on vacation
I've been on vacation and not baking for a while. I have been keeping my starter going, however. Last week I made the 1/3 whole wheat 1-2-3 sourdough ... again. I'm caught in a rut :)
I forgot the salt though, and had to mix it in after 2 or 3 stretch and folds. Seemed to work ok though. Bread was good, but I forgot to take pictures. I made 4 small baguettes. Those are just hard to shape; I need practice. Scoring was good (I did 3 - 4 lengthwise slashes) but the bread was underproofed.
I have a question about storing bread. I've read here on this site that you shouldn't store bread in plastic, as that makes it soggy and moldy, and that the fridge isn't good either. We normally eat 1/4 of each batch the day its made, I give some away, but the last loaf sits around and gets very hard. Still tastes fine.... I've taken to slicing up the last loaf and freezing it to make croutons or bread pudding "starters".
I am baking the 1-2-3 loaf again today. My starter got very runny, too much water at the last feeding, so I had to add a bit less water than called for. I *didn't* forget the salt :) I shaped it into to boules and they are rising right now on the counter. I"ll post pictures later today when they're done.
Its good to be back home and into my bread routine again. I am going to make regular whole wheat sandwich bread tomorrow as school is starting and we need to pack lunches again...
Comments
here are the loaves. It is so good. Mmmmmmm. But its not.... sour.
let me give a few more details on my process.
made dough and mixed by hand (1 pt starter, a little less than 2 parts water, a little more than 3 parts flour, 1/3 whole wheat, 1/3 regular, 1/3 bread flour). I did 2 stretch and folds, then let it ferment overnight in the fridge. In the morning I brought it out and brought to room temp. Then I did one more stretch and fold. after about 45 minutes, I shaped. It rose for 1 and a half hours or so, then I baked with steam starting at 500 for 2-3 minutes, then 450 for about 40 more minutes. color is great. taste is good, but its not... sour.
I feel I have the storage down to a science.
I cut my loaf into 4 equal parts.
3 of them I put in a zip lock freezer bag, and locate it in a corner of the freezer where it's least likely to be affected by the freezer self defrost cycles.
When I'm ready for a piece, I remove from the freezer, and either let it thaw, or put in the microwave for 10-12 second intervals, removing each time, and making sure it has no 'hot spots'. I rarely thaw it completely in the microwave as that tends to dry it out.
But a few 10 second intervals speeds up the process enough to slace off what I want, and the slices finish thawing quickly.
Sometimes I put a slice back into the microwave for 5-10 seconds, just to warm slightly, so it will melt the butter when spread.
Almost like fresh out of the oven.
The piece I keep out of the freezer I put cut face down on the breadboard, and leave it out in the open, or cover with a dish towel.
If the cut face dries slightly, I just shave a 1/16" slice off the end before slicing again.