I realize I probably need to toss what I did today and start over.

But before I do, I thought I would check with this group.

I was trying to make the starter from Nourishing Traditions.  On the first day, she wants you to grind 2 C. of rye flour, which I did.  However, I ground 2 C. of rye, which made a lot more than 2 C. of flour.  I used it anyway (so I'm actually not sure how much flour I used, maybe 4 C?), and instead of addingthe 2 C. of water called for, I ended up using 4 C. to make it "soupy" as she described.

So, the moral of the story is don't make sourdough starter for the first time when you are babysitting two extra little kids in addition to your own, trying to do some school at home with the older ones, and dealing with a crisis on the phone.

Anyway, is there any salvaging this?  Can I just follow the directions from there (for the next 7 days adding 1 C. of rye flour -- measured after grinding -- with water) or do I need to toss half of what I did yesterday and then follow the directions?  Or just start over?

Help!

Anne

I've made about 8 different recipes from PR's book, always with success, although with experience I improved.  Then I tried his regular Whole Wheat.  I used corn for the soaker, but only regular "store bought" whole wheat flour for the Poolish and main ingredient.  As I kneaded the dough, I noticed that it would not pass the window-pain test.  I tried adding more flour and then less flour, and then simply kneading some more (hoping for the gluten to develop), but NO GO.  Finally, I just put it in a bowl for the first rise, which was fine!  I then formed it into loaves, but after an hour the texture of the dough was no longer smooth and they had not risen much at all!  The two loaves looked all broken on the surface, giving me an indication of poor gluten formation.  I'm going to bake them off, but I expect a poor result.

Q:  is this due to my not using high-protein wheat flour?  That was my only variation from the recipe, and the book does say I can use it.  I was skeptical because I've noticed that other "whole wheat" recipes call for both white and wheat, perhaps because of gluten?  I am a novice here, and upset over my first failure with this fellow's wonderful recipes.  Where did I go wrong?

Has anyone had a slip up like this that ended up ok?  I set out on the right foot yesterday converting my Liquid Levain into Stiff and building a little overnight preferment in preparation of making Jeffrey Hamelman's Pain au Levain. Step by thoughtful step ( I need to concentrate hard now being over 60 ) all seemed to be going well ... too well I guess since I was not paying full attention while loading the oven.

The tail end of my nicely formed oval loaf stuck to the end of the peel and ended up sliding back out of the oven and falling into the crack! between the oven and the door. Uggghhh!  What a mess. I grabbed it out and dropped it back onto the peel that was now laying on the open oven door.

I glanced at the garbage can, then back at the pitiful pile of dough sitting there and quickly squashed it back together into a rough log shape, at this point what did I have to lose? A quick swish with the lame, and back in the oven she went. The Bread Angels must have been smiling at such a scene.

To top it off ... it tastes great ... this is the best loaf I've made in weeks. :+)

In an attempt to slow down fermentation and try the less-work-but-more-time approach, I made a simple sandwich loaf. I baked the bread after it fermented 3 full days (1 day preferment, 1.5 days full dough bulk rise, 1/2 day in the loaf pan) only working with it in the evenings after work except for quick folding in the morning and moving it to the loaf pan the last morning.

In an attempt to slow down fermentation and try the less-work-but-more-time approach, I made a simple sandwich loaf. I baked the bread after it fermented 3 full days (1 day preferment, 1.5 days full dough bulk rise, 1/2 day in the loaf pan) only working with it in the evenings after work except for quick folding in the morning and moving it to the loaf pan the last morning.

After baking it, I found it to have a slight sourness to it that I enjoyed (my wife, however, did not). I didn't set out to make a sourdough, but I guess I have.