My first breads of 2010

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 2, 2010 - 5:27pm

Two old friends ...

Vermont Sourdough

My scoring was inspired by Shiao-Ping's most recent miche.

Vermont Sourdough Crumb

San Joaquin Sourdough

San Joaquin Sourdough crumb

Now, the difficult decision: Which to use for our dungeness crab sandwiches for dinner. Aha! My wife has spoken: "Both!"

David

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Submitted by Stephanie Brim on January 2, 2010 - 6:20pm.

I'm thinking about finally

I'm thinking about finally making your San Joaquin sourdough soon and this is great inspiration! :D

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 2, 2010 - 10:26pm.

Do it! @ Stephanie

Hi, Stephanie.

If you do make the SJ SD, let me know how it turns out for you. I think its technique is better than most for fitting into a busy mother's schedule.

David

Submitted by droidman on January 2, 2010 - 6:20pm.

beautiful

Your loaves always look perfect. I wish mine looked half as good.

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 2, 2010 - 10:27pm.

Thanks, droidman!

David

Submitted by occidental on January 2, 2010 - 6:39pm.

Score!

Those are great looking loaves! Very attractive scoring. Did you use your lame, tomato knife or something else with these? It looks like 2010 is starting out great for your breads.

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 2, 2010 - 7:04pm.

Scoring @ occidental

Hi, occidental.

As it happens, I scored all these loaves with a tomato knife.

David

Submitted by SylviaH on January 2, 2010 - 7:08pm.

Perfect start

for the New Year! What gorgeous loaves!

Sylvia

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 2, 2010 - 7:47pm.

Crumb shots are now uploaded.

David

Submitted by SylviaH on January 2, 2010 - 7:56pm.

but, but, where's the

crab sandwich...I have been so craving crab today!

Sylvia

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 2, 2010 - 10:22pm.

Crab sandwiches

Hi, Sylvia.

They're in my happy tummy. If you'd like, I'll warm up the ultrasound and upload a video. ;-)

David

Submitted by plevee on January 2, 2010 - 8:06pm.

SF starter

David, do you have any update on the starter you bought on line? Do the breads you make with it still have a distinct SF sourdough taste?

I bought the Ischia starter from the same place. It is still performing well as a starter but has lost its original very delicious flavour & produces bread that tastes the same as that made with my home grown starters.

Patsy

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 2, 2010 - 8:52pm.

SF Starter flavor @ Patsy

I've nothing new to report. I still have it segregated, but I haven't used it recently. I probably should,but I don't have high expectations.

David

Submitted by Paddyscake on January 2, 2010 - 9:01pm.

Old Friends..

Nothing better to start the New Year with! Crab sandwiches, yum. Nice loaves, as always.
Betty

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 2, 2010 - 10:28pm.

Thanks, Betty!

David

Submitted by Shiao-Ping on January 2, 2010 - 9:29pm.

How lovely!

I couldn't do scoring like that. It looks perfectly balanced like a flower (Vermont Sourdough).

Both look delicious. I would have difficulty choosing which one to have first.

Shiao-Ping

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 2, 2010 - 10:16pm.

Thanks, Shiao-Ping!

The "flower" was made with 3 cuts, intersecting in the middle of the top of the boule. Nothing fancy in the technique, but it does give a nice effect, doesn't it?

We had some of each bread with dinner. The flavors are very similar, since the flour mix is almost identical (rye and white flour). The less open crumb of the Vermont SD makes it a better sandwich bread, but the San Joaquin was good with the potato-leek soup we had before the crab sandwiches.

With the recent discussion of what Hamelman means by "bread flour," I used KAF AP in the Vermont Sourdough and followed Hamelman's procedure, except for mixing the dough for about twice as long as he specifies. This is probably equivalent to his 2 1/2 minutes in a spiral mixer using my KitchenAid. The crumb is quite chewy - just right to my taste.

David

Submitted by Wild-Yeast on January 2, 2010 - 9:44pm.

