I have been thinking about creating starter so I can do sourdough breads. The problem I am perceiving now is that we are having a heat wave in Southern California, with highs frequently in the 90s. Is this a bad time to start this? Is waiting for more mild weather a good idea?
We don't run our air conditioner during the day while both of us are at work.
Colin
Hi. I've been lurking for a month or so (and baking for about a year)--what a wonderful community! I'm excited that I'm going to have significant time this summer to spend baking, and I was wondering if any of you had some advice. My apartment doesn't have air conditioning, so it is often upwards of 85 F. I don't mind baking in the heat, but I’d like to figure out how to compensate for such warm ambient conditions.
For about the past 2-3 weeks, it seems that my Thom Leonard boules, which I have made every week since about November, are suddenly coming out overproofed even though I have not changed my technique: as soon as the loaves are slashed on the peel and hit the hot oven stone, they collapse and spread out at the slashes.
