dmsnyder's blog

Sourdough Italian Demi-Baguettes: Variations on a Theme 

David M. Snyder

May 3, 2015

Sourdough Italian Rolls

April 18, 2015

Those familiar with my San Joaquin Sourdough will recognize the rolls I baked today as its Italian cousin. Besides the obvious difference that these are rolls rather than bâtards, they also have around 20% Durum flour, some sugar and olive oil, and they have a sesame seed coating.

Warning!: This report contains graphic images of misshapen loaves and loaves subjected to extreme thermal trauma. Young children and those easily upset by pictures of charred crust are advised to immediately go on to the next blog.

This week, I baked a batch of SJSD baguettes. They aren't the prettiest I've ever baked, but I'll post a couple photos of mine, since there have been so many folks baking these and enjoying them recently.

Pan de Horiadaki

(Greek Country Bread)

based on a formula in Maggie Glazer's A Blessing of Bread

Maggie Glazer wrote that she got the recipe for this bread from Rica Sabetai, a woman fromThessaloniki who escaped the murder of the vast majority of its Jewish community by the Nazis and emigrated to the United States.

This particular version of my San Francisco-style Sourdough, with 30% whole wheat, has become our favorite. I will confess that the version with mostly white flour does get made (and enjoyed), but we are enjoyed breads with increased whole grains more often, in recent years. The basic formula and procedures for the bread I made today can be found here: San Francisco-style Sourdough Bread with increased whole wheat flour

The Sourdough Seed Bread was one of the first formulas I baked after buying Hamelman's Bread, and I thought it was one of the best tasting breads I had every had. I believe it's been  more than two years since I have baked it, and I wondered why I hadn't made it more often after tasting a slice last night. It is really good.

Ken Forkish calls this "Overnight Country Blonde," but that doesn't describe the method I used.

My Sourdough Starter Routine: FAQ

December 30, 2014

I get questions about how I manage my sourdough starter frequently enough that I decided to put the information in a single blog entry to which I can refer in the future. What follows applies to a sourdough starter/levain containing mostly white wheat flour. Mostly rye and mostly whole wheat starters are different beasts.

We were invited to some friends annual Boxing Day party. It's always fun. It's a pot luck with wonderful food. There is always live music. This year it was a Celtic string band. I get to visit with friends that, since I retired, I seem to see only once a year, at this party.

I was asked explicitly to bring bread. I brought a large loaf last year, and they never served it. Oh, well. This year, my wife made a delicious shrimp dip, and I baked SJSD demi-baguettes to slice for the dip. I also made a couple small miches using the original SFBI formula.