Does My Kitchen Need an Exorcism?
I had great success with this recipe the first one or two times I made it. The bread came out sour beyond my wildest dreams, just like we used to enjoy in San Francisco back in the day.
My subsequent efforts at making this recipe have been duds. No sourness, just sort of salty. In addition, other experienced bakers have tried this recipe with no sourness at all. So what gives? Why did it work well for me initially but subsequent efforts, and efforts by others, have failed? I'm using unbleached AP flour. I've never heard of vinegar going bad on the shelf so I'm wondering if there is a problem with the acid whey, which I obtain by draining the liquid from plain yogurt.
If you'd like to try it, have at, and I would appreciate hearing about the results from anyone who tries it.
I've also had bad luck using conventional starter, but there can be 1,001 things wrong with a starter. The last time I tried, the bread rose OK but was sorely lacking in sourness. Which is why I'm wondering if my kitchen needs an exorcism.
I have also gotten good flavor with a 24-hour proof at around 86° F but needless to say, it was horribly overproofed.
My nearby grocery store makes passable sourdough by adding lactic acid but they also add fumaric acid.
What gives?
Closer examination of the patent shows the first three words are "Dry yeast is rehydrated", so maybe I need to be using active dry yeast instead of instant (rapid rise) yeast? Would that make a difference?
I made a boule today using this recipe but instead of using acid whey strained from plain yogurt as my source of lactic acid, I used 2 grams of lactic acid POWDER dissolved in the recipe water.
I baked it and let it cool until it was about room temperature. The crumb was still a little moist/damp from the internal steam and the flavor was a little off. I was disappointed.
I then ran some errands. When I returned, the internal moisture had dried out and it was a completely different bread — greatly improved! It was quite an eye opener.
I figure the time it takes to come out of the oven, be packaged, shipped to a grocer and sit on the grocery shelf for a while makes a substantial difference in the quality of the finished product.
Color me surprised!