I currently have a wonderful starter that originated from the pineapple juice based starter recipe and would like to find some bread recipes using it in conjunction with sour cream as an ingredient.  I've always liked the texture I get when I use sour cream in recipes.  Anybody have suggestions?  Any kind of bread will do--savory, sweet or plain.  Thanks!

I spent my summers on Cape Cod where there were cranberry bogs in our back yard. After the harvest was over there were often many berries just lying on top of the bog that got missed in the harvest and we would collect them and make muffins, cranberry bread and mix them with apple pie - they add a little tartness to the pie that I really like. 

View my recipe for Cranberry Walnut bread  at

http://turosdolci.wordpress.com

it seems to me that one of the biggest hurdles beginning bakers face is the idea that because something shows up in a book, that's necessarily the way things have to be.

take sourdough culture, as in this thread. Peter Reinhart says, "..." and therefore that's how it has to be. Nothing against Peter Reinhart: he's an extraordinarily great baker and and extraordinarily talented teacher. the problem is simply that a lot of beginners, in their eagerness to "get it right," don't trust themselves.

fact is, we're dealing with a complex set of interrelated physical and biological processes here, and to insist that all sorts of unfamiliar (to those starting out) living organisms *must* conform with one person's observation or experience is, to me, a reversal of reality. we should be paying more attention to what actually goes on and then adjust our expectations.

so consider a starter. so much depends on the original source of the yeast (plum/grape skins? rye? capture from the air? yogurt?). yeast and lacto-/acetobacteria are everywhere and are location specific. then again, what about the flour? rye? wheat? organic? treated? high or low gluten? or the hydration ... acetobacter likes it dry; lactobacter likes it wet. ambient temperature will affect the rate of yeast and bacterial action. cold slows yeast and lactobacteria, but acetobacteria thrive in cooler temps.

reducing all this stuff, not to mention all the other random factors that may come into play, to a timetable is laudable and useful -- in fact, i've done it myself in a baking book i'm writing -- but one person's experience of the interactions among a complex set of factors and events shouldn't ever constitute a sole and immutable truth.

baking, like so many other things in life, is experience-based, and no book -- no matter how experienced the author nor how careful the research -- should ever become a substitute for observable reality.

when i use organic dark rye flour to start a culture, i usually get activity within 24 hours. like the spark from a flint, that germ of a culture needs to be nourished and nurtured over a couple of weeks of regular feedings before you can consider it a finished sourdough starter ... so what matter if the yeasts go active in 12 hours or 72? all that matters is that we capture the spark and nurture it into a flame.

baking formulas are great because they organize information and they convey an experience or set of experiences that generally work within a relatively broad set of limits. but within those limits are infinite variations of time, temperature and the interplay of ingredients ... and controlling those is the art of baking, as opposed to the science.

Have you ever developed an original recipe? Most people think it is some long drawn out process, but remember you are not Pillsbury test kitchen with thousands of dollars and test kitchen cooks to address ever question or issue.

When you find a recipe that is good, reliable and consistent...that's a keeper. If it is not, you have a couple of choices. Rework the recipe, refine it so it works, put it in the "to-do" pile for a later date or toss it. What you do depends on how much time you want to devote to recipe and only you can answer that question.

As you test, and retest, you will find a pattern to the process and it will fall into an everyday groove. I would suggest that you schedule time each month to test or at least review the recipes you are working on. Remember it's not just about recipes, this is a listing of products you can enter into contest, feature in a magazine or newspaper, include in a future cookbook or sell in your home-based bakery. When your bakery is up and running and a local journalist ask...may we have a recipe to attach to your story? What will you say, no they are all secret...

Always have a dozen or so recipes that are uniquely yours that you don't mind sharing...just in case.

You may also want to place a recipe in your marketing materials...not that people will prepare them necessarily, but to show you are open to sharing your knowledge and skill. You are a great baker and this is not the time to be shy!

Now with that said, you don't have to give out your best recipes, just things you don't mind sharing. Give it some thought.

There is an old saying, there is nothing new under the sun, and it is so true. It is easy to add a new twist to something, but food companies spend millions to create new products, it's a real challenge; but every once and a while an independent culinary innovator comes up with a unique and inspiring food, spice or taste. Take a look at what is missing out there on the grocery shelves... get creative. I would love to see an alternative to buttercream frosting, but I have not yet figured out what it should be, something sweet, creamy and not made with all that fat.

