Hello,

I am just starting with sourdough baking. I tried to start my our starter and failed (it was before I read about using orange juice instead of water). So I just get a starter from a local baker. He gave me the directions on how to make more sour starter. It was 1KG whole wheat flour, 170 gramm sour and 670 gramm water. Then I need to mix it and keep for two hours. After that put it in a refregirator. I did all of that and it looks working well - the sour at least doubled in size. That is whem my confusion started: do I HAVE TO PUT IT INTO THE REFREGIRATOR? Is my sour ready after those two hours or I need to "season" it? After those two hours of rising of that sour is it ready to make new sour? I am very eager to start baking and I want to do it ASAP. Puting it to a refregirator seems to prolongate the process.

And another thing: my goal is to bake Russian sourdough 100% rye bread with molasses (it is rather sweet and sour). Can I use that whole wheat starter instead of rye started or I need to re-feed the sour to into a rye sour?

Thank you in advance,

Barmaley

Hi all,

After a long summer hiatus (no AC) I am back to bread baking.  Unfortunately I failed to maintain my starter and ended up throwing it out.  Fortunately a nearby bakery was kind enough to give a chunk of theirs, which turned out to be a firm levain.  I baked my first loaves of the season this past weekend and again the house was filled with the delicious smell of bread baking.

Next week at work there's a United Way bake sale, so I figured I'd contribute some delicious loaves.  I'm planning to make the following:

• Auvergne Rye Baguette w/Bacon
• Sourdough (BBA) w/Rosemary and Cracked Pepper
• Potato, Cheddar & Chive Torpedos (BBA)

Now I'd really like to bake these all the morning of, but also don't want to wake up at 2 AM.  So my plan is to do everything up to and including the shaping the night before, then stick them in the fridge.  Next morning I will take out one batch every 1/2 hour, give it a few minutes to warm up, then pop it into the oven. When one is done baking the next should be ready to go.

So does this sound like a good approach?  How long must loaves warm up before baking?  Does this change for the potato/cheddar/chive bread since it's leavened with instant yeast too?  Does the cheese spiral inside effect anything?

Thanks!

Jeff