga. Any sourdough fanatics out there that... |
Rye bread
Soon, I will be trying out my rye starter. I'm tossing around putting seeds in there, like caraway or fennel or something. Any suggestions? I'm using Jim's basic bread recipe to make four small loaves, two with and two without seeds. How much do you think I would put in? Steph | Re: Rye bread and seeds
Caraway is the traditional seed, although it gives the distinctive "rye bread" taste (actually caraway seed taste) that some people dislike. I have rye recipes with as little as 1 tsp and as much as 2 tbs for a 4 cup loaf. I have had good results with celery seed - either 1 or 2 tsp IIRC. And ... |
dough stays resolutely sticky
Hi to EveryoneI've been an avid seeker of knowledge on this site for a while; I appreciate the input and advice shared in this forum.This is my first post, however.I've been making sourdough loaves 2-3 times a week for about 6 months.The interesting (infuriating) thing is the inconsistency... | Hi from a fellow Scotlander
Hi from a fellow Scotlander (I'm not Scottish, but live in Scotland too).How do you determine when to finish bulk ferment? Could you share a picture of one of the loaves?Have you tried using whole wheat instead of rye? Rye flour really increases stickiness, and at this percentage it should b... |
My First Sourdough Loaf and You All...
My first Sourdough Loaf is done and a very big thank you to SourdoLady et.al. for your patience, perseverance, and compassion in helping me through on this. Specifically, SourdoLady: if you had not simplified the process and told me to get on with it all I am most certain that I ... | CountryBoy - how'd it taste?
Congrats on your first sourdough loaf! You've come a long way and you should be proud! So how did it taste, did you enjoy it? |
What happened to my starter?
When I went to bed last night, my white starter was almost ready. This morning :-( it was flat, half of what it was last night. What do you think happened? Steph | Rye starter
Does rye starter double like white or wheat or am I just having fits and starts like I did with the others. Steph |
These turned out better
These turned out better, but not as good as I hoped. I'm going to try mixing my dough with my mom's ancient mixer. I think since I have so much trouble mixing it by hand when it gets stiffer, I work it too much when I add more flour. In the end, I used the whole amount called for in Jim's rec... | Mixers hardly ever burn up
Mixers hardly ever burn up kitchens. If smoke starts comming out, just unplug it. Deep friers on the other hand, well just ask my brother. That really is a nice looking loaf of bread, keep the good work Steph. jeffrey |
Starter Pics
This is what it looked like. The second picture is the top view. Whoo!!! What a chore. Jim, I didn't need to download what you recommended. Turns out Comcast, my internet cable provider, allows me to upload files. ;-D How convenient. Steph | Really love
Really love some comments about these pics. This is the starter I used on my last attempt. Steph |
Yet another failure :-(
It tastes like sourdough, but sure doesn't look or feel like it. Think I beat the hell out of it. I took my starter out of the frig and fed it. Will try again in a day or two. Will try to remember not to degas, and treat it with kid-gloves. | Re: failure
Don't give up--it's a learning process. Sometimes we get lucky and it turns out perfect the first try, but we've all had our "oops" loaves! Your loaves look very pale, which suggests to me that your dough was over proofed. This causes the gluten to break down, and will also cause your bread to not rise well... |
Think my starter was ready but...
I think my wheat starter was ready...it doubled in size. Quicky I might add when I had something in the oven (it was sitting on the stove). When I stirred it, it fell. I thought I did something wrong and kept feeding it. Haven't had the same results since, nor have I had similar re... | Bubbles?
It sounds like it's working, whole wheat doesn't seem to hold the bubbles as well when stired, like white flour will. Maybe i'm jumping ahead to much, did it rise again after you fed it? |
By George...or Jim...Or SourDoLady...I think I've done it.
I just put my sourdough into the oven (it's off, but I left the light on) for it's first rise. Jim, I still can't do your slap and fold. I have issues with the percentages, no matter how many spreadsheets I look at. I don't think I kneaded quite enough, but ... | Re: I've done it
Steph, I wouldn't leave your dough in the oven with the light on all night. Leave it at room temp--just on the counter. I think the oven light will keep it too warm. You don't want to over-rise the dough. A cool rise is better at this stage. |
Saving my Starter
Is there some way that I can save my wild yeast starter? I do not want to put it in the fridge and feed it every week or two. I know that freezing it will kill it. Is there some way for me to dry it all out and then reconstitute it when I need it? It seems a waste of time and effort to throw out w... | Is this what you want to do?
