I did it!!! I did it!!!

After weeks of angst with babying my jar of wild yeast, feeling I would never be able to bake a loaf of bread that WASN'T sour (not to mention the several times I was going to throw in the towel altogether), I have achieved my goal.

Not only was it not too sour; it wasn't sour at all! And it was light!! Light as a feather!!

And here's how I did it: I virtually started over with feeding. Some time in March or so, I brought the sludge out of the fridge and returning to McKenna Grant's (Piano Piano Pieno) original formula, and started a twice a day regimen:

• 2 Tbsp wild sludge
• 3 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp water

And kept at it for days until finally finally, it began to look like a real starter again.

Now the question is whether I'll be able to repeat the success...

I like to balance cookie cutter(s) on top of the just shaped bread to etch a design in top of the loaf. For this loaf, I used 3 heart shaped cutters. Instead of removing them just before baking, I left them there for the first half of the baking and removed them when turning them around to account for uneven heat in the oven.

The bread really was outstanding. Wonderfully crisp and chewy on the outside and light and open-holed inside.

• Wild yeast buildup and feeding schedule
• Wild Bread recipe

From my reading of people posting here, my sense is there are a lot of very experienced, intelligent, and practical people making bread.  That being the case maybe someone can tell me what to do with my left over wild yeast starter from a recipe.

My recipe is:

Stiff Sourdough Starter

 Dough

 When I go for 4 times the size I end up with two good size loaves but a very large amount of left over sponge or starter.

How long does it last in the fridge?  Or if I freeze it?

Since flour is already quite expensive hopefully someone can tell me what intelligent, and practical people do in this situation.

Thanks.

I'm beginning to think my yeast is on steroids...

Given my hectic schedule, what with work and home and hubby and 3 kids going at least 4 different places, I have often stowed dough in the fridge to buy some time...as well as develop the flavors.  However, I've noticed a pattern that I haven't seen discussed on the forums yet:

If I put the dough in the fridge before first fermentation (knead it and fridge it), I get very little rise in the fridge.  But if any rise has happened at room temp and then I fridge it, either during first fermentation or proofing, I get overdevelopment...by the time the dough has come to room temp again, it's huge and I might as well degas ( the action, not the artist!) and shape from scratch, otherwise it's impossible to slash and I get almost no oven rise.

Doesn't matter if it's yeast, or yeast-starter combo.  I do the combo because my starter, altho bubbly and tasty, has never really risen...and I seldom have the extended stretches of time to let a straight starter do it's thing...but this will be another posting.

So...is it my fridge? (Which has been having it's quirks now, as well!) I store the dough on the bottom shelf--it's a bottom-freezer version--which is coolest.

Am I using too much yeast/starter?  If straight dough, yeast is typically 2 tsp for a 1 1/2 to 2 lb loaf; if yeast-starter, I use 1 tsp yeast and about 25-30% starter for the same size loaf (about 4-5 c flour).  I am basing the starter percents on The Metropolitan Bakery Book (Metro. is a Philly-based artisan bakery) which suggested using 30-40% starter for max flavor and keeping quality.  And since I had a bathtub full of the stuff...

Are there other issues I should be aware of? 

Should I work on my organizational skills, developing a schedule for proofing, retarding, etc?  In my earlier life, I was scheduled rigidly, but having been knocked around by life and being married to Mr. Spontaneity, I've lost that ability ;-).  The thought of reverting to a schedule makes me cringe, but if I have to for the sake of good bread...!   

Windi 

Sorry Jane no Spelt!

SD&Rye's

SD Crumb

I have been trying to adopt Floyd's schedule and always whip up a few interesting things over the weekend. Having a teenage daughter who is active in school activities means I often find myself playing chauffeur to the friends instead of paying attention to my bread projects. Last Thursday, Friday I made some of the best sourdough bread I have ever eaten.

