I've been trying for a month to make a loaf of simple sourdough bread. It's just flour, water, salt and yeast. How hard can it be? Apparently pretty damn because it took me a dozen tries to get one to come out.
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f158/popeyespappy/20160227_173126%20135922_zpsgmrwmhwe.jpg)
I am a baker myself... lived in San Francisco for ten years and learned how to make bread from a local.
Looks like a great loaf.
A hint... You should use a proofing basket in order to enhance the shape - very easy and produces a great loaf.
http://www.amazon.com/Round-Proofing-Basket-Banneton-Brotform/dp/B006WBMT0K (http://www.amazon.com/Round-Proofing-Basket-Banneton-Brotform/dp/B006WBMT0K)
I assume you are talking about making the starter, since you make that from yeast, flour and water. Never made it. Made my own yogurt for awhile- that is actually pretty easy.
Sourdough is so good. Love putting potato soup in it, or chowder.
Yea I made it with a wild yeast starter that I began work on back around Christmas when it was in the 70's around here. I used an 8.5" Round Banneton basket for the second rise then cooked it in a dutch oven at 500 for 20 minutes with the lid on then at 425 for another 30. Moving from the basket to the preheated 500 degree pot was a bit problematic. Hopefully my technique will improve with practice.
Still a better cook than me. I still manage to fuck up toast sometimes, and it's not like it requires a lot of human interaction to make.
Quote from: GreatLife on February 27, 2016, 08:28:59 PM
A hint... You should use a proofing basket in order to enhance the shape - very easy and produces a great loaf.
Do you use a liner in your basket? I don't have one but was thinking about ordering one.
Ha! It's repeatable. Just pulled a second loaf from the oven.
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f158/popeyespappy/Sourdough%20Loaf%202_zpscjnfngpp.jpg)
For all you youngsters following this thread……yeah…..life does go from pussy to bread……deal with it.
Quote from: PopeyesPappy on February 27, 2016, 09:39:14 PM
Ha! It's repeatable. Just pulled a second loaf from the oven.
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f158/popeyespappy/Sourdough%20Loaf%202_zpscjnfngpp.jpg)
Slice that puppy up and pass the butter! Or cut the center out and pour in the clam chowder! That looks great!
I'm glad you were able to rise to the occasion.
Quote from: PopeyesPappy on February 27, 2016, 09:01:42 PM
Do you use a liner in your basket? I don't have one but was thinking about ordering one.
No, a liner came with the basket, but I never use it. I believe that it tends to ruin the shape, IMO.
I just put a lot of flour in the basket and thrown the dough in for the second rise. The flour will leave swirls all over the loaf - looks awesome.
Seriously though - keep at it. You are well on your way.
Pappy, pay close attention to your starter or sponge. Use it regularly and replentish it with fresh flour and water. If it changes color on you to pink or blue or green toss it out and start over. A sour dough can become toxic quickly, but it's really just a matter of maintaining it and if properly maintained can last for many years. I had one going great for about a year, but kind of lost interest somewhere along the way and within a few days turned pink so I had to pitch it out.
If you can find an old copy (50 years or so) of the book, The Joy of Cooking there was a great chapter about sour dough and maintaining the sponge.. Not quite the same, but they still put out some helpful stuff..
http://www.thejoykitchen.com/ingredients-techniques/keeping-sourdough-starter-long-term
If you live in an old house where the humidity is right just a little flour and water can make a great sour dough sponge. It'll literally pull the spores right out of the air you breathe.. No need for any other" starters" or yeasts.. Sometimes a bit of milk will help, but be careful you're not growing toxic spores.. It's really a lot like growing mushrooms..