Check out the Breadtopia lesson on drying starter. Hope this helps. |
Starter Recycling
Hello everyone, I am currently on day 3 of getting my new starter up and running (I had one going about 2 months ago, but threw it out b/c of a really cheesy smell, the post is somewhere on here). Tommorow I'm going to seperate the 1/4 cup of starter and make it a White starter but instead of throwing... | Re: Starter recycling
Yes, you can do that. Just continue feeding the whole wheat one with whole wheat flour instead of white flour, following the same feeding schedule. |
Sourdough Starter Day 11 and Counting.....
Thanks to all the Magnificent people on this site I have made it to Day 11 using SourdoLady's recipe. Question #1: I have heard that a Starter can constitute up to 30% of the volumn of the dough. So do I start to add more flour and water now to work toward that end and build... | Re: Day 11
CountryBoy, it's time you baked some bread with that starter! Are you wanting to leave it a rye starter, or are you going to convert to white flour? I would suggest that you convert to white because it is more versatile for any recipe, or you could divide it and keep one rye and convert the rest to white. Yo... |
Baked a SD 1.5hr @ 400F
Today I baked a SD loaf that BF for 16hr @ 77F and retarded an additional 6hr @ 39F. Normally a bread like this would bake in 35 min.I put the dough (that was in a covered pullman) in the preheated oven and set the timer for 20 min. In the mean time I was finishing up a book that was near imposs... | Danny, I have forgotten
Danny, I have forgotten about a a loaf in the oven a time or two, yours came out better than mine. |
No Patience
Okay. I have absolutely no patience. My starter is bubbling, but not much. Correct me if I'm wrong...I remove half my starter and feed it 50/50 water and flour. If I do this more than once a day, will it be ready faster????Steph | Re: No patience
Sorry you are having problems. How long has it been since you made your starter and what did you use to make it with? (what kind of flour). Yes, it will help if you feed it every 8 hours. Don't use chlorinated water. Add some fresh rye or whole wheat flour if you haven't been using whole grain already. ... |
Altitude
I live in Colorado (altitude about 6500 ft). Anything I need to know about baking bread up here? | Nope, not Mike
Stephanie. I'll check it out. Some sites I've looked at said that bread rises faster at higher altitude. Mmm. |
Six Days and No Action...none, nunca, nothing
My apologies, this is my first post and I posted it incorrectly elsewhere. Hopefully this is correct. SourdoLady HELP! I am dead in the water........I thought I was following a correct recipe, but all is for naught.Ok for the past 6 days I have tried to get a starter going... | try adding raisins
Maybe there's no yeast on your grain, try some unfumigated raisins, they often have yeast. Maybe some other flour, mine did fine after the raisins, even in a cool kitchen. I only used an ounce of raisins. |
Question about Sourdough Ladys Sourdough Recipe?
I have started Sourdough Ladys Sourdough recipe its about 25 hours old. Is this suppose to be thick? It had a little bit of hooch on it when I opened it up I poured it off. I just re-fed it. I did not stir the hooch back in. | Re: Starter
No, don't pour the liquid off because that will make it get thicker. Just stir it back in to the mixture every time. It won't hurt anything that you already poured it off once. Keep up with the feedings and stir it vigorously two or three times a day. It takes about a week to get it going good. |
Starter emergency!
Well, it looks like I have truly lost it....my mind and my sourdough starter! This is the starter from Carl's Friends that I have maintained for over two years. I planned to set it out and feed it this afternoon and I can't find it in the fridge or freezer. I dried some of this starter some time ago ... | cool water
Teresa, I always use cool water only to dissolve dried sourdough flakes. It's like cleaning up after baking. Warm or hot water will set the dough, while cool water will dissolve residue. I think you should marshall on and go through one feed cycle to see if it revives. Otherwise, try dissolving some of the r... |
dough won't rise
I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, but I can't get my dough to rise. Both of my starters (I keep them at 100% when I'm getting ready to use them) will double or triple themselves within 5 hours when I feed them, and I try to mix my dough when they are at their peak, but as soon as I try to turn the... | some wild guesses/ideas
There are more experienced wild yeast starter experts on this site, but I can throw out a few ideas. Sourdough starters should take longer, so 5-6 hours is not beyond normal. I'm not sure what's going on with the 2nd rise, though perhaps it would help if you describe how you maintain your star... |
Reinhart's BBA wild yeast starter question
My first attempt at an all wild yeast starter:Today I began making the wild yeast starter from BBA p. 229 by scratch. I see the recipe calls for dark rye flour. All I have is Hodgson Mills Stone-Ground Rye Flour, which is pretty light. When I weighed out the flour then weighed... | Re: Wild yeast starter question
Your flour will work just fine. The key elements here are that the flour is whole grain and that it is fresh. You can also switch to using juice with your next feeding if you want. I would highly recommend it. The juice helps to get things going quicker by lowering the pH. This also help... |
Can anyone help me with desem?
