Sourdough bread
 

I bake sourdough bread the old fashioned way, with no added commercial yeast. I usually make two 2 lb. loaves at a time. It gets eaten up very quickly. Half a loaf before it even cools down. Tonight I'm mixing up an herb flavored rustic dough that will sit overnight in the fridge to bring out more flavor. I'm using my natural starter which is my captured native yeast. I also have San Fransisco and Finland cultures. The SF is slow and sour, the Finland is fast and sweeter. The native is mid speed but the most highly flavored. I make a white, wheat, rye and herb. I may try an onion bread soon.
Anyone else here a sourdough baker?

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No.

I can say, Lance makes some good bread though. :dr

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Never done sourdough. Would be eternally grateful to see your recipe.
Been dabbling in bread baking for a while.
Mostly make my mother's recipe for sweet-sour rye from the old country.

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My address is available on request! :D

I love homemade bread, especially sourdough. Haven't made it in a while though .... gonna have to make something this weekend ...

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I still haven't made any, yet. BUT, I did begin a starter back in August. I have a recipe for sourdough, but want to see what others are out there. I want to see how to use my starter in a bread machine. Someone gave us one, and have yet to use it, either.

Re: Sourdough bread
 

I had a blog post with a recipe and schedule (as it takes a couple days of prep before actually baking), but since then I have changed it a bit. This is a rough version:

I take my starter out of the fridge Thu. morning and let it warm up. I then feed it Thu. night.
On Fri. morning it's going strong so I mix up 100 g (its best to weigh everything) starter with 150 g water and 150 g all purpose unbleached flour. This is frothy when I come home from work. I then mix this with 1000 g flour and 600 g water. After this has mixed up I add a tsp salt.
Usually it works like this:
Add water to mixer, turn on slow.
Add flour slowly until all in.
Add starter.
This should only take a couple of minutes.
After it is all mixed add salt, a short time later, turn it off and let it sit for 20-30 min. This causes the protein to form strands.
Turn the mixer back on for just a few turns, this stretches the protein. Let it sit another 20-30 min.
Total mixing time should be less than 5-6 minutes all added together.
Turn it out of the mixer onto a lightly floured surface and knead it a little to work it into the shape it will take, round ball, long loaf, bread pan, etc. The idea is to have the side that will be up stretched tight.
After it is shaped it needs to be put in a fridge or very cold room to rest overnight. It needs to be covered somehow to keep from drying out.
Sat. morning it gets taken out and warmed back up. It will then rise. I preheat my oven with a baking stone in it as hot as it gets for at least an hour. I put a pan of water in the bottom to make steam.
The bread is done rising when you can poke your finger in it and the dimple remains, or fills in very slowly. Too long and the bread will collapse in the oven.
I put the bread in the hot oven and turn the temp down to 450 and spray a little water in the bottom of the oven. Every 60 sec. for the first 5 min. I spray a little water to keep the steam up.
Bake time is 30-40 min depending on your oven. My oven runs a little cool so your temp may vary.
Your supposed to let the loaves cool about a half hour before cutting them but that never happens.

Time is a few minutes Thu and Fri morn. About two hours Fri night. Rising and baking time Sat.

Re: Sourdough bread
 

thanks....

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Sourdough works especially good for rye bread. You just substitute 1/4 to 1/3 rye flour. I add some to the starter when feeding, too.
My recipe is very rough. There is a lot of foreknowledge needed about the right feel to the dough, mixing technique, care and feeding of starters, kneading and shaping, rising (proofing), etc...
I forgot to add that the above recipe makes two kilos or two 2 lb. loaves.

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sourdough bread, avacado, fresh roasted turkey, mayo, lettuce, tomato, MMMM sandwich

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I just pulled this two pound beauty out of the oven.:dr
http://74.50.55.59/pics/bread2.jpg
:dr

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We need to talk!

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If you could only smell this. The main reason it gets eaten so quickly.

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You make mention of special yeast starters.

Where does one acquire these?

Sadly my wife doesn't enjoy sourdough bread, but I love it to death. I'm drooling just looking at that photo :D

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:dr

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It's a labor of love. Buying it from the bakery is convenient enough.
I got the Finland and SF cultures with instructions from
http://www.sourdo.com
I captured wild culture using a method like the one described at
http://www.instructables.com/id/Catc...ing_sourdough/

PM you addy and I'll send you some starter and instructions to get it going.

