The Fresh Loaf

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Susan's sourdough recipe - and a stupid oversight (on my part)

liza2's picture
liza2

Susan's sourdough recipe - and a stupid oversight (on my part)

Hello everyone, this is my first contribution. I've been lurking on this site for a while and have spent many hours reading and digesting the wealth of information here.  Now that I'm on holiday and have some spare time I can finally seriously get stuck into improving my breadmaking techniques and contributing my own experiences to this amazing site. I've had a sourdough starter for a few years but have never been entirely happy with my results.  The bread I've made with it has always had good flavour, but has been dense and heavy. For any New Zealanders reading this, I used the method described in Dean Brettschneider's "The NZ Baker" to capture the wild yeast and to develop the starter. I did this one year in early January (in Auckland) when the temperature was warm but not humid. I'd recommend this method as the starter has turned out very strong and enduring, even once when I'd forgotten to feed it for 3 months. 

Reading through the blogs and lessons here I realised that the problem could be that I've always kneaded my dough for 10-15 minutes. I discovered the stretch and fold technique and thought I should give that a try in order to get those nice big holes. I liked the sound (and look) of Susan's Simple Sourdough (9/09). I liked the way she keeps it simple, such as using a sheet of cardboard for a peel and a colander for a banneton. This is because I don't have the tools and its difficult and expensive to access the specialized equipment from New Zealand. If there are any New Zealanders reading this and can tell me about any NZ firms selling breadmaking equipment to home bakers I'd be grateful. Also any NZ suppliers of good quality bread flours as my local store only sells "Pam's" flour.

I mostly followed Susan's recipe apart from the following variations:  I wasn't sure how to turn my 100% hydration starter into a firm starter, so I left it at 100%, the same consistency as pancake batter. The dough ended up a nice soft consistency but not wet. I used 275 g of Pam's high-grade flour plus 25 g of Healtheries high-gluten flour. I then followed Susan's instructions exactly. I was surprised how smooth and silky the dough was after minimally mixing it and then stretching and folding it only 3 times. I couldn't find my colander so used a sieve.

One question - the instructions said to pre-shape, then rest it for 15 mins, then shape it.  What's the difference between pre-shaping and shaping?

Here's the dough just before scoring. I placed the egg next to it to show size :

I used scissors for scoring and decided on the square shape. I think I need to practise scoring as i wasn't totally happy with the final result. But all will become clear. This photo was taken a few minutes after scoring:

I used "baking paper" instead of parchment. The instructions said to cover the loaf for the first 20 mins of baking, so I used my crockpot for that:

I have an old very average electric stove/oven in my kitchen. I would convert 450F to 210C, but since my oven only has a fan-bake function I set it at 190C. This is how the loaf appeared when it came out of the oven. I still have the egg in the photo to compare size, as the loaf seems quite small. But then it only used 300g of flour.

I was so anxious to cut it to see how the crumb would be. In the end i forced myself to go outside to do 90 minutes of gardening so I wouldn't be tempted to cut it before it had cooled down sufficiently.

Finally it was time. I was pleasedwith the holes and the look of the crumb:

By now it was lunchtime and I was hungry from all that gardening. I couldn't wait to taste it. Well, the crust was just right, the texture was light, spongy and creamy, there was a slight tang to the taste.  BUT.....  as I chewed it I realised that right at the start of the process I had forgotten to add the salt to the mixture!!

I still had it for lunch - with salted butter and salty cheese. Although the taste wasn't quite right I really liked the texture and lightness of this bread.

I'm going to prepare another batch this afternoon - with salt this time-  to bake tomorrow morning and will report how it turns out.

 

Comments

ehanner's picture
ehanner

I doubt there is anyone here who hasn't forgotten the salt at one time or another. That's a big club. The bread looks great and the egg looks huge to me. lol

Hat's off to you for being clever and making do with what's available.

Eric

Marni's picture
Marni

I've also left out the salt - it sure makes for boring bread!  Susan's sourdough is delicious, I also like the simplicity.

I think your loaf looked great- have fun with the next one!

Marni

breadbakingbassplayer's picture
breadbakingbass...

Nice lookin' bread! 

Leaving out the salt is not so big a deal...  You've just made saltless Tuscan bread by accident...  Just make sure you eat it with salty things like salted butter, olives and cured meats...

ques2008's picture
ques2008

can't wait to see the next one, salt or no salt!

is that the same susan who has a web site on sourdough; i think she was gracious enough to do a tutorial on baker's percentage? 

