Sourdough Practice ( for this week )

[chopsaw]

This is crazy . Doing sourdough is addicting . From feeding the starter , to seeking a perfect bake .
Got my starter back in Oct. Got going on this sometime in Nov. I've gone through some flour and baked dozens of loaves . Some good , some not .
Got to a regrouping point . I was rushing through it to much , and that can give not good results .
So during that time I got a new oven . The bakes were coming out fully cooked , but way to light for what looks good .
I keep 2 jars of starter in the fridge . When I want to bake , I get one or both out an feed them the day before .
When that doubles , I transfer that to a larger jar , and feed it 1:1:1 and back in the fridge . Then , the day of I take that jar out of the fridge and warm it up . It takes right off in short order . That way I'm ready when it is .
So this time I had enough to do 4 batches . Figured I needed to get the oven figured out or if the light color was on me .
This is a flash forward in the bake , but this is from Tuesday , feeding / mixing was done on Monday .
Did the stretching and folding , the held overnight in the proofing basket . bake Tuesday early AM .
This is after 20 minutes lid on in the bread oven ( pre heated ) oven temp 450 .
Good spring for me . This is Gold Medal bread flour .

Dropped temp to 400 and baked until the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom .
I like 205 / 210 , but stopped sticking a therm in them .
Out of the oven . I like the color and overall look . Could be a bit darker .

Bottom looked good too .

Score maybe a bit deep for some .

This was a good one . Nice and light . Had it with supper Tuesday .


This one is the second one . Baked yesterday , Weds.
This was Bob's Red mill artisan bread flour .
Did all the " stuff " then shaped and into the proofing bowl for an overnight in the fridge .
Weds, morning early I preheat the oven and the bread cloche at 450 for an hour .
Out of the fridge and turn out on a piece of parchment . ( got my sling in the mail yesterday )

I scored it and use that small peel to slide it into the cloche .
Works pretty good .

Went 25 minutes lid on with this one .
Looks good to me , but you can see the steam it's releasing .
Should have left the lid on longer .

Left oven at 450 to finish baking . Darker color , but taking the lid off and losing the steam
affected the spring . Not bad though . I'll take it .
I didn't score it as much either , lengthwise .


Bottom took a bit more color .

OK , that's number 2 , this one ( 3 ) has been in the fridge since Monday . 2 days .
I mixed it when I did the first one .
Starts to bubble as it warms up .

Folded it in on itself , and did a few stretches . Then shaped and let it rise
in the proofing bowl . Loaf of rye in the other basket .

Let it rise , then about an hour before the oven I put it in the fridge .
Not the best shape , but it it'll work .

I fired a message off to the Kentucky all things sausage and sourdough , and got a suggestion of
lid on for 30 minutes . So that's what I did , of course .
The extra ferment , and steam I guess gave it a good spring .
Cracked on me , but that's fine .

Turned the oven down to 400 this time .
Nice color . It's the one on the left . Number 2 is on the right .
Extra time with the lid on and the ferment worked great .

It's super light , and they smell so good when they get darker .

Bottom was good too .

Wasn't going to do the rye yesterday , but it was all heated up so I went with it .
Mistake was with the open bake I should have turned the oven down .
Bottom got dark and I had to pull it .

Not bad . Gonna use that for patty melts . Probably freeze half .


So those 3 were yesterday , and the one from Tuesday is a little less than half .
Full day yesterday , and I'm ready to do some more .
That's it for now .

 

[02ebz06]

Lookin' good!!!
Looks like you're hooked.
If you keep this up, you might want to find a Food Service Warehouse that will sell you 50lb bags of flour.

 

[JLeonard]

Life has been crazy for me of late....Gotta get my starter from Rick going so I can off into this rabbit hole. Good looking loaves and taking notes.

Jim

 

[jcam222]

Looks great. BGKYSmoker sent me some starter for my friends daughter. She loves baking breads. She is working on activating it this week. Real kick in the pants is she's found she may have a gluten allergy.

 

[sawhorseray]

Boy howdy Rich, you are spending some quality time in the kitchen! Are you still experimenting, or have you come to a conclusion as to what works best for you? How long do you let the loaf sit and cool before slicing, a couple of hours or overnight? You could become real popular on your block giving away loafs of sourdough to the neighbors! Might need to settle down into a nice French toast and bacon breakfast, get ready for the Masters, that's my plan for the day. RAY

 

[gmc2003]

Nice job Rich. Your gonna have to change your screen name to dough boy pretty soon.


Point for sure
Chris

 

[chopsaw]

Lookin' good!!!

Thanks .

If you keep this up, you might want to find a Food Service Warehouse that will sell you 50lb bags of flour.

I can get it at Gordon's food service . Good price too . Just not sure how I would store it .

.Gotta get my starter from Rick going so I can off into this rabbit hole. Good looking loaves and taking notes.

Thanks Jim . Yup , get it started . Mine took a couple weeks to get strong . I'm sure I wasn't doing it exactly right . It's pretty hard to kill it . Once you figure that part out it gets easier . I keep mine in the fridge . Go weeks without feeding .

 

[chopsaw]

Looks great.

Thanks Jeff .

sent me some starter for my friends daughter. She loves baking breads. She is working on activating it this week. Real kick in the pants is she's found she may have a gluten allergy.

