The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

la brea sourdough

rxcsyrus's picture
rxcsyrus

la brea sourdough

i made some white sourdough from the la brea bakery book and it was awesome would of liked a more open crumb but it was light and airy i added a few ounces water and took out the wheat germ i feel like she hangs on to the wheat germ in alot of recipes ok a couple heres the pics and the money shot (crumb)

white sour la breawhite sour la brea

la brea white sour 2la brea white sour 2

la brea crumbla brea crumb

la brea crumb 2la brea crumb 2

PaddyL's picture
PaddyL

That is beautiful looking bread, and is probably lighter because you left out the wheat germ which, I find, tends to cut into the gluten somewhat.  Did you use the grape starter from her book or another starter?  I've got that book and you've now inspired me to give it a try.

rxcsyrus's picture
rxcsyrus

rxscyrus

i didnt use her grape starter i had alot leftover starter bascially fed almost the same way (sometimes troublesome) and just needed to use it up still have some though we only eat a little sourdough in my house but it was fun making it ive been thinking about growing a grape starter though

PaddyL's picture
PaddyL

...takes up so much flour!  I tried it once, years ago, but you'd have to be much better off than I am to keep adding all that flour.  I'm going to give that recipe a try with my own starter, though, it looks so darned good.

holds99's picture
holds99

Nice job rxscyrus.  Bet your bread tasted delicious. 

I've made this bread a number of times, using the wheat germ and it's a great recipe.  Nancy Silverton's book, "Breads From The La Brea Bakery" is what got me started making sourdough and thinking seriously about baking something other than, yeast only breads, using the direct method.  Years ago I made her grape starter and dried a large quantity, broke it up into small pieces and keep it in the freezer for emergency.  I'm still using it and it still works great after ten + years.  Her methods and techniques create a lot of unneccesary waste and have been eclipsed by some the methods and techniques used by current artisan baking gurus.  But she was there at the beginning, made a major contribution and I still bake some of her recipes.

Anyway, FWIW.  The open crumb usually results from proper hydration and gluten development.  Assuming your hydration is correct, if you're looking for a more open crumb, and you aren't already doing it, try 2 or 3 stretch and folds (flatten out your dougn, give it a business letter fold, turn a quarter turn, fold again, back into the container, seam side down) at 20 minute intervals during the first hour of bulk fermentation and be careful when shaping, preserve as much of the gas as possible in the dough.  As I said, this might help get you a more open crumb.

Good luck with your baking adventures,

Howard

rxcsyrus's picture
rxcsyrus

rxscyrus

thanks i will remember that yeah id does need  an extra fold thnaks so much

holds99's picture
holds99

Here's Mark's video showing the stretch and fold technique.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0o4asEGW78

Howard