Greetings from Pakistan
Hi fellow bakers,
I have had an amazing learning experience going all the forums posts. I am budding baker and have just graduated as a Pastry Chef, I wont be working in a bakery but been rigorously baking at home, artisanal breads are my passion. I have shlep over and over the books Bread by Jaffery Hamelman and Wholewheat Bread Techniques by Peter Reinhart. Had amazing time following recipes from these books. Returned yestarday from Newyork with suitaces full of baking equipments, gadgets and some ingredients. Have started my first Saurdough Culture today!! Felt like being in my chemistry class again.
Here goes a blog with some of my recently baked breads and baguettes.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.398302850307901.1073741847.281743265297194&type=1
Wholewheat baguettes with multigrain soakerhttps://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.434240633380789.1073741849.281743265297194&type=1
I would truly appreciate any tips and guidelines for developing sourdough seed culture and mother culture in tropical temperatures where indoors it is between 21-25C and outdoors can reach as high as 30C.
Excited to be at this forum
Farah
The breads in your blog look GREAT, congratulations! Welcome to our forum, Floyd Mann is our host.
Ford
Thanks Ford look forward to learning from these forums.
Very nice, Farah. Welcome to the site!
Farah: Learning how to make artisan sourdough bread (with great help from this site) has been an absolute joy for me. The bakers on this site are so good and incredibly helpful. Making your own sourdough culture and bread is not without ups and downs, as sourdough is both an art and a science. If you haven't already, read the sourdough forum on this site. I created my first sourdough culture without it, and I wasn't really ready when I started my first loaf. Lots of the discussion on the sourdough forum will help you address any problems you encounter. Your breads and pastries look wonderful. Best of luck to you. CAphyl
Thanks for your reply, I am reading posts at the sourdough forums, very helpful.
Farah,
I am from India and have been trying to bake good bread from the atta flour and a little maida. Since wheat grown in India is of soft wheat variety, initially I had very disappointing results as compared to wheat flours in US or UK where I lived for a few years. But after going through lots of websites I am back again to bake breads with atta flour... and this time due to long fermentation process I am getting good results. I loved the baguettes which I made recently with half atta and half maida(APF). I have a started even sourdough culture. Will go through your blog in detail. Welcome to the group.
Thankyou for your reply, it gets confusing when we follow instructions from these books that has flours from US while we have limited varieties here. I started with yeast doughs that are straight, and they were not that good and I end up using bread improvers. I am wholewheat lover, so I buy wheat but no clue what kind they are I get the best the store have and then get that milled from a local flour mill without taking out anything out of it, I am then using the long fermentation method using polish, Biga or pate fermente. The breads turn out fairly good, have never used sourdough, lets us see how my seed culture turns up, its day-1 today.
Hi there, Do share any atta recipes that have worked for you!I too am in India, and trying to bake as much with atta and millets as possible.
Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jaffery Hammelman and some of his utube demo videos are what i used to begin with, and then followed by Peter Reinhart's wholegrain breads , I used the recipes in these books exactly and where it calls bread flour I use 'maida' and where it calls for 'wholewheat' I use the wholewheat atta that we get from our local mills. So far i have tried and been successful check out my breads at the following links:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.434240633380789.1073741849.281743265297194&type=1
Well done, happy bakin and welcome to TFL from Arizona.
Welcome Farah!
Your breads look wonderful!
I feed my starter a a 1:1:1 ratio and usually keep it at around 21C. It likes to be fed every 12 hours. At warmer temps. you might need to feed at .5:1:1.
Best of luck with your baking!
Greetings from Dubai, Farah, and welcome to TFL.
Nice breads! equipped and hungry for artisanal breads, there is no stopping you now. Pls. share with us your baking adventures.
You could search the site for info. on how to maintain a starter culture. But if I had a few words for you, they'd be: keep your starter well fed with some whole grain flour in the feed mix, and store in the refrigerator between feedings. Use the refrigerator often, as temperatures in excess of 30c can lead to a sour/ vinegary flavor you may not like.
Wishing you all the best,
Khalid
Useful tips Khalid, I am following the step by step 8 days seed culture recipe from Peter Reinhart's book Whole Grain Breads. Today is the 3rd day, the culture is not very frothy but I can see small bubbles and some spongy texture to it. Will continue till day 8.
I love your enthusiasm and wish you success!
Frank