So, after several more bad loaves (hey! free breadcrumbs!) I decided to change tactics, starting with a simple white bread. I believe the recipe I ended up with was the James Beard one.

Round 1:




Oh hai there, mister dough ball. This loaf came out a bit lumpy and doughy - I think it collapsed a bit. I wanted to see where the process was going wrong, so I had to abandon the breadmachine. Kneading was kinda fun - good stress release ;)


Result: several good slices of bread, and a pile of irregular wads that will make some kickass French toast this weekend or maybe some very sated ducks at the pond. It's a mild, slightly salty loaf. Not my preference, but good for breakfast.

Round 2:

I watched the rise more carefully this time. I also shaped it and, when I got the wobbly weird seam at the bottom, I just put that on top and the flat side on the bottom. Oh, and I threw in some moosir powder - moosir is dried, powdered elephant garlic - yum yum.)

Result:




Hubby's in the other room, wants to know what I'm doing, as I open the oven door and get a faceful of delicious garlic fumes. I said "I believe I'm making food porn."

It feels so good to be making progress with this! I love making bread.

I've also rebooted my sourdough starter with rye flour. *crosses fingers*

I got it started with my commercial yeast, and it was looking fine - nice and frothy, hooch on top (I stirred it back in each time I fed it) and smelled quite sour.

Proofed it yesterday, it got 2x bigger and bubbly. Yay. Made bread. It rose very nicely and the resulting bread is soft, thick, and fluffy, but it isn't sour :(

What can I do? What kills the sourness?

I'm starting to expand what I can do with my sourdough starter.  I've got a whole wheat starter (using King Arthur 100% traditional whole wheat flour because I love the taste it has), and have a recipe for a sourdough chocolate cake I obtained from a relative but I'm terrified to try it.

Anyone try any desserts or other baked goods which might use a sourdough starter?  Also, any thoughts on not using baking soda/powder as a levening agent? I have used baking soda in doing sourdough pancakes otherwise my whole wheat starter is just too dense for pancakes, and was curious if anyone has any insight on this before I launch into full scale experimental mode :)

Thanks

For todays bread, I tried to do extra kneading. As in, twice as much as most recipes suggest. I kneaded for 20 minutes before the first rise, then for another 10 minutes before the second rise. For the first time without a slow rise, the fexture came out just right. My previous breads had been crumbly, but this one actually hangs together. It's wonderful! We at most of a half-size loaf just me and my wife right after it was done, it was so good.

I gave my milk-based sourdough starter away a couple months ago, and I'm just now thinking it's time that I make another one. I don't really drink milk, so I have none available, and thus my one starter recipe is worthless to me. I do have apples, however, can anyone here give me advice on making a starter out of apples?

Hello Breadmakers!

I have recently acquired some sourdough starter and everything was going well until last night I cheated by adding the entire thing to my sponge instead of feeding it beforehand and then this morning I forgot to scoop out some starter before I added salt. :(

I pulled out half a cup, fed it, and it's sitting in it's jar on the back of my counter. I suppose only time will tell, but do you think I killed it?

Thanks!

Hello

I have flax seeds that I want to turn into flax meal (you can't buy flax meal where I live). I've tried using a mortar and a coffee grinder but the little bastards won't break. Anything else I can try (except raw muscle power)? I really want to use them in my bread and get the full nutritional value.

As previous posts will attest, I have had some problems getting the bread to not turn into a crumbling pile of, well, crumbs. Some suggestions have been made for how to fix it, but I still ended up with another crumb-fest on my next-to-last bread, while the bread I made yesterday, which had more or less the same treatment and ingredients, was just perfect. The only thing I am aware was changed was when I poured it from the bowl and started to knead. In the crumbly one, I just added flour until it seemed reasonably kneadable. In the good one, I added flour according to my previous notes, and poured it out when it seemed still rather too squishy to knead. I would describe the state as "barely coming off the sides of the bowl" and "showing the very first signs of forming strings". It was a mess to knead at first (and a pain afterwards, as my hands are very hairy), but now at least I have a good idea of when to start kneading.