AnnieT's picture
AnnieT

I think you'll find that Susanfnp has the website and Susan from San Diego invented the magic bowl and Susan's Simple Boule - both very gracious ladies! A.

LindyD's picture
LindyD

After I made the same mistake and omitted the salt I had scaled and set aside (one of my duh moments), I learned to always taste the dough after it's mixed.

As to preshaping and shaping, there's some great videos on the topic which you'll find linked at the top of the page.

Susan's picture
Susan

Your bread looks great!  And don't worry; we've all left the salt out at one time or another.  Just tell people it's Tuscan Bread and serve it with something salty. 

Best,

Susan from San Diego (visiting family in cold North Carolina at the moment--brrrr!)

RobynNZ's picture
RobynNZ

Hi Liz

It's early Christmas morning and knowing everything that should be done has been done, I'm rewarding myself with a catch-up here before I go to bed and was delighted to find your posts. I'm from Waiheke but am in Auckland with family as I write.

You ask about supplies.  I'm sure kiwi ingenuity will do you just fine. I too use a colander, or linen tea towels for proofing, a roasting tin to cover bread and so on. I must admit when in Auckland I do like to buy ingredients such as rye and spelt flours and various grains which I can't get at home.

While there are flours made for the commercial bakers, they are only available in large bags. The more you bake the more you will learn about the way your flour works, say in relation to hydration or your humidity up north. Pam's flour is made by the same people who make Champion and Edmonds flours, I'm sure it's good quality just another way to increase market share through the Foodstuffs stores. Do you use standard or hi-grade?  I generally use wholemeal and hi-grade, though go with standard for baguettes. I don't normally use Pams (it's Woolworths on Waiheke) but today used some from my brother's cupboard for fruit mince tarts (I use Sydenham Bakery's pastry recipe on page 150 in the NZ Baker)and the  children and I made gingerbreadmen and they all turned out very well. The bread you have shared here looks great and you have said you are happy with the flavour and texture, I wouldn't be concerned about flour.

I have been using a razor blade thred on to a chop stick as a lame, and while it isn't necessary I have asked Santa for a tomato knife such as that shown in David's Bread Scoring Tutorial.  Have you read through it and seen the videos he links to at the end? If not, I am sure you'd enjoy doing so, here's a link:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10121/bread-scoring-tutorial-updated-122009

I really ought to go to bed, my little nieces and nephew wouldn't be pleased if Santa couldn't call here 'cause I was still up!

Here's to a Merry Christmas, it looks like we're in for a hot day.

Robyn

liza2's picture
liza2

Hey Robyn, I was hoping there'd be some other kiwis on this site. Great to meet you! Thanks for the link to the slashing tutorial. I've spent hours looking through all the info but had missed that one. I tried the techniques out on my next loaf and it turned out a much better shape. Lucky you, living on Waiheke! We're up the Kaipara, near the Atiu Creek park. Hope your Christmas went well. Did you get your tomato knife? We also spent Christmas Day with family in Auckland, and then we had various family members visiting us up here on boxing day and today. Everybody liked my sourdough bread so that was good. Tomorrow's back to normal and I might get another loaf on the go. Hasn't the weather been brilliant? I didn't know that Pam's and Champion and Edmonds are all made by the same company. I bought a small bag of Edmonds the other day at twice the price of Pam's - just was curious to see if it would make any difference. It didn't. And checking the bag, both have 11.0% protein content. But now I've found a baker on TradeMe who sells lame knives and German proofing baskets (search trademe on "brotforme") and I also asked him which flours he uses and where you can buy them. He's also sending me a packet of Fermipan Red yeast, which he reckons is the best yeast available in NZ. Anyway, I've pretty well got the hang of Susan's simple sourdough recipe now, I might move on to improving my baguettes next and after that I want to have a go at ciabatta. I'd also like to try a challah because i'm always looking for ways to use up the eggs and I like the look of those plaits. Later in January my three grandchildren (all under 5) will be coming up and I'm keen to make those chocolate faces too. Keep in touch! Liz  

RobynNZ's picture
RobynNZ

Glad to hear you had an enjoyable Christmas/Boxing Day and that your bread met with accolades. And yes, thank Santa did remember the knife and the oven thermometer.

Today we've been preparing for my nephew's birthday tomorrow, he'll be 4 and we're taking a picnic to the botanical gardens in Manurewa, with friends and family. Mine's on New Year's Eve and for that we plan another picnic this time at Cornwall park.