It is very hard to get that really tangy Fisherman's Wharf style bread without the total control they have over every step of the process. My bread is always milder. I think they cheat and add extra flavor.

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I appreciate the offer, but time and limited kitchen space prevent me from doing anything like this at the moment. Was simply wondering for later down the road. :tu

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Great stuff Lance! :banger

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Dark rye with poppy and caraway seeds.
http://74.50.55.59/pics/rye1.jpg

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I love sourdough. Unfortunately pastry, and bread baking are two different animals, so I dont have any experience with it.

Once you have a San Fran starter going, will it continue growing, or will the native yeasts take over?

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Once it's going there is a symbiotic balance between the yeast and bacteria that is hard to upset. If the native yeast or any other can overturn this balance then it is probably better to go with that. My native culture has a sweeter taste anyway.
They all seem to have kept separate, so far. I am careful not to cross contaminate by cleaning everything thoroughly between cultures.

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This bread will probably be real tangy SF style. I let the dough sit in the fridge for two days before kneading it into loaves this morning and letting it rise. That should get it really sour.
http://fracstar.com/pics/xmasbread.jpg

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That.......looks......fabulous. :dr

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I've been known to throw together a loaf or two from time to time.

I've even done my own sourdough starter and fed it for weeks before it was ready. When he says it's a labor of love, it is really more like plain labor!

Just kidding it really is kind of rewarding when you pull a perfect loaf out of the oven.

Just had dinner with my wife's family tonight and made up a nice egg bread with a bunch of fresh basil and rosemary.

My grandmother taught me the basics of bread making years ago... Including the number one most important rule.

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Reviving an old thread. Been getting into sourdough baking, like a lot have in these times. Did my first real bake (no added commercial yeast) this morning. Also first time using my new proofing basket. Happy with the results, but always room for improvement. Used a recipe and Dutch oven cooking technique from FoolProofBaking (search on YouTube).

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Bought a new cast iron bread pan last week, from Challenger Breadware. Got to put it to use with another sourdough loaf. Big improvement over the previous loaf. Partly due to a longer proofing, but also from the pan. Allows me to crank the over to 500F, without fear of cracking the pan. With the dutch oven, I'd only go to 475F. And the pan holds the heat a lot better.

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Bob,

Looks awesome.

My own sourdough improved when I bought Ken Forkish's book; Flour Water Salt Yeast.

His technique and instruction is great. And the story of his journey at the begining of the book isn't half bad either.

I've not had a bad loaf yet following his instructions.

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Thanks for bumping this thread up Bob, working on my first loaf now with very little idea of what I'm doing, but looking forward to trying the results

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I’ll have to look for that. Always good to learn more.

If you’re on Instagram, look up FullProofBaking or Jimchall for their methods. Jim owns Challenger Breadware. Has a method he calls KISSourdough. Keep it simple.

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First batch done, ugly as sin so I passed on taking a picture (think wide short and somewhat lumpy) but it did taste like sourdough, so I'll take that as a win. I know that I screwed a couple things up when making so my expectations weren't high for this run. Now that I'm familiar with the general process by doing it once myself I think it will be easier to compare recipes and understand tips online. Round 2 will likely be this weekend, looking forward to one day making a damn bread bowl for soup

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What process/recipe are you following, Ben?

I’m currently autolysing my flour. Went with 70% whole wheat white, 20% whole wheat, 10% dark rye. Doing a 75% hydration this time. Bumped it due to the extra bran in all the flours.

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A mix of recipes combined with unsuccessful execution. Knew going into the oven it was gonna be ugly, but at that point I just threw it in figuring I'd already used the precious flour. I just used it to make a sammich for lunch, tasted pretty good

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Lol! I know what you’re going through.

Try this - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HlJEjW-QSnQ&t=595s

It’s a time consuming process, but it’s worth the results. She uses 80% hydration. I’ve found 60-65% gives a better, tighter crumb for sandwiches.

I just finished mixing in my starter, salt comes next, then all the folds/lamination.

