My first sourdough loaf (intended to be pita at first, lol)
so i thought to try out my new rye starter which seemed to be doing fine, though i wasn´t treating it nice at all (let it sit outside for more then 24 hours without feeding...), that said i though to make pitas for lunch and try it out anyway, it turned out that i had to do some things and in the end i decided to shape it into a loaf and stick it in the fridge for a few hours before i could let it out to rise and stick it in the oven...
i was improvising with the recipe more or less and i´m noting it from memory so i might be wrong about some numbers...
did an over night build of my starter (which was starving by then i guess) i put 20 grams starter on 100 grams water and 100 grams whole rye.
in the morning i diluted all that with 150 grams water and mixed in 100 grams of rich gluten wheat flour and 200 grams whole wheat flour, put in one big tea spoon of salt, one tea spoon honey, a spoon of olive oil and also a tea spoon yeast (i didn´t measure any of that because i thought, what the heck... are pitas... and the added yeast too, though it was no more then 4.5 grams yeast!) kneaded a little and let it bulk rise (did a couple or three stretch and folds, it was looking pretty good within 2 hours or so, then figured better if i make it a loaf so i shaped it and put in the fridge. took it out and let it rise for about 2.5 hours wet the top with my hand and stuck some poppy seeds on it. when it was ready i tried making a nice curved cut before finally sticking it in the oven it for about 45 minutes...
i´m using a silicon pen and the loafs come out a bit funny looking but all in all i´m pleased with the result.
pretty soon the house was filled with an intoxicating smell and i was getting excited, when i took it out i was extremely proud! in general i´m going for the last month saying how proud i am of my breads, i´m thinking it every morning when i eat them for breakfast and it turns out through out the day... to be quite honest it´s been rather therapeutic even!
next morning i woke up with anticipation for the photo shoot and taste test... after cutting the first slice and taking a deep sniff (which hurt, this thing had a Tang, a zing, a whole careful of fireworks) i realized it might just be too sour... the tasting confirmed it too, but i have to say one day later the strong sour taste subsided and it´s not only strongly sour but not too sour to eat.
so... here it is...
beginners luck or maybe i´m at the right place ;O)
any comments are more then welcome,
thanks
Comments
It looks tasty and I like your carefree ways with bread. But of course if you take care of your starter, it will take care of you and no need to add instant yeast. -Varda
i AM eating it ;O)
the yeast was because i was trying to make pitas at first and was following some recipe (in general terms)...
as for the starter, well... yes i will be taking better care of it! for now the last time i fed it i gave it a few hours to rise and then stuck it in the fridge, from there i´m just thinking to take 10-20 grams to elaborate over night when ever i will use it, we´ll see...
thanks for the comments, much appriciated!
Great looking bread for one of your first sourdoughs. Looks like you have a nice open crumb and I bet it tastes pretty good.
Nice job.
Ian
taste is debateble, let´s just say i´m not used to this kind of breads, though i have a feeling that if i´ll keep up the baking some day down the line i´d be trying to re create this loaf to no avail haha...
i´ve baked the similar mix i got as a persent (which contained all sorts of additives) the dough was lovely to the touch although it started out very sticky, and the resulting taste was much more what i think of as bread! i don´t quite know what to make of it... but either way i´d rather make my own dough, keep it lean and sense additives!
thanks for the compliments ;O)
Simisu
I use mostly for 80% to 100% rye loaves. You could make two starters, take a small amount and feed it half rye/half wheat and after a few days of gradually feeding more and more wheat convert it to a wheat sourdough. Then use the wheat sourdough for whole wheat loaves. Too much sour in a whole wheat is not my cup of tea either. Don't be afraid of saying it is too sour for you. That can easily happen as you just witnessed! And the baked loaf does get more sour with age! -yikes!-
You could also try making a high rye loaf and then the sour is not so prominent with less amounts of wheat in the dough. It seems to me that under identical circumstances, using this rye starter, the wheat sour flavours are more "there" than the rye ones.
Or use a little more instant yeast to keep the sour tamed. Go up to 7g instant to 500g flour and don't use a rye starter in a wheat recipe after it has peaked. (keeping it young sort to speak)
Now the loaf turned out beautiful and the crumb excellent! Pair this loaf with something equally strong like cream cheese, sliced tomatoes and fresh onion piled on top. Add salami or bacon or even go with strong cheeses. Make a few croutons to blend in with some milder ones. Or grind into crumbs (freeze) to add a little sour flavour to a yeasted bread. Just drop a piece or a hand full of crumbs into the water before adding flour and yeast. Works like a charm! No need to waste it. Many ways to tame the savage beasts!
Mini