Hi!Not sure if anyone knows about this but just in case...I've just started making a desem starter as per Laurel's Bread Kitchen. I'm on day 3 and the starter smells kind a peppery. Is this normal?How would I know if it's gone off?Thanks | desem
I use a slightly different recipe, but I think I can help. By day 3 or 4 you should see bubbles in the desem if it is split in half. I don't think you need to worry too much about smell.If you get no bubbles, it is probably because you don't have enough yeast growing. This tends to occur when the pH is too hi... |
tight crumb
I've made several different loaves of bread with different recipes, but always get a tight, store-bread type crumb. My starter very readily doubles or triples itself, but something seems to stop working when I mix the dough and knead. I have no mixer, so everything is done by hand. I also try as hard ... | tight crumb
Try increasing the hydration level of the dough. The wetter the dough the more irregular and open the crumb. When you fold try doing so on an oiled surface as opposed to a floured surface so that way you dilute the hydration level, and stretch and flatten the dough gently so you don't degass too much. When ... |
Sourdough Starter and Final Proofing Question
I have 3 Starters going. All were created using flour and water, they are all at 100% hydration, and all are maintained at the same temperature (~ 72F). However, they all behave differently. (Starters 2 and 3 were created originally from starter 1)Starter 1: 5 hours to dou... | Starter vs. final proofing
While it makes sense that a more-active starter would lead to a shorter final proof than a less-active starter, I'd be surprised if the relationship was linear and even more suprised if it was 1:1. When you consider the potential differences (between starter and dough) in flour types, hydrat... |
Bread is a little gummy
I just baked a sourdough Tartine Country bread. It appeared to have good oven spring, and the open crumb looks good, but it feels a bit gummy. I thought I had good timing on the proofing, and I am having a hard time figuring out what I did wrong. I used mostly high protein bread flour from Bread... | I have the exact same problem
I have the exact same problem! Hoping for some good advice here! |
preferment & sd
i'm confused - how doi combine both techniques? | Sourdough and preferment
A pre-ferment just refers generically to anytime you take a portion of the flour and let it ferment for a long time before adding it to the final dough. So sourdough starter is a type of pre-ferment.A poolish or a biga are also types of pre-ferements, but unlike sourdough starter, they use a sm... |
Pepping up a sluggish starter?
For a while, my starters (white and rye) were very active, rising dough quickly and making light, open crumb. Now I'm getting very sluggish rises and dense, chewy crumb (most notably the white starter) from the same recipes. I do get a huge oven spring out of them, so *something* is ali... | Pepping up a starter
You might want to try feeding your mother starter a couple of times a week for a while, or even feed it daily for a week or two to get it back up to speed. |
sourdough questions
Greetings! I'm a sourdough newbie with some questions. I began a rye starter (named Max) several days ago and things seem to be going relatively well. It is pretty bubbly, which I keep reading is a good thing!My question is about feeding and rising. I'm feeding by volume not by weight. ... | Sourdough questions
Welcome to the wild word of savage yeast!
Should I reduce the amount of water to make the doubling take longer?
Right now, you're keeping your starter at 200% hydration, which means that the water weight is equal to 200% of the flour weight (by volume, water is just lightly less than twice as heavy ... |
Cheesy Starter?
Hey everyone, I'm new to the site. I didn't know that there was a place to fuel my baking addiction! Well I have a concern about a starter that I just started on Saturday. I am using Peter Reinhart's method from BBA, but using only unbleached bread flour, instead of the rye since I want a pure white ... | Cheesy starter
Unless you see weird colors or fuzzy stuff growing on it, you're probably OK. Just keep feeding it and give it more time.BTW, starting with rye or whole wheat for the first couple of days shouldn't stop you from making a white starter. Rye and whole wheat ferment more easily than white flour, so it gives... |
Freezing and Flavor
Just curious to know what others have experienced with the flavor of sourdough breads before and after freezing. I pulled a loaf out of the freezer last evening after it had been there for a few weeks. I had a nibble as I was making a sandwich this morning and I noticed that the flavor of this loa... | Yes I have the similar
Yes I have the similar experienced with my sourdough loaves too. The sourness of it intensified when I kept them in the refrigerator. Sometimes I wondered if they have gone bad. Maybe somebody have an explanation for that? |
Overnight retard problem
So I'm using the Basic Sourdough recipe in the BBA. I fed the starter two nights ago, made the dough last night and got a good first ferment out of it. The dough doubled in 4 hours. I knocked the dough down and shaped it into baguettes and boules, covered them with plastic wrap, and stuck th... | overnite retard problem
It's an observation I stumbled upon. Would it happen to be that the flat dough was wheat with a rye starter? The rye dough rose because it had a rye starter? :) Mini Oven |
sourdough help!