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I assume it goes without saying, but alcohol was also involved :D

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out for sure. I'm fine with time consuming, aint got nowhere to be

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This was this mornings bake using my go to 24 hr recipe. Feed the starter yesterday morning, mix the dough late afternoon, shape loaves at night and into the fridge to rise overnight.

As you can see we all dug into one loaf already and is half gone. Recipe usually makes two 1.5lb boules. Decided this time to split one in half again at shapping and make batards. My shaping for them and for baquettes needs lots of work. Ha

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...106a6fa6_c.jpgIMG_20200528_104122 by kydsid, on Flickr

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Looks great! Gonna give this another try this weekend, this time with more preparation :tu

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Nice job Jason! :tu

This weeks bake. Bought way too much white whole wheat, so I gotta use it up.

90% white whole wheat
10% dark rye
80% hydration

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Whos baking?

Coming attractions of a sourdough baquette mashup I'm experimenting with.

Started yesterday making a poolish. Levain this morning using starter instead of commercial yeast. Will shape and proof overnight. Bake in morning.

May still use boules not decided.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2168b19c_c.jpgIMG_20200602_183309 by kydsid, on Flickr

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Later this week I will be. Still eating thru the rye loaf I baked last week. Going back to 85-90% white, to the rest either whole wheat or rye.

Can’t wait to see your results.

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I've played around with a couple things that have turned out fantastic (cinnamon rolls, crackers) but haven't tried bread again. I ordered parts for a makeshift proofing box which should be here today, this weekend I'll give bread another shot

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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8b8884ff_c.jpgIMG_20200603_084606 by kydsid, on Flickr

So this is the all natural french bread from 2 days of fermentation. Same base recipe as the loaf above. It spent an extra 20 minutes in the oven than the above loaf and still did not darken. Smells of french bread through and through.

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I had some trouble with proofing this last winter. Made learning a bit harder. I too ordered a proofing box, but sent mine back for a refund without use. By the time I had it delivered found using either the oven with the light on, or the above range microwave withe above range light on, produced an almost perfect 80 degree environment. That plus now I'm generally just letting time take the work over the worrying. I have one great white bread that calls for 12g of yeast and should be done in about 4-5 hours total. Now instead I put 1g of yeast in, mix the dough at night and let it go thru the first proof on the counter overnight. Shape in the morning and by lunch it's ready to bake. Flavors are better with the longer fermentation.

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I just got a plastic bin, light bulb, and thermostat outlet that turns off the light bulb when it hits a set temperature. $40 :tu

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Pulled my starter, Frank, out of the fridge today to feed and get ready for tomorrow. Granted, fresh out of the fridge, I didn’t expect it to be super lively. Six hours after feeding, nary a rise. Couple hours later, now we’ve got action. I’m going to take it till 12 hours before the next feeding. Kinda want to see how high it’ll go, then use that to gauge my bulk ferment tomorrow.

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We call out starter Dos Baquis in honor of it's birth during the Corona pandemic.

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Made a half batch of King Arthur’s better burger buns this morning. Used the semi spent starter plus some commercial yeast. Good rise, but still not getting the color I’d like on top. Guess I need to check the temp in my small convection oven.

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Well, Frank is/was the Tank. More than doubled in six hours after feeding this morning. Pushed my schedule up. Started my autolyse at 10am. Mixing, folding, etc at 1pm. Just shaped and into the basket at 7. Lots of bubbles.

Going to try a different baking temp tomorrow. 475F instead of 500 like I’ve done on the last couple with the new pan. Not burning the bottom crust, but on the cusp. Then continue at 475 after removing the lid for 10 minutes, then 425 until done.

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Bob, I always brush egg white on my hamburger buns to get that golden brown look I want.

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Preheated my pan, pulled the loaf out of the fridge, scored and baked. By far th best looking loaf I’ve made. Until I cut into it. As my friend informed me, I have what’s known as “fool’s crumb”. Could be from lack of proper bulk fermentation. I honestly think it’s from creating big air pockets when I folded. Live and learn for my next bake. Still tastes good.

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Well you've got bread already prepared for Egg in the Hole breakfast. :tu

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You’re the second one to say that. Lol.