A few days back I decided to try Dan Lepards suggestion for using a blend of flours to feed my white starter or mother. I also have been using Peter Reinhart's suggestion of using a hydration and flour ratio of 1:3:4 when feeding the Lepard blend of 70% AP:20% WW: 10% Rye. The result has been spectacular in every sense. My starter is more vigorous than ever before. I routinely get a 4 fold rise in just 4-5 hours at 80F and the sour flavor is outstanding. Last week I made a couple loaves of Davids Wharf Bread that I speed-ed up slightly and it was every bit as my memory of the origional item in San Fran. So, I'm a happy camper. My family is enjoying the bread and I've made enough repeat batches that I know it's here to stay.
The one minor drawback to the starter maintenance and feeding regimen is that it needs to be at room temp and that means it needs to be fed daily. I haven't played around with cooling it during the week and jump starting it Thursday but I'm sure that won't be a problem. The blend does remarkable things to starter activity and flavor.

The first batch today was a double of my favorite Deli Rye. I changed up that slightly by building up a 700 gram batch of 100% rye starter during the week to use instead of the preferment in the recipe. I had to run the kids to an event so it got slightly poofy and maxed out my sheet pan with paper. It tastes wonderful but not very authentic looking. I'll take flavor over form anytime.

Finally the last loaf is a 2.6 Lb Janedo's basic bread sort of, without the spelt. I thought I had a bag but when the mise-en-place check list came out. Oh well! I used a combination of KA French style and All Trumps that was inoculated with 100 grams of my super starter and 1/4 teaspoon of IDY.Normal salt and a scant T of Malt. I could see the WW specks from the starter but otherwise it was a smooth mass of dough. I have started sprinkling sesame seeds on the tacky dough and covering it with saran brushed with a lightly oiled towel so I can remove it later.

The seeds are an interesting addition. I find that if I put them on early and tip the dough into a basket or cover with saran they become embedded in the dough. Not only do they not fall off during baking and cutting they add a terrific full flavor to the crust. I have made a lot of Italian bread that had almost no added flavor from the sesame and this is way better. The seeds seem to toast in place on the crust, just perfect.

There you have it. I had planned to do the raisin cinnamon loaf but that will have to wait for fresh batteries!

Eric

ADDED Crumb image by edit. Sorry about the crumb image not being a very good photo. The bread was much better than it looks here.

Hi Everyone:  

After lurking on this site for a week or two, I've decided it's time to get involved.    There's so much great information here!!

I've been baking for over 35 years.   Especially love the challenge of baking bread; sourdough is my favorite!    Guess you can say I'm a sourdough puriest . . . I shy away from sourdough recipes that add commercial yeast.  

I have a couple challenges with my baking . . . during the summer months we spend our time at our home in the mountains of Arizona where the air is VERY dry.   Baking at altitude (6,700 feet) certainly brings on it's own challenges too.   In the winter months we're on our sailboat on the west coast of Mexico, so my bread baking challenges are different there!

In addition to sourdough, I've gotten involved in the NKB . . . especially like the Cook's Illustrated Almost No-Knread 2.0; which works great while we're on the boat.     I've been baking in a cast-aluminum dutch oven on the boat, and a cast-iron here at home.  Today, I'm giving to try baking NKB in my Romertopf clay pot, have yet to decide if I'm going to use the whole pot or just the lid over a pizza stone.

For several months now, I have been baking whole wheat breads based on recipes in Peter Reinhart's latest book. For the most part, I have met with success.

 I am now attempting to modify these recipes to accomplish two goals: to eliminate commercial yeast from my breads, and to simplify the baking schedule (which includes using less equipment, making less mess, and adjusting the rise times to occur while I'm at work).

I wanted to share some techniques with those of you who might have similar goals. It's quite simple, and probably nothing new to those of you who have been baking a while.

First, I followed Peter's recipes for whole wheat bread, replacing the "biga" with sourdough starter. Instead of adding yeast in the final mix, though, I simply let it rise all day while I was at work (about 10 hours). This accomplished two goals: first, obviously, no commercial yeast. Second, I was able to jump right into shaping when I got home, since the first rise was accomplished throughout the day. This cut a good 2-3 hours off my after-work baking schedule.

Second, instead of using baking stones, I preheated a large, cast-iron skillet in a 500F oven. This eliminated the need to use a utensil (like a peel or baking sheet) to transport the dough from the bowl to the oven, as well as eliminated the need for baking stones. Additionally, I think the skillet retains heat better than the baking stones, and since the transfer needs to take place outside the oven, I think it actually gives the dough a bit of a head start on rising. You get all the benefits of "oven spring," but without having to worry about the bread forming a crust too soon.