Hi all!
I'm new here and relatively new to bread baking. I started about 6 months ago with the formulas in the BBA, which have yet to let me down. Until now. I'm trying to start a sourdough starter using Reinhart's method. I started on day one with the proportions specified (I think it was 1 cup flo... | Re: Sourdough help
Don't give up the ship! You are expecting too much too fast. You can continue on as you have been and I'll bet in a few more days you will have an active starter. If you want to speed things up, go ahead and switch to the pineapple or orange juice with WW flour (or rye) for the feedings. You might ev... |
In Search of The Lost Nuttiness
The first bread I baked after I fully developed my current starter was pretty much perfection for my taste: It was slightly sour, but more importantly it had a nutty taste that would linger in your palate for a long time.
That bread dough was developed following a variation of the basic ... | Raw wheat germ
Well, I can never detect the nutty flavour that Rose Levy says is in her recipes, but she uses a small quantity of raw (not toasted) stone ground wheat germ when she is trying specifically for that flavour, so you might give that a try.
.
I found organic stone ground raw wheat germ at War Eagle Mill in A... |
Swedish Limpa rye with candied citrus and cardamom
Here's a pair of gorgeous loaves from Bread Alone.
I made the candied citrus rinds the night before (4 separate boils and rinses!), as well as activated the starter. This morning I made the dough and kneaded in the chopped rinds. I tried some different scores with my... | Recipe please ?
Gee Joe..you really shouldn't ever have to ask if we'd like the recipe!!!
Your bread always looks and I'm sure tastes awesome. Cardamom and candied
citrus peel..YUM |
Sourdough rye experiment - overnight ferment
Here is a batch of sourdough rye from Bread Alone. I tried 3 new things today:
1. Adding vital wheat gluten. Last time I made this formula, it was dense and gummy. I'm hoping the VWG improves the texture.
2. Overnight ferment. I kneaded the dough, let it proof at room te... | I opened them up tonight,
I opened them up tonight, and the crumb was wonderful!! Score one for VWG and the heating pad :)
The flavor was just plain outstanding. I'm chalking that up to the overnight ferment.
I like experiments :)
-Joe |
Hand made Sourdough Bread - Dutch Oven
I have been baking Sourdough Bread for three and half years non stop. So much so we have not bought any bread at all (apart from bagels and the odd roll). I use a Dutch Oven to bake it and generally it rises and the texture is fine. However, I have noticed more recently that can... | It sounds as though it’s
It sounds as though it’s slightly over proofed. Do you do the poke test? |
Storing/reheating question
I just made a beautiful Tartine country bread loaf and want to bring half to a friend tomorrow night. What is the best way to store and reheat please? | After it cools completely
Wrap it in plastic wrap tightly and when at your friends unwrap and warm up on a metal baking sheet for about 10 minutes. |
Gummy crumb and not the best oven spring
Hi everyone! Sorry for the long post, but I've been trying to make sourdough bread since march, and I'm still not getting it right I think. After 20+ breads, my main problem is, the crumb always stay dense/gummy/too moist, and a little gelatinous, even at lower hydratation like... | I think the last pic says it
I think the last pic says it best - over fermented/proofed |
Pugliese experiment
So I had to refresh my two starters today (Clyde - 100% rye, and Gertie - white flour), and don't have time to bake tomorrow. I remembered reading in the Reinhart book that you can replace the pre-ferment in a rustic dough with the barm from a white flour - no need to feed and activate first. Hey,... | The sweet, sweet taste of success!
Even though one stuck to the cloth I was proofing it in, they both came out lovely! The crust is chewy, and the crumb is just gorgeous. It looks just like the picture in TBBA :) And the taste is heavenly. I love semolina flour in my breads. Must be my Italian grandmother!
The exp... |
My first loaf with Australian sour starter
This is the first loaf I made with Australian sour starter.
A little over baked but that's OK, better than underdone..
:-))) qahtan | I am in OZ and would like to
I am in OZ and would like to know where you got that starter from
Thanks? |
using organic grapes/raisins for starter growth
Has anyone used organic grapes or raisins to kick-start their sourdough starter? I read about using either of these in several cookbooks that I own or got from the library. One was from the La Brea Bakery breadbook. Does using either of these change/enhance/or otherwis... | Raisins in starter
I've only started one starter from scratch, but I just used whole-rye flour, water and a tiny bit of molasses to get mine going. I put it on a heating pad on the lowest setting to make sure it stayed at 80 degrees, but that was in the dead of winter in New England.
