March 1, 2009 - 1:27pm
rustic days, not ready for sourdough?
it is funny how new recipes or experiments later on turn into 'production bread'. I have making rustic bread almost in production now, trying to become a week-baker instead of a weekend-only baker. That is one of the current challenges. 
I have tried sourdough, but the result was a bit rustic too. The smell is ok, the looks are terrible. Hardly any ovenrise. Don't know what the problem is, maybe the master is not yet ready. I will keep trying. I am quite new to sourdough, so that is were the real fun is these days. I will keep trying, Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. Jw. 
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I've been working on a whole wheat sourdough too. My first loaf was really dense, looked like pumpernickel too me. By my 5th loaf, things were starting to shape up--I was getting some oven rise, better color, and crumb. I baked by 6th loaf this morning and it was even better--had a lot of tang, a nice, fairly open crumb, rich brown color, and not at all dense. What I started doing was adding a tablespoon of vital gluten, doing the final proofing at 90 degrees with humidity, and lowering the temperature to 425 for the bake. I'm pretty happy with my latest loaf. So don't give up and make sure you have a good powerful starter. I do use a bit of yeast along with my starter, about 3 grams.
--Pamela