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Well I had to throw out my sourdough starter again today because it was dead.  This is starting to get frusterating.  My first starter I was able to get a loaf out of and before I could test out another loaf, I wake up to find flies in the starter and the lid off!  ARG!!  So that same day, I start up a new batch and after a week, it smelled of mildew.  I am VERY determined to make it work this time...No matter what it takes. 

I've been away from baking (took only time for lazy bread), so I started again with something simple (I thought): French bread 1 (Crust and Crumb, Peter Peinhart). I kind of recall that the proposed mix off all-purpose vs bread flour was not ideal for me, but I didn't find a note on that in my bread diary. I get my flour at a windmill, the flourtype (T) is not constant. I added flaxseed as an ingredient.

A couple weekends worth of sourdough sandwich breads. Heres what we do:

1. Friday night (or morning, depending on room temperature) - feed starter with 2 oz each of water and AP flour. I use 8-hour two builds if possible, to get 8 oz of 100% hydration starter.

Greeting TFL,

Just logging another attempt at baguettes w/ pizza for the lost finale. These baguettes are underproofed because I was simply in a hurry to bake off the pizzas before 9pm. I followed the poolish baguette version from "Bread". I baked 2 baguettes at a time. I shaped the last bagutte (left)pair ~30 minutes before the first 2 baguettes were sceduled to finish baking.

I just found this site.  I have been making (trying to make) artisan style bread following Reinharts book "the bread bakers apprentice" for the last 4-5 years with varying success.  I know that my bread has improved, and it certainly tastes great.  However, I want it to look good too, and that is where I am working now.  I stumbled onto this website searching for "oven spring problems" which is what happened to my sandwich bread loaf tonight.  It exploded out of the pan and cracked beyond the edge of the score during the first 10 minutes of baking.

I was preparing to make a couple of loaves of French Bread this weekend when I noticed we had some pesto sauce in the fridge that I needed to use up.  I went ahead and dumped it into the mixer to see what would happen.

I have not been able to blog for a bit now, so a few bakes have lined up that I want to share.

#1 Vermont SD

Fot quite a while now I was working with whole grain doughs producing flavorful breads with strong aromas from the various flours. A few days ago I decided to bake a proper baguette after seeing the beautiful baguettes you TFL members are showing here.

A lightly sweet taralli, made with a full-bodied red wine such as Cabernet, Merlot, Barolo, Zinfandel, and Primativo etc. Perfect for a wine tasting party.

http://turosdolci.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/double-dip-red-wine-taralli/

Vermont Sourdough with Increased Whole Grain

I felt like baking something new this weekend, but I like the breads I make most often. That's why I bake them most often. So, I wanted something I would really like as much as those, but different. I settled on the Vermont Sourdough with Increased Whole Grain from Hamelman's “Bread.”