The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Hello fellow bakers.

patrick17's picture
patrick17

Hello fellow bakers.

Hi all! I'm just here to introduce myself. I've been lurking for a while and decided to make an account so I can ask my own questions and contribute to the community.  I am very new to sourdough breads. I've made maybe five or so loaves with varying success. Most of my problems are with pancake shaped boules going in to the oven. At least they taste good!

pmccool's picture
pmccool

And welcome to TFL.  It's a great place to intensify your baking addiction.

One of the great features of this site is the Search tool at the upper right-hand corner of the page.  There are a bunch of questions that have been asked over and over again, so it's really helpful to be able to research the answers to those questions at  your own convenience.  Warning: it can turn into a rabbit hole as you discover more topics during your searches.

If you don't find what you need via Search, ask away.  Someone is bound to have an answer.  The more information you provide (recipe, process, temperatures, ingredients, etc.), the better the answers.

Looking forward to hearing more from you.

Paul

clazar123's picture
clazar123

I've made plenty of birdfood (and compost when the birds refused to partake).

Flat dough can bee caused by many things-hydration, flour strength, proofing (both under and over), enyzyme degradation,etc. As Paul says, as much info as possible, including pics, is the most helpful way to get answers. Also, a recipe is not only a list of ingredients but how the assembly was done-ambient temp, fermentation time and temp, kneading/mixing/folding times,etc,etc. If you've been reading here, you know the drill.

Welcome!

patrick17's picture
patrick17

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! There are so many factors that go into making a great sourdough loaf yet so few ingredients. So many places to go wrong, so many places to improve. I'll be posting some questions soon and trying my best to contribute. Thanks again .

Benito's picture
Benito

Welcome to TFL Patrick, this is a wonderful community for bakers and we will look forward to your contributions in the future.

Benny

BXMurphy's picture
BXMurphy

Hey, Patrick!

I'm glad you're here! We need more new sourdough bakers! You're going to love it here!

Pmcool is right about the search box... WAY more info than you can stand. Clazar123 nailed it with the process (key!) over ingredients comment.

I can't overstate time and temperature. Those are ESSENTIAL ingredients. Just like the flour, water, salt, and yeast. Master those and you can bake anything you want... WHEN you want.

Never forget time and temperature. Anybody talking about sourdough without mentioning time and temperature is only generalizing.

It took me too long to realize that.

Murph