August 15, 2015 - 9:05pm
My limited but rewarding sourdough experience, an introduction.
I mixed up a starter a few months ago and have been baking two loaves a week for about 6 weeks now. I started with 100% flour (bread or all-purpose), 68-70% hydration, 2% NaCl, and 1% yeast. I use a stone and sometimes a dutch oven. Over the weeks I've lowered the yeast to zero and the hydration to 55-65%. I've now been baking loaves with no added yeast for the last two weeks. I really like the flavor much more. I do vary the flour I feed the starter: rye, fresh milled wheat from the local bakery (phillymuffin), bread, all-purpose. I've been reading a lot of books and online about bread baking (Tartine, Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt, Artisan Bread in...