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I have flat sourdough... makes for a great door stop!... .Help!!

sandraV's picture
sandraV

I have flat sourdough... makes for a great door stop!... .Help!!

Hi everyone!

 

   I am a sourdough virgin and I think I need some help… I have created a starter that is two weeks old, keeping it in a warm place and feeding it ½ four and ½ bottled water every day…  I did not add any yeast to this starter just salt sugar flour and water….  I think that is why my bread is flat and hard? I take 2 cups starter~  add sugar salt and oil and 3 cups of flour.  All is mixed in a mixer for 15 minutes then I let it set for 3-4 hours to double …I take it out and kneed it for about ½ hour then 1 hour in a convection / steamer proffer…. The bread does not rise from there……. The bread has a very good sourdough taste but it is flat and hard….. Can anyone tell me if I need to use yeast or do I need to kneed the dough more and let it rise longer?   There are no bubbles…. Just thick hard but sourdough taste…..

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

A few months from now you can say, "Once I was a sourdough virgin...and today a sourdough ... lover!"

Well looks to me like underdeveloped yeast action and maybe over mixing. There is a lot of detail missing.

Have you baked it already?

Try a shorter mixing time and then let your mixed up dough rest. Don't knead it anymore after using the mixer. All you need to do is (after it has doubled) is invert and gently stretch out the dough and fold it onto itself like an envelope, tuck in the corners and let it stand covered. Do that about every 40 minutes and you will see the dough getting lighter and larger. As you do this, the surface tension will stretch and tighten. When you feel it is tight enough and afraid it might tear, let your shaped loaf rise for the bake. Sourdough takes longer to rise than commercial yeast so be patient with your creation.

Good Luck :)

Mini O

sandraV's picture
sandraV

Thanks so much Mini... I will try this and let you know how it works out! .. Yes, I think I did overwork it since I had it in the mixer for about 15 minutes then hand rolled it for about 15 more.... I did read that non yeast breads are slow rise so this is a good sign..... Thanks again!

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

I'm just getting my day started so I'll be around for a while.

I'm having monkey bread with coffee. This stuff is rich! Am I still on earth? Don't see wings sprouting .... this is caramel heaven, and I'm on a sugar high. ...and strong rich coffee. Glad I sent most of the monkey bread to the office. (If they all turn into monkeys, does that make it a branch office?)

Mini O

Soundman's picture
Soundman

Hi there, sandraV!

We were all sourdough virgins once!

May I recommend that you introduce yourself to TFL using the Forum for that purpose:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/forums/general/introductions-and-ideas

I'd like to know more about how you keep your starter. Do you feed it 1 to 1 by weight or volume?

Soundman (David)

leemid's picture
leemid

When you said you just added salt, sugar, flour and water did you mean to make dough? and that you don't add salt to the starter I hope? because you don't want salt in your starter...

If there is no salt in your starter, just dough, I would encourage you not to use sugar at all. Mini O nailed the rest, except that you won't see bubbles in dough, but it should rise. And good sour dough can rise a long time. Sometimes I don't get around to baking the bread for 5 or 6 hours, although usually sooner.

Lee

sandraV's picture
sandraV

You will have to send me a recipe for this monkey read….it sounds like heaven!   Well I mixed up a batch last night and put it in a bowel to rest but had to leave the kitchen for the night.  I will go back in this evening and see if letting it set allowed it to rise.  I did what you instructed and just hand mixed the doe just enough to get it all combined… I will let you know how this batch comes out…..  And yes I believe that it would be a branch office…lol  

  

You get bored ….. Take at look at the kitchen I built….. 2250 sq ft…. I am like a child in a candy store just learning how to bake!! I have the equipment but not the skill …yet!!

 Have a great day Mini!

 

 Sandra

 

sandraV's picture
sandraV

Hi David & Lee, 

 

  To answer your questions, I keep my starter in my office that is about 70 F… I have been taking 2 cups out and feeding it ½ cup of water and flour every day.  I plan on putting it in the fridge this Friday and only feeding it once a week.    There is no salt or sugar in my starter…Only added to the mixture when I take 2 cups starter and mix with flour and sugar.  I thought my starter was bad because it is flat and not foaming like some of the pictures they show… but the sourdough taste is there!!  I have a new batch that I followed Mini’s instructions so I hope to have bread instead of tortillas tonight…  I will let you know!

 

Thanks for the support you guys are great teachers!

 

Sandra

 

sandraV's picture
sandraV

Sorry Mini... Not enought coffee this morning.... can't remember to attach info ..or spell right...   The link is :  Creativekitchenworks.biz.

Thanks,

Sandra

sandraV's picture
sandraV

Hi Mini,

    I just wanted to thank you, David and Lee for the help with my bread... I have baked 2 wounderful loafs of sourdough since taking your advice.!!

    Thanks again!!

     SandraV

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

That's quite a large set up.  Lots of Stainless.  Is it set up to rent?  

I guess you are a virgin no longer...   It's amazing to watch bread.  The Monkey bread in on the Monkey thread (search, upper left corner) is a straight dough.  I converted cups to grams and overdid the brown sugar a bit.  I ended up with caramel fudge left overs!  The branch office loved it and they went bananas!

So, what's the next bake? 

Mini O

sandraV's picture
sandraV

Hi Mini,

     It was a large step but a commercial kitchen we much needed in my area so I built one.. we have bakers, catering companies, cake decorators .. you name it we have it.... I enjoy going there after work and now I look forward to creating something I can share.... Next is Hawaiian Sweet Bread... I just pulled the recipe off the web so soon!! .... I will search for monkey bread and maybe give it a try.

 Take care~

Sandra