Sourdough Bread
March, 2019
David Snyder
I've been asked to teach a class on bread.
It will be whole grain, as that is what I usually bake. What do you think would be the best starting place. My daughter thinks that my usual process of soakers and biga's and sour dough etc will scare beginners.
I just tried the Basic Whole Wheat Bread recipe from The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book with good success, but it doesn't have the flavors of the longer ferments.
Opinions?
As I mentioned previously, Abe taught me many months ago about do-nothing bread -- I think it was to help me get over (yet another) failed bake. This was ostensibly foolproof and painless. I believe it's based on Teresa Greenway's overnight sourdough, which in turn might have been based on Yoan Ferrant's do-nothing, 16-hour bread. In any case, Abe gave me an easy-to-remember formula, and I've used it faithfully for the occasional midweek bake, when running low on bread.
I recently bought a grain flaker and some organic oat groats. By the way; fresh rolled oatmeal (porridge) is very good and nutritious in the morning. The obvious evolution was Oatmeal Porridge Bread. This is my first ever bake of this kind.
I elected Maurizio’s Oat-Porridge SD for my first attempt.
I am a new user of this amazing machine. Being a chefin a professional capacity, I am perplexed with how many of you use the machine. I am not one to add water first (liquid) for the doughs, now I have made several batches od various breads in the Ank, and my recipes are tried and true, and now come out better becasue I can actually get the gluten to activate unlike the KA machines. So, I add all my flour and 3/4 of the water until I see if humidity plays a factor, and my baguette recipe, I dont hold back anything, but I also am using a 100% hydration poolish, and a little water.
Bread these days is much maligned. The Paleo diet people think grains were a mistake. The low-carb people think carbohydrates are the root of all evil. And the gluten scare mongers imagine they all have celiac disease. Even mainstream dietitians warn of the high glycemic index of bread. What is a baker to do?
Many of these folks can't be convinced otherwise. They've accepted their beliefs about grains, carbs, or gluten in a kind of religious shared-delusional way that is impossible to argue against because it's not logical.
Sourdough Bread
Based on the method of Ramon Padilla
March, 2019
David Snyder
Steve Giraudo, whose family owned the company that ultimately controlled Parisian, Colombo, Toscano and Boudin bakeries, sent me links to a couple youtube videos that document the history of those companies. Note that Larraburu was never part of this consortium. Given the recent interest in SF SD, I thought these would be of interest to many TFL folks.
I have always loved the smell of fresh baked bread. It holds a special place in my imagination. Up until a year ago, my forays into bread baking was limited to a bread machine and a store bought package. Last spring I attempted to create my very own sourdough starter. It took a couple of tries, but eventually I was successful and had a very lively culture, all lovely and bubbly.
In December 2018 I tried to duplicate the delicious breadsticks we had at one of the Arizmendi bakeries in S.F. I think that I came close after a few tries, eventual swapping out the somewhat invisible-tasting sharp cheddar and jalapeño for pecorino cheese and serrano chilies. Converted in this iteration from sponge to a 100% hydr. levain with 20% preferment AP flour, it is a 50/50 semolina/AP dough at 69% hydration.