Rye Breads

Greenstein's Jewish Sour Rye from “Secrets of a Jewish Baker”

Norm's Sour Rye

Russian Rye

Greenstein's Pumpernickel

Care and feeding of a rye sour

Baguettes

Pat's (proth5) Baguettes

Anis Bouabsa ficelles

Philippe Gosselin's Baguettes

Épi de Blé

Sourdough Breads

San Joaquin Sourdough 1

San Joaquin Sourdough variation

Susan from San Diego's Ultimate Sourdough

Susan from San Diego's Original Sourdough

Sourdough Italian Bread

San Francisco Sourdough from Reinhart's “Crust&Crumb”

Sourdough bread with new steaming method

Sweet Breads & Pastries

Cheese Pockets

Other

The Scoring Tutorial

Baking under an aluminum foil roasting pan

Hamelman's “Stretch and Fold in the Bowl” no-knead technique

no-knead video (by Mark Sinclair/mcs)

Norm's onion rolls and kaiser rolls

Norm's Double Knot Rolls

Tom Cat's Semolina Filone (from Glezer's Artisan Breads)

So, there seem to be a bunch of recipes on the site (like in the Favorite Recipes sidebar), but I'm wondering how I can see all of them?  The links on the left go to http://thefreshloaf.com/recipes/something but there doesn't seem to be a general index of recipes...   Just going to http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes doesn't work and I don't see any links to get to a general recipes listing section.  Can anyone help me figure out where to go?  Also, how do I go about posting a recipe of my own if I have one?

Thanks

Hi, everybody!

Maybe this is a bit silly, since I've already exchanged messages with a few of your wonderful selves and posted my own question about how best to bake bread on a Coleman camp stove - and I received so many fantastic ideas and suggestions - but I hadn't really given an Official Introduction; essentially, I'm a writer and stumbling but devoted baker living in Hungary, and I've been so enthralled by the whole Fresh Loaf community.  

My husband suggested I post a link to my blog here on the website.  Since I'm a writer, I end up posting largely a bunch of diminutive short stories, but some of these stories are actually inspired by bread, of all things (!), and I've posted recipes, including my rendition and a fiction for Moroccan khoubz flatbread, the Fresh Loaf pita recipe and the camp stove method I used for it (but with full credit and a link to this website, don't worry!), and most recently a fiction and my recipe for basic pizza dough with my own ridiculous pizza design and toppings.  

Here's a link:

http://erzsebetgilbert.blogspot.com

It's not really epical, I think, but it's got baking and some writerly absurdities, so if it lends anybody a few ideas or a bit of entertainment, I'll be glad enough... but in the meantime, I just have to give everybody at the Fresh Loaf a most enormous thank-you for all your generosity, help, ideas, and general virtuoso kitchen skills!  Until later, blessings,

Erzsebet

Hi everyone, I'm Amy in Kilgore, Texas

We are building our dream home and I'm getting ready to stock my pantry,

www.samsclub.com has a

Morrison's® Super Bakers® Bread Flour - 25lbs

It says it's Hard Wheat

and then there's the regular 25lb bag of all purpose flour.

I think I need both to make both plain white and wheat bread, can someone explain the differences and send recipes to wingfieldfamily@cablelynx.com

Amy Wingfield www.anotherblessing.com  Pregnancy/Ovulation Tests http://amywingfield.blogspot.com/ Writings/support/encouragement

The day I've been waiting for is finally here!  I've read a number of posts where people refer to testing recipes for Peter Reinhart's books, so I sought out his website a few months ago.  He kept saying he was going to open up his blog to new testers, and the day has come. 

For the next week only, if you would like to test recipes for PR and report back to him on your successes/challenges/failures, go to http://peterreinhart.typepad.com/ and follow the instructions.

Happy baking!

Phyl

Hi Everyone!!

 I began a starter in April with the help of folks here and have been making consistently good sourdough bread since.  I bake some type of bread about 2x a month and try to use my sourdough in at least on one of these.  My starter seems very hardy and thankfully understands when I don't feed him for awhile - I just refresh before beginning and there has been no trouble with rises.

I would like to use the starter more frequently.  Can everyone list their favorite starter uses?  I have tried the sourdough english muffins from this site, and sourdough pancakes (yum!).  And can you tell me how to use the starter in "regular" yeast bread recipes?  I made regular "packet yeast" ciabatta with herbs the other day and it was fantastic!  Can I use my starter as a substitution for yeast in this and other breads?

Thanks everyone!!

Hilary