I have had fun making the piggies in the following link with the children, we made the faces in the chocolada link Mini O provided, and another day some pigs the same as Mini O's design, but then there was mutiny and we had cows and cats and dinosaurs etc appearing on the baking tray!

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/13744/pig-shaped-bread

We haven't done the chocolate faces yet, but they are on the list for when they come over to Waiheke next.

I too have had contact with Neville, but by way of buying a yuzu tree from him. I needed to replace it this year and as his nursery had closed had to figure out how to contact him, a google search then identified him as a skilled baker. He has a WFO in his garden as well as a professional steam injection oven, apparently he makes bread for the local Steiner school. What did he say about flour?

I haven't been doing much yeast baking, tend to use the starter, but the woman at the local food service supply place (which gets supplies for local restaurants) sold me a 500g pack of Bakels Instant Yeast for $6, which I have been happy with. I like multigrain bread - my quest started when I could no longer buy Vogel's unsliced, so I tend to alternate making multigrain with something different.

Do you have access to a library? I have have had a lot of wonderful bread books out from Auckland library, we have a branch and can request books from the other branches.

Cheers, Robyn

liza2's picture
liza2

Hi Robyn, Happy new year. Thanks for the link to the piggies, they look so funny, I'm definitely going to make those with my grandkids. I hope your birthday went well. One of my friends had a picnic in Cornwall Park for her birthday one year & I thought it was a really nice idea. It was sort of a pot-luck picnic. We all turned up with picnic food and spent the afternoon playing cricket and lazing about under the trees. I went down to Auckland yesterday to meet up with a friend I hadn't seen since 2008. We had lunch at the Ironique cafe in Mt Eden which I can recommend and then had a look around the Newmarket shops. Today my nextdoor neighbour and I walked around the Atiu Creek park up the road which took us 2-3 hours. It had some good climbs and it was good to get a bit of exercise after all the eating over the last week. Neville said he bakes with organic flours - Weston (11.5% protein) or Kialla (14.5% protein) both Australian grown flours. He buys in bulk- Weston from Weston Milling and Kialla from either Chantal's Napier or Ceres Auckland. Or smaller quantities from organic food shops. I looked up Ceres and they have a shop on Ladies Mile in Ellerslie. They have a website with email address and phone number. For the moment I'm going to stick with Pam's flour as I'm getting good results, but I may try these other flours later when I start diversifying.... I used to eat Vogel's when it was made by Reizenstein's but find now that its quite tasteless and gluey. Our daily "bread and butter" bread is the Mixed Grain Bread recipe from the Simon & Alison Holst bread book. It uses kibbled wheat and rye and always turns out well and is similar to Burgen breads. its really nice toasted too. We do have quite a good library service & can request books from all the Rodney branches, that's a good idea. I'll look up the catalogue and see what bread books they've got. Tomorrow I'm going up to Whananaki for a few days to meet up with my daughter & will then come back here with her and the three children. Will be in touch later, Liz

RobynNZ's picture
RobynNZ

It should be lovely up at Whananaki, I hope you have a great time with your family there. My brother and his wife and 3 children (who are like grandkids to me) went north today and I returned to Waiheke. When I spoke to them this evening they were having tea out at Wellington's Bay near Tutakaka. To learn what awaited me here, take a look at my post on the sourdough forum.

Interesting to hear what flour Neville uses. Have you tried making the Holsts' Mixed Grain bread with starter? I used Alison's Vogel-like recipe from her Bread book it was OK, but not quite what I wanted. I have now developed a formula based on Peter Reinhart's Transistional Straun, using a mixed grain soaker and white preferement made with starter. With more experience now, I'd probably do a better job with Alison's recipe than I did back when I got started.

Auckland library purchased two copies of Hamelman's Bread book when I made a request for them to buy it. You might be able to borrow it through inter-loan. My sister asked what I'd like for my birthday and I asked for this book. It's on its way from Amazon.

Safe Travels

Robyn

Chuck's picture
Chuck

You've got plenty of company...

I forgot to add the salt into the flour on the scale just this week, and had the same "what the h---?" experience on the first taste. "Oh yeah"  ...slap palm on forehead, find salty cheese in fridge, gobble it all up anyway, bake another loaf.

Seems like a prime opportunity to explore olive pastes (or maybe the universe is trying to motivate us non-Brits to use Marmite).