This time, since it's (nominally) a... |
Starter Storage
After a few attempts I was finally able to grow a couple of wild yeast starters. I have baked a couple of loafs already and the taste is great.
Now I am wondering on whether I should store the cultures at room temperature (I am in Los Angeles and temperatures are getting into the 80s or 90s now) or in ... | I am wondering if I did
I am wondering if I did something wrong in my post, since I got no replies. Any clue? |
For those who asked about my techniques - pix and commentary
Hey all! Some folks were asking me about my shaping and baking techniques, so here they are.
We're making 2 recipes. Sourdough Rye from Bread Alone, and Basic Sourdough Bread from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. The rye is made from my 100% rye starter named... | Commentary & Pix
Thanks for taking the time to take the pictures. Most appreciated.
Glad you mentioned about placing them seam side up for the final
proof. I wouldn't have thought of that. I will try once again with a slacker dough and couche.
My baking endeavors were 2 loaves of banana cream cheese with cinnamon streu... |
More sour starter, and seeding starter with commercial yeast
I know, I said commecrial yeast and sourdough in the same sentence. Don't hit me! :)
My first successful starter came from the recipes and techniques in Bread Alone. The first step involved using a pinch of IDY (less than 1/16 tsp) along with the water and ... | More sour, sourdough
I've noticed I get the best sour flavour when the dough has a cooler slower rise. My understanding is the yeast generally works much faster at warmer temperatures than the lacto-bacteria, and if you retard the dough or give it a cooler place to ferment, the yeast acts more slowly the laco- can "ca... |
Rye and white flour starters
Hey, all! I've been making bread from my first successful starter. It's a 100% rye starter, and I've gotten great loaves from it.
Some of the loaves I want to try call for a plain white flour starter. So what do you think:
Will a 100% rye starter be too strong a flavor for a traditional... | Re: Rye starter
Yes, you can use a small amount of your rye starter as seed and feed it unbleached white flour to create a white starter from it. You will never notice that it started with rye flour. The small amount that is in it will not be detectable. It is actually a good thing to add a couple of spoonfuls of rye o... |
First successful Sourdough loaves!
I'm so excited! :) I've tried sourdough twice before, and twice I couldn't keep the starter alive. This rye starter has been alive for 2 weeks (his name is Clyde), and is still vigorous.
I didn't have time to rise these guys as long as they really needed, but got a great oven sprin... | Looking Good!!
Those look great! I'm looking forward to the day I have those results!! |
Chef? Levain? Starter? Seed?
Ok, I've seen a lot of these terms being bandied about, and have a question or two of the more experienced.
My first two tries with sourdough were failures. The first one was actually too successful: the starter outgrew his container and tried to eat my kitchen. The second one I left o... | No help?
Did y'all go into hiding on me? :)
-Joe |
Starter question.
I started my starter on Tuesday and have been following the instructions found on the link in one of the lessons. This morning, I went out to find my jar of starter had an inch thick layer of "hooch". I poured some of it off before I fed my starter (whom I've named Earl).
I used whole wheat flour ... | Re: Starter question.
Someone like SourdoLady is better qualified to answer you than I am, but here are my thoughts:
1. Did I do the right thing by pouring off the layer of fluid?
It is still alive? Then, sure, you did the right thing.
2. I've been keeping a very light lid on the jar, but I've noticed that (in pics I'... |
Have anyone tried using the float test to test to mark bulk fermentation?
I found this youtube channel from a Taiwanese sourdough baker who uses both the aliquot jar and a float test method to test for bulk fermentation, as you can see here https://youtu.be/A_BSfGQCBTw?t=202. By the time the dough has floated, the aliq... | Still haven't found anything
Still haven't found anything better than a set of eyes! Enjoy! |
Cool rise question
After reading the articles by SourdoLady I have a question about using a cool rise in the fridge after shaping the loaves:
Would a rise at a cool room temp, say 50 degrees F, be food safe and achieve the same long, flavor developing rise as in the fridge at colder temperatures?
I simply don't have ro... | Cool rise reply
Yes, you should get great flavor out of a long, slow rise at 50 degrees.
I might think twice about leaving out a dough enriched with a lot of daily or eggs, but a dough consisting of grains, water, salt, yeast, and perhaps a little oil should be quite safe left out overnight. At least I've never hear... |
sourdough loaf
Made with home made sour starter,
1 cup sour starter
1 cup warm water
1 tab sugar,
1/2 ounce soft butter
1 teas salt
flour.
