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Submitted by ontherise on June 2, 2008 - 6:28pm Dan Leader's Altamura Semolina SourdoughHello - I am working on getting my first starter from scratch going and am using the Altamura Semolina Sourdough from Dan Leader's book, "Local Breads." I believe the culture is ready. So last night I took out the 1/4 cup (1.8 oz) and added to it the 2 oz of spring water and 2.5 oz of fine semolina flour. Seems to be ripe. Now comes my question. I am certain it is a stupid one, but here goes. Based on the above measurements I now have about 1 cup (7.3 oz) of starter. The recipe says that I can use the sourdough right away or store it in the frig. If I use it right away, I have enough starter to make the following recipe "Altamura Bread" which calls for 7.1 oz of sourdough. But that only leaves me .2 oz of starter with which to continue. Do I refresh it twice? Or am I missing something really basic? Any thoughts, explainations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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Continuing your culture
Hi, onetherise.
You say you "took out the 1/4 cup" from your culture, so I assume you did not use all your culture to make the semolina starter. If that is so, the remaining culture can be fed and built up to the volume you need to make new starters for other breads.
Even if you just have 0.2 oz of starter, though, you can re-build it to any volume you desire with multiple feedings. I once made the mistake of using all of a rye sour for a recipe. I just had a bit of the sour left clinging to the sides of the jar. I added an ounce of water and swirled it around to dissolve the starter, added rye flour (equal weight to the water) and let it ferment for a few hours (6-8). I had my rye sour back.
Did I misunderstand your question?
David
not enough starter
Hallo ontherise,
I had the same problem! I use weights only and figured it out when reading the recipe. With 50 grams of semolina culture, adding 57 grams of water and 70 grams you can never end up with the required 200 grams of sourdough culture for the recipe on page 258.... let alone 50 grams extra to refresh and make another bread!
A bit sloppy on the editor's side, I think, but the only solution is to build up your start to the required weight for the full recipe, or half the recipe :-).
I wasn't thrilled with the outcome, when measuring the flour I found out that the semolina I bought in a paper bag was the coarse variety, so I only used half of this and half white bread flour, afraid as I was to end up with a gritty loaf... but the loaf was quite dense, did have nice irregular holes, but not a lot of oven spring...
Kept a bit of the starter in the fridge, but don't know if I'll make this bread again.
Succes with yours!
correction
70 grams of semolina flour...
Ontherise, you are wise to ask
The recipe states in the very beginning "allow 8 to 12 hours to prepare the semolina biga" and then it leaves you hanging for the 200g sourdough (starter) for the recipe. So put a star on that "BIGA" and at the bottom write in the recipe for it. See the options written below and I hope it answers your question.
Thanks for pointing it out.
Mini O
I did some math, got the correction
There are two options for the Altamura Bread Recipe (p 257):
8 to 12 hours before making the bread dough (p258) make 250g semolina sourdough starter:
The decision depends on how much starter you have and if you want to make it every day. Page 256, 2nd to last sentence: "...Measure out what you need for your recipe. Then measure out ... 50 grams ... refresh..."
That would be 70g starter for the recipe (option #2).
Mini O
It Worked!!
Good Afternoon -
Thank you to all who responded. I wound up taking the 70 grams of starter as per Mini O's calculations. Being new to this, it seemed too dry so I added a little extra water. Later, I decided that it probably was fine and the extra water made the dough too sticky and not hold it's shape as well as it should have.
But, the bread was tasty, had nice holes and texture, just a rather flat shape. So I am encouraged and ready to try my next loaf. Thanks again for the replies and suggestions. They were a big help.
I was just reading about
I was just reading about this bread tonight. Did you take a picture of the bread? I would love to see a picture of it. Also I'm not sure if I follow his directions for shaping the bread has anyone else made this bread?
oops
oops
Hello LeadDog - No, I
Hello LeadDog -
No, I didn't take a picture. I had added a little extra water because it seemed to dry when I refreshed it and that seemed to make the dough a little too wet/sticky so my loaf tasted good, but was a little flat.
Am going to try it again or perhaps one of the other recipes in that section. If they turn out to be a "photo opp" I'll take a picture and post it.
I went looking for Semolina
I went looking for Semolina last night but didn't find any. I'll check a few more places in town. The bread sounds so fascinating to me that I want to give it a try.
I had the same problem. The
I had the same problem. The best I could find locally was the Semolina Pasta Flour by Hodgson Mills. I tried it because it sounded like it was a blend of pasta and durum flours. Also, they had bread recipes on the box. It is what I used to build most of my starter and seemed to work out fine. Other brands were too course.
Then I wound up ordering durum flour from Heartland Mill (www.heartlandmill.com) I am a novice when it comes to artisan baking but it seems like wonderful flour, very light and fluffy.
Good luck.
I found some Semolina in one
I found some Semolina in one of our local stores. It seems to be a fine grind. I'm going on vacation for a couple of weeks but am looking forward to trying this when I get back.
Pictures
I made the bread and took pictures.
The dough is a very wet dough. The book I think has another error in it. The baking time and temp is 400°F for 40 to 50 min. I cooked this at 400° for an hour and 15 mins. It was still very moist inside almost doughy. I have another bag of semolina so I'm going to try it again. There is no hint of sourdough to this bread at all. Makes me thing that the semolina has a sweet taste to it. The crust is crunchy like no bread that I have ever tasted.
Follow Up
I made this bread again the next day to see what some changes would do. I cooked the bread at 470 F for 55 minutes and the bread had a much better looking crust to it. The crum is still very moist but not doughy. I don't think I'll make this bread again because the taste to me wasn't anything special.