The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Bread Experiments

cookiemonster's picture
cookiemonster

Bread Experiments

Hi,

To make a long story short I bought a 25 lb bag of red fife wheat berries and have been experimenting with different methods of preparing them. I want to get into making breads but I've been encountering some issues and would love your feedback!

I started a sourdough starter which I've been cultivating for a week and a half now. I started with 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water and have been adding 1/2 cup flour 1/4 cup water daily. Instead of throwing out half of the dough I used it to make biscuits

Here are biscuits I made with the starter:

http://s13.postimg.org/8cot2pv9z/IMG_20150109_152649.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/u1np6kxhz/IMG_20150109_152802.jpg

I cooked them a bit more than I thought they needed just to see what would would happen and the inside came out like this:

http://s13.postimg.org/bktafrhjr/IMG_20150109_155214.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/iixelpfo7/IMG_20150109_160515.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/fjqhyl66v/IMG_20150109_160720.jpg

 

Here is a picture of the flour, which I'm grinding in a nutribulet.

http://s13.postimg.org/hjbp3qpw7/IMG_20150109_100423.jpg

 

and here is the dough after I added some fat and salt, kneaded and let it rest for a bit:

http://s13.postimg.org/oc2v8j1xz/IMG_20150109_132455.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/5h74i41w7/IMG_20150109_133529.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/b5i0mqvmf/IMG_20150109_143802.jpg

 

As you can see from the last shot the dough was pretty moist so the "biscuits" flattened out like pancakes.

I baked them at around 350 for about 50 minutes then let them sit for 20 minutes before cracking them open.

Basically I'm in unfamiliar territory.. are these undercooked in the middle? or if this the natural outcome of a combination of things..  coarse whole grain flour, moist dough, sourdough not completely active, perhaps not kneaded enough? etc.

 

Here I was playing around with frying some of the starter in a pan with oil:

http://s13.postimg.org/i50nzukyf/IMG_19991231_190350.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/n0zpdsvpz/IMG_19991231_190238.jpg

again I have similar concerns. I would love to be able to enjoy eating things like this without being paranoid that theyre undercooked.

The areas that dont come into direct contact with the pan develop that glossy gummy moist sort of appearance. Not that I mind these textural elements, I just have reservations about their doneness... I've observed this also when trying to make flat breads in a pan with just water flour salt oil.

 I've got my hands on a few books that I've seen mentioned around the forum and will be reading them with great attention. In the meantime wanted to share where I'm at right now. Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

 

PS. Pardon the pictures I snapped them quickly as I was eating

 

 

Laurentius's picture
Laurentius

Starter is not Dough! Starter is the component that gives rise to the bread, you must add flour, water and salt to make the final dough.

Jane Dough's picture
Jane Dough

I found this site about the time I got interested in sourdough starters just over a year ago.  I've been  baking the whole year but I've also been spending a good deal of time reading formulas and techniques and whatever else is available. Like you I started with very little knowledge of the process.  However with an investment of time and practice I have been able to produce some very nice loaves.  The techniques are quite different from what you are describing. 

You might want to look at the "Handbook" that can be accessed from the top of the page.  Once you've had a look at that there are recipes in Section III - some of which are good recipes to start with. 

There is also a world of reading on different flour types and their characteristics. 

Good luck to you.