Mix 2 cups flour with sour, water and sugar, rest 30 minutes,
add salt and butter and enough flour to make a nice workable dough,
knead well, proof to double, knock back, s... | pretty!!!
pretty!!! |
More attempts at sourdough...
I still haven't "perfected" my sourdough yet. :/
Earl (my starter) is such a happy lil' beastie, though. :) I've been pulling him out of the refridgerator to feed him every four days and he seems to be doing hunky-dory. Always bubbly and "sour" smelling. I've got two loaves rising on ... | Re: More attempts at sourdough
Scarlett, are you proofing your newly fed starter for 12 to 16 hours after feeding it? What I have been doing to get a more sour loaf is, I make the dough and then refrigerate the dough 24 to 48 hours. If I go 48 hours I take it out after 24 hours and fold the dough to de-gas it. This lon... |
Old Sourdough Recipe
Recently, my grandfather stumbled across an old, OLD cookbook that belonged to HIS grandmother. He knows that I've been dabbling with breads/baking, so he offered me the cookbook (he also knows I'm an archivist, so he knew I'd preserve it!). :) Anyway... I've been browsing through the recipes (t... | Re: Old Sourdough Recipe
What a fun story! I love those old recipes, too. As far as putting the dough in the refrigerator to rise, I do it all the time. It is referred to today as 'retarding the dough'. It also greatly improves the flavor and the keeping qualities of the bread. You are right about our refrigerators pro... |
starter question
I've started my first starter and I wanted to make sure I was on the right track. I started simple: one cup unbleached King Arthur bread flour and filtered well water. The mixture looks like pancake batter. Its in a plastic container covered with a damp paper towel (with a small hole ripped in the ... | Re: starter question
Hi Terpflan,
I will try to explain a few things and hopefully help you get that starter going. The first bubbles that came aren't yeast, but bacteria. As the mixture ferments it becomes more acidic and these bacteria die off. That is why you see bubbles and then--nothing. As your mixture ferments a... |
Rip off! :)
We, my family and I, just returned from a mini-vacation to San Francisco. Of course, we ate some yummy sourdough while we were there.
In one of the touristy stores on Fisherman's Wharf, I noticed a sourdough starter kit. It was, literally, an envelope (regualr postal size) with some flour in it. The pr... | Re: Rip off! :)
Rip offs?!? On Fisherman's Wharf?!? Never! I thought that was where all the salty curs imbibed their grog... ;-)
I grew up in the Bay Area and it wasn't until I was in high school that I actually went to Fisherman's Wharf. People from SF *never* go there. Pretty much walking down the pier qualifie... |
Starter Question
I am going to get an authentic San Francisco Sourdough starter in a week or so.
My questions are how long will the particular strains of Lactobacillus and wild yeast remain viable in the starter before a wild yeast from around here takes over the starter?
Do I need to keep the ph within a certain range... | Re: Starter Question
There is a lot of controversy on this subject. Many people insist that any starter will succumb to the local wild yeasts in the area after a period of time.
Ed Wood, of Sourdoughs International, says that he doesn't believe this is a significant problem. He states in his book, "Stable cultures are ... |
Ale in sourdough starter
> Yesterday I got the notion to make sourdough pita
> pockets. So last night I put about 1 cup sourdough starter into a jar along with 1 cup flour and 1 cup ale, well after about 6 hours it was almost over the top of the jar, so I chilled it in the fridge overnight.
> This morning after ... | Re: Ale in sourdough starter
Wow. That sounds really good. |
sourdough, baked in home made cloche | Re: sourdough, baked in home made cloche
You know I am not 100% happy about the cloche being a flower pot, though it is said they are OK, But..............
It's not like useing a Schlemmertopf clay baker, those are made for cooking in, the flower pot is a flower pot.
:-((( thank goodness the loaf I did cook under t... |
Yeast Inquiry
Hi,
Any one got an idea how many teaspoons or grams there is in a 1 packet (1/4 ounce) instant yeast. | Re: Yeast Inquiry
thanks alot :-) |
Noobie in harsh conditions - help?
Hello everyone,So... I am a TOTAL noob in bread baking, and to top it off, I live in India, which is really not a baker-friendly place. I only have access to chapati flour (chakki atta) which is a stone ground wheat flour, low in gluten (around 9%), AND, I have to bake in an OTG oven.... | try....
I am not a professional, but.....Try 20 gr wheat gluten instead of 50. (Make sure dry wheat gluten and dry flour is thoroughly mixed prior to adding water.) (Adding wheat gluten is a poor way of increasing protein. It just does not work the same as good bread flour. And chapati flour, used by itself will ne... |
First successful Sourdough loaves!
