July 18, 2017 - 5:15am
Beginners luck or low standards? After a critique of my first loaf
Hello! Two weeks ago I started a (rye / AP) starter and today I baked my first ever sourdough loaf using the San Francisco country sourdough formula: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/37897/san-francisco-country-sourdough
I found it to be very a challenge as I have never baked with natural yeast before or used the stretch and fold technique, but am pretty pleased with the result.
I would really appreciate some thoughts on where and how this can be improved, and am keen to try some more! What are your favourite recipes suitable for beginners?
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Wow!
You should be very pleased with your efforts as many of us here struggle to develop loaves like yours. The crust and crumb look exceptional but I am afraid that only you can tell us how it tastes.
Best of luck with your future efforts.
That's your first sourdough? Looks perfect to me.
Enjoy.
Very nice!
While you may have found it somewhat challenging using the natural leaven and the stretch-and-fold method, you obviously adapted to it very well and got a handsome (and no doubt delicious) result. The pics show that you got the fermenting just right, and I love that you went for the bold bake. Well done!
Some folks recommend sticking with a single recipe for a while until you feel comfortable with it, and then start making modifications from it so that you have a known "base" to compare to. Some mods that can be made would be things like adding in a variety of grains (rye, spelt, various wheat varieties, oats, corn - whatever strikes your fancy) in a variety of ratios, or changing the hydration, or including add-ins such as fruit or nuts or a cooked whole grain porridge.
Personally, I'm not that good at sticking to a single idea, so I prefer to play with a variety of different recipes, and to come up with my own. Some of the ones that I've enjoyed or have seen highly recommended are:
DMSnyder's San Joaquin Sourdough: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/33123/san-joaquin-sourdough
Trevor Wilson's 65% hydration recipe from Breadwerx: http://www.breadwerx.com/how-to-get-open-crumb-from-stiff-dough-video/ (and while you're on his site, I really enjoy his other recipes and videos as well)
the basic 1-2-3 formula (1 part 100% hydration starter - 2 parts water - 3 parts flour - 2% salt) originally posted here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/9346/123-easy-formula-sourdough-bread
for 100% rye, Mini Oven's: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/15736/mini039s-favorite-rye-ratio
When I don't feel like planning something original, I end up coming back to the 1-2-3 for loaves up to 50% non-wheat (with often 100% whole grains), and allow for up to 30% (baker's percentage) of add-ins, and am totally enamoured with Mini Oven's formula for 100% rye (a personal favourite flavour).
The most important thing is to find an approach that you enjoy, and to have fun with it! There are some incredibly talented folks who post here, and some browsing through their blogs will give you endless inspiration.
Good luck, and keep baking happy!
Wow, thank you so much for the detailed response
IceDemeter. I will certainly check out the recipes you've suggested, and I found the tips for making modifications have been extremely helpful, thank you : ) !