Took mine a couple weeks to really get strong .
I sure hope she doesn't have the allergy .

Are you still experimenting, or have you come to a conclusion as to what works best for you?

Ray , I think I'm pretty close to knowing what works to give me what I like . If the starter looks weak , I'll give it a tickle of yeast as backup . Holding in the fridge overnight and going in the oven cold is key I think . That bowl like you have and the bread cloche / Dutch oven is also key .

How long do you let the loaf sit and cool before slicing, a couple of hours or overnight?

Both . I try to never slice warm . You lose steam and that dries it out .

Nice job Rich. Your gonna have to change your screen name to dough boy pretty soon.

Thanks Chris . Yeah , I'll be looking like the dough boy .

 

[DRKsmoking]

Looks good Rich, Lots of bread to eat,

Love your Pi board.

David

 

[chopsaw]

Looks good Rich, Lots of bread to eat,

It's fun . Yeah , that's a bunch to get through . Gonna try to freeze one .

Love your Pi board.

That came in a set I got for my Son for Christmas . That board , a bamboo peel , a turning peel and a long handle scraper and brush . For his pizza oven .

 

[mosparky]

Those loaves are nothing less than inspirational.
Rick has been a huge help to me building a starter and then nursing it back to health after I abused the crap out of it (twice). That stuff really is hard to completely kill. Eventually, I'll find time and energy to take the next step and actually make bread.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

CHOOOOOOOOP

Those are AWESOME. Nice job.

 

[clifish]

Looks great, can't wait to get Ricks starter going. The last few days I can't seem to eat much and throwing up every day. I don't feel sick just not hungry....anyway.

What vessels are you cooking the sourdough in dutch ovens or a specialized container?

 

[Brokenhandle]

Looks like you've been busy! A bunch of great loaves... I don't need that rabbit hole just yet!

Ryan

 

[Fueling Around]

Bread of life looks good!
I got my boules down pretty good but I switched to loaf style.

I changed gears and been working on making individual serving sized cheese strudel.
This will be a future thread when I get my technique down.
Wife also love hates me for making them, but is first to ask when they cool down enough to sample.

...
How long do you let the loaf sit and cool before slicing, a couple of hours or overnight?
...

...
Both . I try to never slice warm . You lose steam and that dries it out .
...

My wife love hates me for making bread as she doesn't want the carbs.
However, she is the first one wanting to cut into a fresh loaf or boule on baking day.

 

[clifish]

Bread of life looks good!
I got my boules down pretty good but I switched to loaf style.

I changed gears and been working on making individual serving sized cheese strudel.
This will be a future thread when I get my technique down.
Wife also love hates me for making them, but is first to ask when they cool down enough to sample.





My wife love hates me for making bread as she doesn't want the carbs.
However, she is the first one wanting to cut into a fresh loaf or boule on baking day.

Bread with just butter is almost as good as a pizza....almost!

 

[DRKsmoking]

It's fun . Yeah , that's a bunch to get through . Gonna try to freeze one .

That came in a set I got for my Son for Christmas . That board , a bamboo peel , a turning peel and a long handle scraper and brush . For his pizza oven .

freezing should work, or I hope it does. Unless you can start gifting you friends and neighbors

Very nice of your son and very cool gift. Does you pizza oven take 16" pizza.
My stone in my Q is only 13.5 x 20 Napoleon Rectangular.

David

 

[chopsaw]

Those loaves are nothing less than inspirational.

I appreciate that . There's some work , trial and error in those . Get started . Once you get good results and find a system that works , it get easy .

Rick has been a huge help

Yup . These are all based on his lead .

building a starter

I'm using St. Charles county water . Fill a mason jar and leave it on the counter overnight with the lid off . Lets it off gas some of the chlorine .
50 / 50 KA whole wheat and KA all purpose for storage . I go a couple weeks in the fridge without feeding .
I figured out it likes Gold Medal bread flour . So when I want to bake I feed the starter with all Gold Medal bread flour .

 

[chopsaw]

Those are AWESOME. Nice job.

Well I sure thank you for the help . I use your sourdough Brotchen recipe with the water kicked up to 300 grams . Tickle of yeast and a tsp of sugar . The extra moisture needs bread flour .
I'm thinking about adding some nutritional yeast in the next batch .

Looks great,

Thanks Cliff .

What vessels are you cooking the sourdough in dutch ovens or a specialized container?

You can use a Dutch oven . I'm using a Le Creuset bread oven . Cast iron enameled . Son got it for me for Christmas . Pricey , but the quality is up there . You can get that style for less money .
Need something to hold the steam in the beginning , so it will rise / spring .

I have 2 shapes of the proofing baskets .

 

[chopsaw]

Looks like you've been busy! A bunch of great loaves..

Thanks Ryan . I have some bags coming for freezing . We'll see how they work .

Bread of life looks good!

Thanks bud .

I got my boules down pretty good but I switched to loaf style.

That oval banneton works pretty good for an open bake .

I changed gears and been working on making individual serving sized cheese strudel.
This will be a future thread when I get my technique down.

I'll be watching for that .

Very nice of your son and very cool gift. Does you pizza oven take 16" pizza.
My stone in my Q is only 13.5 x 20 Napoleon Rectangular.

I bought that for him . His Pizza oven is the same brand . Solo Stove Pi pizza . It's a 12" . Get it right and that's all you need really .