I'm so excited! :) I've tried sourdough twice before, and twice I couldn't keep the starter alive. This rye starter has been alive for 2 weeks (his name is Clyde), and is still vigorous.
I didn't have time to rise these guys as long as they really needed, but got a great oven sprin... | Looking Good!!
Those look great! I'm looking forward to the day I have those results!! |
Chef? Levain? Starter? Seed?
Ok, I've seen a lot of these terms being bandied about, and have a question or two of the more experienced.
My first two tries with sourdough were failures. The first one was actually too successful: the starter outgrew his container and tried to eat my kitchen. The second one I left o... | No help?
Did y'all go into hiding on me? :)
-Joe |
Starter question.
I started my starter on Tuesday and have been following the instructions found on the link in one of the lessons. This morning, I went out to find my jar of starter had an inch thick layer of "hooch". I poured some of it off before I fed my starter (whom I've named Earl).
I used whole wheat flour ... | Re: Starter question.
Someone like SourdoLady is better qualified to answer you than I am, but here are my thoughts:
1. Did I do the right thing by pouring off the layer of fluid?
It is still alive? Then, sure, you did the right thing.
2. I've been keeping a very light lid on the jar, but I've noticed that (in pics I'... |
Cool rise question
After reading the articles by SourdoLady I have a question about using a cool rise in the fridge after shaping the loaves:
Would a rise at a cool room temp, say 50 degrees F, be food safe and achieve the same long, flavor developing rise as in the fridge at colder temperatures?
I simply don't have ro... | Cool rise reply
Yes, you should get great flavor out of a long, slow rise at 50 degrees.
I might think twice about leaving out a dough enriched with a lot of daily or eggs, but a dough consisting of grains, water, salt, yeast, and perhaps a little oil should be quite safe left out overnight. At least I've never hear... |
sourdough loaf
Made with home made sour starter,
1 cup sour starter
1 cup warm water
1 tab sugar,
1/2 ounce soft butter
1 teas salt
flour.
Mix 2 cups flour with sour, water and sugar, rest 30 minutes,
add salt and butter and enough flour to make a nice workable dough,
knead well, proof to double, knock back, s... | pretty!!!
pretty!!! |
More attempts at sourdough...
I still haven't "perfected" my sourdough yet. :/
Earl (my starter) is such a happy lil' beastie, though. :) I've been pulling him out of the refridgerator to feed him every four days and he seems to be doing hunky-dory. Always bubbly and "sour" smelling. I've got two loaves rising on ... | Re: More attempts at sourdough
Scarlett, are you proofing your newly fed starter for 12 to 16 hours after feeding it? What I have been doing to get a more sour loaf is, I make the dough and then refrigerate the dough 24 to 48 hours. If I go 48 hours I take it out after 24 hours and fold the dough to de-gas it. This lon... |
Old Sourdough Recipe
Recently, my grandfather stumbled across an old, OLD cookbook that belonged to HIS grandmother. He knows that I've been dabbling with breads/baking, so he offered me the cookbook (he also knows I'm an archivist, so he knew I'd preserve it!). :) Anyway... I've been browsing through the recipes (t... | Re: Old Sourdough Recipe
What a fun story! I love those old recipes, too. As far as putting the dough in the refrigerator to rise, I do it all the time. It is referred to today as 'retarding the dough'. It also greatly improves the flavor and the keeping qualities of the bread. You are right about our refrigerators pro... |
starter question
I've started my first starter and I wanted to make sure I was on the right track. I started simple: one cup unbleached King Arthur bread flour and filtered well water. The mixture looks like pancake batter. Its in a plastic container covered with a damp paper towel (with a small hole ripped in the ... | Re: starter question
Hi Terpflan,
I will try to explain a few things and hopefully help you get that starter going. The first bubbles that came aren't yeast, but bacteria. As the mixture ferments it becomes more acidic and these bacteria die off. That is why you see bubbles and then--nothing. As your mixture ferments a... |
Rip off! :)
We, my family and I, just returned from a mini-vacation to San Francisco. Of course, we ate some yummy sourdough while we were there.
In one of the touristy stores on Fisherman's Wharf, I noticed a sourdough starter kit. It was, literally, an envelope (regualr postal size) with some flour in it. The pr... | Re: Rip off! :)
Rip offs?!? On Fisherman's Wharf?!? Never! I thought that was where all the salty curs imbibed their grog... ;-)
I grew up in the Bay Area and it wasn't until I was in high school that I actually went to Fisherman's Wharf. People from SF *never* go there. Pretty much walking down the pier qualifie... |
Starter Question
I am going to get an authentic San Francisco Sourdough starter in a week or so.
My questions are how long will the particular strains of Lactobacillus and wild yeast remain viable in the starter before a wild yeast from around here takes over the starter?