You all also realize that when you eat leavened bread you're literally eating the farts of bacteria..just one of my many helpful household hints.. :lol:
Thanks, APA. I've been trying to take care of it because it was a bitch to get going. Probably the wrong time of year around here for that. I've got two batches going. One is in a mason jar. It is my backup sponge, and it stays in the fridge most of the time. I take it once a week to feed it. The other is what I've been using to cook. That gets fed twice a day unless it's in the fridge too. I've been taking it out of the fridge Thursday night. Feeding it twice on Friday. Then start cooking Saturday. I'm planning to try one more batch today so once I take out what I need I'll feed it one more time then back in the fridge. Hopefully it'll last...
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f158/popeyespappy/starter_zpsrqemaiw6.jpg)
Quote from: GreatLife on February 28, 2016, 12:17:53 AM
No, a liner came with the basket, but I never use it. I believe that it tends to ruin the shape, IMO.
I just put a lot of flour in the basket and thrown the dough in for the second rise. The flour will leave swirls all over the loaf - looks awesome.
Seriously though - keep at it. You are well on your way.
Tried it your way. This loaf is also all white flour. The first two were 20% whole wheat flour.
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f158/popeyespappy/White%20Sourdough_zpsdm6g5rdm.jpg)
Sourdough is one of the truly great inventions in life. Tastes good, and it's quite hard to use it to kill people. Quite the opposite.
Quote from: PopeyesPappy on February 28, 2016, 06:01:04 PM
Tried it your way. This loaf is also all white flour. The first two were 20% whole wheat flour.
Yep - that is how they serve it in San Francisco. And, IMO, a beautiful loaf of bread - in addition to tasting great.
I have gone all the way up to 1/2 whole wheat flour... but honestly I prefer the taste of all purpose flour for this particular usage. It is ground finer - so there are more surfaces for the yeast and bacteria to grow on.
One final hint? The sour taste comes from a certain type of bacteria. This bacteria grows fastest in colder temperatures - around 40 to 50 degrees. When you do your second rise you want to allow this type of bacterial growth to happen. So I put the dough in the fridge overnight - at least 6 hours and more likely 8 - and it will produce a nice sour taste. You can go up to 24 hours in the fridge - but you will get a very sour and puffy loaf. The yeast will still do their thing - but it takes them a lot longer in cold temperatures. So the longer you leave the dough in the refrigerator - the more sour the final loaf and the larger the "fart" bubbles.
Take it out the next morning and allow to sit in a warm place for twenty minutes before putting it in the oven.
Once you get the hang of it, you can have your very own "taste" based on how long you let it proof.
Quote from: Hakurei Reimu on February 28, 2016, 07:24:20 PM
Sourdough is one of the truly great inventions in life. Tastes good, and it's quite hard to use it to kill people. Quite the opposite.
I totally agree - you can just leave it on the counter or wrapped lightly in paper, and it is good for much longer than "wonder bread" from the store.
You can also use the old prison method to get the sponge going..just a chunk of old bread. I knew a bunch of guys who had done time back in the 60s and 70s.. They didn't make bread, but the chunk of bread was used to ferment alcohol which is the same basic premise. With bread you're fermenting the flour and sour dough gets its flavor from the fermentation process. The longer you can keep your sponge going the better the flavor should be. Over the course of a few years it's going to get a real nice tangy flavor.
I love sour dough, but the crust is too hard for me now that I have no teeth, but hey, that's what a good beef or chicken stew is for..
Something else you might try is potatoes. Potato bread is really tender, but it takes a bit of getting used to because it tends to be kind of sticky when you kneed it. If you're doing it by hand instead of a machine.. It's nice to have a dough hook and all that, but it just removes some of the pleasure of working it by hand.
I started making bread at an early age, probably around 12 or so so I've got some experience with it, but better late than never. Mix with a good solid wood spoon, not some flimsy piece of crap off the shelf from Walmart and plenty of muscle.. mix as much flour in as your arms can handle and still have a moist ball of dough. Too wet and everything sticks..too dry and it just falls apart. It may help to buy some gluten to add to your mixture. Gluten gives it the elasticity you need and no..gluten won't kill you, but even if it does you're going to die anyway so you might as well enjoy it while you can. .
Happy baking Pappy..