New Member With An SMS (Save My Sourdough)
Hi all. I have been a regular visitor here over the last 6 months but have never officially joined and contributed so i figured now was as good a time as any. I have learned many great tips and recipes by using this site and so i think its only fair to start giving some of that back wherever possible over the coming months and years.
First off a little about me. I am a 29 year old male from scotland. I have a wife and 1 beautiful little girl of 2. I make bread every week without fail. I make a variety of other things as well that normally compliment my bakery interest such as soups, burgers, tattie scones (my daughter absolutely loves a fresh baked roll and tattie scone) and various other things to give me the excuse to make bread. On average i bake about 3-4 times a week which always includes a hearty wholemeal loaf (breakfast), a batch of soft white rolls (lunch), pizza, finger rolls or any other bread that i feel like trying. My rolls basically come out the way i want them to all the time. My pizza is as good as i think it can be but i think my brown bread (whilst incredibly tasty esp for toasting or a big thick slice sarnie) still needs a little work as i dont always get it to rise as much as i want it to. Other than that for the meantime, as far as i dare to venture into the world of bread baking that is, im happy with my lot.
I have a sourdough starter that is about 3 months old and it hasnt been getting used as much as i think it should. The problem is my sourdough recipes are not family friendly. The sour taste basically puts both of my girls off it and thus far has prevented me from exploring this fascinating facet of traditional baking. The culture was good and active and could raise the bread well. It was especially good with brown bread and gave a much better spring than my yeast breads. Its been sitting in the fridge now for about 1 month and the wife was tentatively suggesting that we pitch it to free up some fridge space (hence the sms).
What im asking for is some tips and advice for using my sourdough to make it less sour, so that i might integrate it into our baking schedule a little more readily and save it from the bin. It doesnt even have to be loafs as such. Ive heard it can make really good muffins, cakes etc which use a raising agent which cancels out the sour.
Hopefully some of you on here can relate to this situation and will be able to point me in the right direction.