Do I need to keep the ph within a certain range... | Re: Starter Question
There is a lot of controversy on this subject. Many people insist that any starter will succumb to the local wild yeasts in the area after a period of time.
Ed Wood, of Sourdoughs International, says that he doesn't believe this is a significant problem. He states in his book, "Stable cultures are ... |
elastic sourdough bread
sd2.jpeg
I am new to making sourdough bread, i find it very fascinatingabove is my third try, i am not sure if this is how its supposed to be, or if its under proofed the texture is a little elastic, flavor is goodi am following Babish's recipe ,I took some dough after adding salt an... | hi Mike.It’s difficult to
hi Mike.It’s difficult to advise without knowing your room temperatures. Fermentation time is not useful without knowing the room temperature. Both variables are necessary. And even with this info, the activity of any given starter is an unknown variable.How active is your starterI think you w... |
Ale in sourdough starter
> Yesterday I got the notion to make sourdough pita
> pockets. So last night I put about 1 cup sourdough starter into a jar along with 1 cup flour and 1 cup ale, well after about 6 hours it was almost over the top of the jar, so I chilled it in the fridge overnight.
> This morning after ... | Re: Ale in sourdough starter
Wow. That sounds really good. |
sourdough, baked in home made cloche | Re: sourdough, baked in home made cloche
You know I am not 100% happy about the cloche being a flower pot, though it is said they are OK, But..............
It's not like useing a Schlemmertopf clay baker, those are made for cooking in, the flower pot is a flower pot.
:-((( thank goodness the loaf I did cook under t... |
Yeast Inquiry
Hi,
Any one got an idea how many teaspoons or grams there is in a 1 packet (1/4 ounce) instant yeast. | Re: Yeast Inquiry
thanks alot :-) |
First successful Sourdough loaves!
I'm so excited! :) I've tried sourdough twice before, and twice I couldn't keep the starter alive. This rye starter has been alive for 2 weeks (his name is Clyde), and is still vigorous.
I didn't have time to rise these guys as long as they really needed, but got a great oven sprin... | Looking Good!!
Those look great! I'm looking forward to the day I have those results!! |
Chef? Levain? Starter? Seed?
Ok, I've seen a lot of these terms being bandied about, and have a question or two of the more experienced.
My first two tries with sourdough were failures. The first one was actually too successful: the starter outgrew his container and tried to eat my kitchen. The second one I left o... | No help?
Did y'all go into hiding on me? :)
-Joe |
Starter question.
I started my starter on Tuesday and have been following the instructions found on the link in one of the lessons. This morning, I went out to find my jar of starter had an inch thick layer of "hooch". I poured some of it off before I fed my starter (whom I've named Earl).
I used whole wheat flour ... | Re: Starter question.
Someone like SourdoLady is better qualified to answer you than I am, but here are my thoughts:
1. Did I do the right thing by pouring off the layer of fluid?
It is still alive? Then, sure, you did the right thing.
2. I've been keeping a very light lid on the jar, but I've noticed that (in pics I'... |
Cool rise question
After reading the articles by SourdoLady I have a question about using a cool rise in the fridge after shaping the loaves:
Would a rise at a cool room temp, say 50 degrees F, be food safe and achieve the same long, flavor developing rise as in the fridge at colder temperatures?
I simply don't have ro... | Cool rise reply
Yes, you should get great flavor out of a long, slow rise at 50 degrees.
I might think twice about leaving out a dough enriched with a lot of daily or eggs, but a dough consisting of grains, water, salt, yeast, and perhaps a little oil should be quite safe left out overnight. At least I've never hear... |
sourdough loaf
Made with home made sour starter,
1 cup sour starter
1 cup warm water
1 tab sugar,
1/2 ounce soft butter
1 teas salt
flour.
Mix 2 cups flour with sour, water and sugar, rest 30 minutes,
add salt and butter and enough flour to make a nice workable dough,
knead well, proof to double, knock back, s... | pretty!!!
pretty!!! |
More attempts at sourdough...
I still haven't "perfected" my sourdough yet. :/
Earl (my starter) is such a happy lil' beastie, though. :) I've been pulling him out of the refridgerator to feed him every four days and he seems to be doing hunky-dory. Always bubbly and "sour" smelling. I've got two loaves rising on ... | Re: More attempts at sourdough
Scarlett, are you proofing your newly fed starter for 12 to 16 hours after feeding it? What I have been doing to get a more sour loaf is, I make the dough and then refrigerate the dough 24 to 48 hours. If I go 48 hours I take it out after 24 hours and fold the dough to de-gas it. This lon... |
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