Crab Sands

Nice loaves David! Have you tried lightly smoked Dungeness Crab sandwiches?

Happy New Year too!

+Wild-Yeast

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 2, 2010 - 10:18pm.

Smoked dungeness crab?

Hi, Wild-Yeast.

I'm not aware of ever having seen smoked dungeness. Does it come canned or how?

Happy New Year to you, too!

David

Submitted by ques2008 on January 3, 2010 - 8:29am.

hello david

i'm venturing into sourdough this year. my starter is very healthy, has been sitting in the fridge for the last 2 weeks (for someone who just learned how to make a starter, i'm very pleased with the results).

which one of the two you just made would you recommend for a sourdough newbie, taking into account the frustration factor and difficulty level? I'll worry about scoring later, i'm sure your scoring tutorials will come in handy. :)

many thanks for your recommendation in advance!

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 3, 2010 - 12:14pm.

First sourdough @ ques2008

The Vermont Sourdough is a classic American sourdough. If you have a stand mixer and Hamelman's "Bread," I'd recommend that one. Actually, even if you don't have "Bread," the formula is pretty much reproduced on SusanFNP's wildyeastblog.com. See: My New Favorite Sourdough

The San Joaquin Sourdough is made without any machine mixing, but is a wetter dough. If you are comfortable with somewhat slack doughs, it's easy to make, and many TFL members have been happy with their results. See this version: Sourdough bread: Good results with a new tweak of my steaming method. (You can use AP or bread flour, if that's what you have, rather than the high gluten flour in this formula.)

Other good choices would be any of Susan from San Diego's formulas. See her blog on TFL. They are among my own personal favorites. See: Susan from San Diego's "Ultimate Sourdough" and Susan from San Diego's "Original Sourdough" .

Let us know what you choose to bake and how it turns out.

David

Submitted by Bixmeister on January 3, 2010 - 8:32am.

Boules

Beautiful job David. You certainly make aesthetic boules. I will be consulting some of your comments and examples when I make my next boules.

Do you have a recipe that you can share?

Bix

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 3, 2010 - 12:16pm.

Thanks, Bix!

See the links in my response to ques2008, above, for recipes.

David

Submitted by CaptainBatard on January 3, 2010 - 9:19am.

I have never seen

I have never seen Vermont Sourdough look so beautiful!

Love the color of the crumb and crust...

I guess this proof...your old friends never let you down!

Judd

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 3, 2010 - 12:18pm.

Thanks, Judd!

David

Submitted by Arbyg on January 3, 2010 - 10:00am.

Nice sour! Make and bake or

Nice sour!
Make and bake or some retarding?

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 3, 2010 - 12:20pm.

Thanks, Arbyg!

The Vermont SD is retarded after the boules are formed. The SJ SD is retarded in bulk.

Links to both recipes are in my response to ques2008, above.

David

Submitted by Wild-Yeast on January 3, 2010 - 10:23am.

No Supply Known?

Hi David, My first taste was at the Point Loma Seafood Company in San Diego. The in season crab sandwich (Dungeness) is lightly smoked and served on San Francisco sourdough. I lightly smoke my own in a small smoke oven using a few twigs of alder, apple and cherry woods. Smoked seafood was once a staple of small local seafood companies.

+Wild-Yeast

Submitted by dmsnyder on January 3, 2010 - 12:22pm.

Thanks, Wild-Yeast.

Point Loma Seafood is owned by a friend of my brother's. I'll have to check with him on this product.

David

Submitted by rossnroller on January 3, 2010 - 10:34am.

Great start to your baking year, David!

The Vermont SD is my favourite bread. I keep thinking I've found something to better it, then I bake it again and it re-establishes itself at number 1. Also love Hamelman's variation substituting wholegrain flour in place of rye.

I haven't tried your San Joaquin SD yet...bumping it up the queue after this post of yours.

Oh, by the way, re: