Sourdough starter

[Grimalkin]

      I have two batches of sourdough bubbling on my counter. One is a sweet Herman starter, or friendship bread starter, and a regular traditional starter. My traditional starter seems ready, it quadrupald in size after feeding it this morning. I think I will try and bake some bread tomorrow. If this turns out I will be so excited.

      Anybody have any experience, tips and tricks to share?

[Grimalkin]

Well I made some sand which bread out of the starter and I have to say I am happy with the results. I was sure they would flop and turn out deformed. The one on the left flattened a little because of the way I slashed the dough.

[Aurora rising]

If you want, you can dry the leftover sourdough and use this as a starter anytime (drying in the sun is best, break in small clumps afterwards, store in fridge). If you want to start new: Take out around half the amount you need, add warm water, stir and let sit between 12-24 h.

Your bread looks great!

[Grimalkin]

Thank you Aurora! I think I'm going to play with it for a little while before I store it. I am just so tickled it worked.

[SpoonfulOSugar]

This is on my "to do" list.  (I mentioned it - I think in the Specularium?)   I'm glad you started this thread!  I hope it motivates and inspires me.

[Grimalkin]

On March 17, 2016 at 8:31 AM, SpoonfulOSugar said:

This is on my "to do" list.  (I mentioned it - I think in the Specularium?)   I'm glad you started this thread!  I hope it motivates and inspires me.

I made some of that no knead artisan bread years ago and make pizza dough regularly, but don't usually enjoy baking. I liked bread baking more than sweets baking. It was easy peasy lemon squeasy. definitely try it soon. It was not too much work but it does require planning. the clean up was not to bad as I kneaded the bread in the bowl. If you make it please post about it. 

        I am going to use my Herman starter tomorrow. (Also known as friendship bread starter)

[SpoonfulOSugar]

I did the artisan bread for a couple weeks; we got a special pan, and per normal for me, I got sidetracked and haven't gotten back to it.

I do pizza dough with my Kitchenaid and it's better than any store bought, but I don't do it often enough.  I might be better served to assign activities to days of the week like olden days wives did and really put some energy into it.

(Not happening.)

I will definitely put it on my list, though.  Mr. Spoon and I are gradually reorganizing things so it might be easier to find a good place to keep a starter.  (I'm a little worried about temperatures . . . . )

We talked about pancakes for today.  That's one dish that would be so much better if I had starter going . . . . 

(Although I did try to convince him we should have Swedish pancakes instead.)

[PennySycamore]

I always wanted to try the desem starter that is in the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book. Desem is a Flemish starter that traditionally only uses wild-caught yeast.  I read of another way to make it though.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/1986/desem-i-take-it-all-back

That freshly baked loaf looks scrumptious and now I'm hungry!

[Pretzel]

You all should check out @sparkles bread blog! I LOVE that blog and her bread looks divine. Oh how I wish I could have a bite right now.

[Aurora rising]

Self-made bread is the best and there are so many recipes that really everybody can do it. Go for it and try around!

[kunoichi66]

I've got a sourdough recipe I'm dying to try.  I love baking bread :-)

[sparkles]

17 hours ago, Pretzel said:

You all should check out @sparkles bread blog! I LOVE that blog and her bread looks divine. Oh how I wish I could have a bite right now.

Aww, thanks Pretzel! I'm behind on my blogging but I'm working on it…

I love baking with sourdough. My only problem with it is timing since most of my breads need at least an overnight rise so I can really only swing it on weekends. I've got three boules of potato water sourdough about to go into the oven. The crust and crumb on these is fantastic. Thin, crackly crust and a moist, open crumb.

@SpoonfulOSugar if you think you'll really get into baking with sourdough and need to maintain temperatures, I highly recommend the Brod and Taylor proofing box. I have two and I keep them going full-time in colder weather. One for my starters and one for kombucha. My house is too cold in winter (or even now) and I'd never be able to maintain either or proof my breads without them. I tried keeping my starters in a cold oven with the light on until I forgot they were in there and preheated the oven without removing them first. Oops.

If anyone's interested in learning about sourdough, check out Northwest Sourdough's classes on Udemy. Theresa has a Facebook group also. Tons of good info there from some amazing bakers.

[sparkles]

From today's bake. This is my basic bread for the week. I freeze two and take them out as needed.

ETA this makes the best toast

 

[SpoonfulOSugar]

4 hours ago, sparkles said:

@SpoonfulOSugar if you think you'll really get into baking with sourdough and need to maintain temperatures, I highly recommend the Brod and Taylor proofing box. I have two and I keep them going full-time in colder weather. One for my starters and one for kombucha. My house is too cold in winter (or even now) and I'd never be able to maintain either or proof my breads without them. I tried keeping my starters in a cold oven with the light on until I forgot they were in there and preheated the oven without removing them first. Oops.

Thanks!  This is definitely a concern/issue here.  We're watching temps in various parts of the house right now.  (Mr. Spoon is brining ham and I am thinking about spring plants.)  I know if we put the starter where I was thinking, it would be vulnerable to cold.

Also - we keep a couple pans in the oven (space is tight).  I can't count the number of times I've baked a pan, so I KNOW my starter would be vulnerable.  

[AlysonRR]

On 3/20/2016 at 10:28 AM, sparkles said:

From today's bake. This is my basic bread for the week. I freeze two and take them out as needed.

ETA this makes the best toast

OMG, that looks delicious! We love sourdough here but I've never gotten a starter to the point of getting nice loaves like yours before I get distracted and forget to maintain the starter...

[Geechee Girl]

I cultivated a wild yeast starter a couple years back using a method I found on The Fresh Loaf. My starter made the best sourdough waffles. I also baked my loaves in covered cast iron pot, kinda like the famous no-knead bread instructions. I loved how sourdough cinnamon rolls turned out, but they very labor intensive. This 3-day recipe was reserved for Christmas or special occasions. 

@sparkles  I bow to your mad skillz. I fondly recall your Hawaiian rolls post. I'm salivating just thinking of them.

@PennySycamore the wild yeast starter instructions work. I used a little pineapple juice in mine. It took a bit to bubble, but it was a test in patience.

[LadyCrow1313]

On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 9:36 PM, Grimalkin said:

Well I made some sand which bread out of the starter and I have to say I am happy with the results. I was sure they would flop and turn out deformed. The one on the left flattened a little because of the way I slashed the dough.

 

On ‎3‎/‎20‎/‎2016 at 1:28 PM, sparkles said:

From today's bake. This is my basic bread for the week. I freeze two and take them out as needed.

ETA this makes the best toast

 

These loaves look just as good as any that I've seen in local & out-of-town bakeries. Well done, bakers! 

Sadly, bread is a trigger food for me (aka crack that I eat all of; not at one sitting, but it's come close a few times), so I don't have it in my house too often. I'd make an exception for the above, though. 

[NewOrleansLady]

On 3/20/2016 at 0:28 PM, sparkles said:

From today's bake. This is my basic bread for the week. I freeze two and take them out as needed.

ETA this makes the best toast

 

 

Hubby taught me how to bake bread ( when we were dating) and I've been pinching his buns ever since.