I tried this for the first time yesterday, and ended up with my first loaf of whole wheat bread made entirely without commercial starter. The crumb was moist and full of holes, but not grainy, mushy, or too chewy. My only complaint is that the bread was much too tart for my own taste. It really overwhelmed all the other flavors. It wasn't bad, but it's just not to my liking. I'm not sure if this is due to the long, 10-hour rise, or to an overly-acidic starter. I'm inclined to believe the latter, because my starter smelled very strongly of alcohol and vinegar. However, it rose beautifully, so I know it's active.

Anyway, please let me know what you think!

Thanks!

Joseph 

Hello All,

Glad to have found you all! Been baking sourdough since the age of 9 with varying degrees of success. Wasn't till recently that I decided that it wouldn't hurt to improve the skill set some. What a surprise! The old bread recipes of flour, water, salt, scalded milk, sugar, and oil or shortening (think Sally Lund here) has given way to the Bread Law: Flour, Water, Sea Salt and Sourdough only. One other item is time. I've found that working bread baking into my schedule took a bit of wrangling with recipe and technique.

I happened upon Daniel Leaader's book, "Local Breads" some weeks ago and the old flame was rekindled. Since then I've acquired "Bread Alone" and "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart. The enjoyment of organic artisan sourdough breads with my Wife's artisan organic jams is really something to annoy other people with. Also, open faced sandwiches of poached egg with slivered smoked salmon and fresh chives is unbelievable. The accentuation of food with artisan bread is hard to describe without samples so I'll quit that subject now but I'm sure many on this site are already there and I'm glad to join you all.

Bon Apetit,

Wild-Yeast

P.S. The best sourdough in San Francisco is baked in La Brea...,

These are the "famous" french baguettes from the Kayser bakery rue Monge in Paris.

I upped the hydration level, but didn't really calculate. The recipe here is the original and I don't know how it would work with american flour, so if anyone wants to try, keep an eye on the dough.

I also would leave them to rise a bit longer next time, but we were in a rush to go on a picnic (the fated one where I broke my pinky!) I thought the crumb should be a bit more open. They are really good, though. Obviously not sour because the sourdough doesn't have the time to react, but it sure gives great oven spring.

Baguettes "Monge"

500 g farine T65 (or maybe just white bread flour?)

100g liquide starter at it's peak

5g fresh yeast (or about 3/4 tsp fast acting package yeast I think)

10 g salt

270 ml water at 20°C

Mix the fresh yeast with water and leave 20 min to ferment.

Then make a regular dough using your method. Put the dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let it rest 20 min.

Take the dough out and divide it into three pieces. Form three equal size balls and leave them on the counter to rise, covered with a damp cloth, 40 min.

Form three baguettes with pointed ends, place them in a baguette banneton or on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Cover with a damp cloth and let rise 1 1/2 hrs.

Preheat oven to 220°C. Sprinkle flour on the baguettes and do the incisions. Do the water thing (coup de buée) and place your baguettes in the oven.

Leave them to back around 20-25 minutes.

Astrid from Paulchen's Foodblog selected oat as theme for this month's Bread Baking Day.

I got inspired from zorra for this recipe & the method from iban.

For more information about sourdough starter you can read Susan post about Sourdough Starter from Scratch .

60 g (1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon) oat flour.

374 g (2 1/2 cups) whole wheat flour.

670 g (4 1/2 cups) high gluten white flour.

1 1/2 teaspoons salt.

2 teaspoons sugar.

2 teaspoons yeast.

46 g (1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon) milk powder.

2 Tablespoons oil.

90 g (1/3 cup) sourdough starter.

3 cups water.

1) Place all ingredients in the bowl of mixer; beat 10 minutes to make soft dough.

2) Cover dough and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hour, stretch & fold every 30 minutes.

3) Divide dough into 2 pieces

4) Shape each piece into round loaf, cover; let it rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 40-60 minutes.

5) Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500 F.

6) Before baking dust flour over the top of the loaf, slash the bread.

7) Reduce the heat to 400F, bake for 15 minutes with steam, & another 15 minutes without steam.

zainab

http://arabicbites.blogspot.com/