san francisco sourdough (now with how to video's)
Okay, there must be at least a dozen or so, pictures of this specific bread lurking around the site since it is such a famous loaf, but hey; I'm new and it is my first SFSD, so.... I need to show off my results a little, so here they are, whether you like it or not
Upon searching Youtube and various other video sites for a comprehensive "how to" for artisan breadbaking in Dutch, i realized there is very little to be found in my (more or less) native language. So I decided to pull out the DV-camrecorder and made a (hopefully) comprehensive step by step video in Dutch. I will be posting it here once it is edited. The San Francisco Style Sourdough is too nice NOT te be made in other languages than English :-)
Okay, let's move in a little closer on the loafs I produced this morning:
I find photographing bread, at least in indoor conditions (and after all, that IS where most of us bake our breads) to be very tricky. I am just a poor amateur trying to improve, so if you guys and gals have any tips for me to make my breads stand out a little more; let me know, I would really appreciate it!
Here a close up after cutting the loaf: I probably should have cleaned the crust off after cutting the bread, 'cause now it looks a little "dirty"...
It was a lot of work, that San Francisco Style Sourdough, but the result is phenomenal; even though I had expected the loaf to be a little darker on the inside with the whole wheat and the rye, the taste and texture worked really nice. Usually I take my loafs out of the oven just a tad before it is time, because I think they look prettier on a picture when the crust is more golden than caramelized, but I managed to keep these loafs in until they had a rich dark chewy crust. Not so good for the picture, great for eating though :-)
The crumb is decent, but nothing to write home about I think; I used Reinhart's shaping technique for boules, and although I tried to work as swift and elegant as the master himself, I fear that some of my airpockets left me there and didn't come back. But my SD-starter made up for a it; a medium sour, tangy flavor!
Hoping you photo-buffs out there will provide me with some good tips, thanks for taking the time to react!
Update: Here are the "how to video's" (part I has english captions, I'm working on doiing the same for Part II, gimme some time :-)
Freerk
hey there that looks like some nice tasty bread!
do you use steam in your oven?
i only ask because you say you want them to be as photogenic as possible. If not I highly suggest you do it. it will help make the crust look more golden and a bit shiny and take away the somewhat dull areas outside of the score. not to mention the most important part of steam, is that it helps with oven spring. you could possibly get a much taller loaf in proportion to its width if you steam the oven once or twice in the first five minutes of baking. hope that helps
Thank you for the video. It was very informative and I got the gist of most of it. Unfortunately for me, I only speak English. In spite of that difficulty it gives me the courage to bake a loaf, instead of making sourdough starter over and over without using it.
Hey Jerry,
Thanks for the feedback! I've been a bit lazy, so only part ! has english subtitles so far, but I promise I will start subtitling part II in the near future!
Greets from Amsterdam
Freerk