The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Greetings from Ozark, MO

JRod's picture
JRod

Greetings from Ozark, MO

Hi everyone,

What a lovely forum and anxious to be a part of this community.  I used to bake a lot of bread but only basic white loaves from Auntie Maxine's refrigerator dough recipe.  My hubby is a native from the SF Bay area and is always disappointed with the quality and taste of sourdough bread we get in this area. So....I have decided to master the art and make our own sourdough.  I have a starter ordered from the area and purchased a Sassafrass Cloche for baking.  Excited for the challenge to set the "perfect" sourdough loaf in front on my man :-) 

Looking forward to this learning process and truly appreciate all of the wonderful help, hints, ideas and support I have found while reading this forum. 

Julie

pmccool's picture
pmccool

I have a daughter living in Joplin.  She took a dive into baking with sourdough a couple of years ago and loves it.  You will too, I'm sure.

You'll have lots of questions and folks here will have lots of answers, so don't be bashful.  In the meantime, feel free to use the Search tool at the upper left-hand corner of the page.  Odds are pretty good someone has had similar questions and you can find something that fits your needs, too.

Paul

gmagmabaking2's picture
gmagmabaking2

Welcome Julie.... I too am a transplanted Californian, now in Texas... that SF Sourdough seems to be the yardstick we all use to measure the sourdough "quality"... but know this... Your sourdough will be what it is, locally, those yeasties floating around in the atmosphere... don't have the salt air of the San Francisco Bay... so you may have to tweak in some extra sea salt to get the flavor you are looking for in your breads... just saying... there are may great bakers who are more than willing and able to help with any questions... I have two sisters, one here in Texas, and one in Washington state... we bake together regularly via cyber and text chats and photos... Welcome to the world of bread and sours... you will be hooked faster than those fish in the Bay!!!!  Enjoy Everything!

Diane

rbhunsaker's picture
rbhunsaker

Hi Diane,

I live about 15 miles inland from the coast in San Diego, and for the life of me, I can't make my sourdough sour.  You're right about the particularities of regional yeasties.  But sea salt or extra sea salt helps?  About how much extra do you add and do you add it to your mother starter or sponge or dough?  I'm planning on getting a new batch started at my parents home how live on the coast to see if there's a difference.  Thanks!!

-- Russ

baybakin's picture
baybakin

I used to live in San Diego (North park/Golden Hill), and I couldn't get my sourdough sour without lots of tweaking either.  The key is long bulk fermentation times in the fridge, and keeping the dough temp down.  Winter and late fall yielded more sour bread than summer, which I mostly chalked up to warmer temps.  If you really want more sour sourdough check dmsnyder's blog on here, he has a continuing mission on there for sour SF-style sourdough.  Good luck!

rbhunsaker's picture
rbhunsaker

Thanks for the info.  I live in El Cajon.  The good thing about my sourdough failures is they still make for outstanding bread.  My quest will continue no doubt!  Cheers! 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

in Southern Missouri, Dad just tmoved from Pomme De Terre to Joplin, we welcome you to The Fresh Loaf Community.  Lots of Pro, very good amature bakers here to help you get started and become addicted like many of us.  Just started a new SD starter the other day using Joe Ortiz's cumin, tsp of milk, some water and WW flour - took 3 days.  Making SD WW English Muffins with it tomorrow.  Your hubby will be full of SD bread in no time.

Happy Baking. 

richkaimd's picture
richkaimd

As a relative newbie, but for one particular recipe, I strongly recommend that you buy a bread textbook and work your way through it.  I may be a project, may take a while, but in the end, you'll know so much more about the whole field of bread baking than just the making of one kind of bread.  I recommend DiMuzio's Bread Baking.  It's intended for beginner's who want to learn from the ground up.  It's full of graded exercise recipes which will take you from beginner on up.  At the end you will not have the feeling of being confused about more than a few questions raised by writers to this site.  You'll also be one of those people who can be helpful to others who write in.  DiMuzio's book is pretty inexpensive new, but it can be found used.  Try Alibris or Powells Books.