My Best Sourdough Yet
I have been working on my SD starter on and off for over a year now, but only decided to treat it with the respect that it deserves about a month and a half ago. I began to diligently feed my 100% hydration starter every time that it needed feeding, which was about two to three times a day depending on my ratio of starter to flour and water (tips I got from bwraith's great blog entry). I really paid attention to it's rise and fall rather than the amount of time it had been sitting on the counter, thanks to advice from ehanner, dmsnyder, and so many others who advocate not being a slave to the clock! The results were well worth changing my careless ways. I made the Basic Sourdough Bread from TBBA, which I took to a potluck supper. People wanted to know, "What bakery around here sells loaves like that?" It was so nice to see people enjoy the end result of my hard work and research. Hopefully as my "feel" gets better I won't have to suffer through as many "pancakes" on the way to one great loaf!
Still working on my scoring.
Thank you so much folks at TFL!
Summer
Summer,
Very nice looking loaf! Lately I have been trying to brush some of the excess flour off the dough before I score and bake. I get a better color overall. I'm with you on the scoring. That is still my weakest skill. Yours looks creative, not bad.
Eric
Good point about the excess flour. I actually cut my thumb while trying to slice the bread (the second loaf, not pictured, is the one I took to the potluck) because I was feeling self-conscious about the flour getting everywhere at someone else's house!
Summer
Your boule looks great, Summer!
Definitely not a pancake. :-)
It appears you and your dough are communicating splendidly.
David
Thanks a lot! I'm now very excited about trying some of Reinhart's variations.
Summer
Summer, can one get a bigger compliment? If it only tasted as good as it looks..
Forget the pancakes!
Cheers,
Jw.
Hey thanks! However, the city I live in doesn't have much in the way of bread bakeries. I take the compliment to mean "better than Panera or Atlanta Bread Company," which is still fine by me!
Summer
dancing on the ceiling..you're probably too young to remember that..in any case, good job!
Betty
32 is not too young to remember that song! Very apt!
Summer
Summer,
Scoring that is "perfect" lacks everything that I look for in hand made bread. I like the look of this loaf and find it to be perfectly natural.
Nice bread,
Jeff
Yeah, in the end I definitely care more about flavor than looks!
Summer