Well, doggone. It’s actually possible to get not too bad loaves made after all!
So this time around: double (or full) recipe, still working with Susan’s Norwich Sourdough from the Wild Yeast Blog since we know it works and don’t want to introduce new variables yet but I decided to make four loaves since I felt rather confident due to the last loaves, that I had the more destructive kinks under control, namely burning oven and poor proofing. Continue reading “Round Six: Much improved”
When you say you make sourdough bread, people in this end of the world (that’s North America, seems Europeans are more aware) tend to immediately think you mean “San Fransisco style bread” with it’s distinctive acidic tang, crispy crust and somewhat chewy crumb with irregular holes throughout.
Bread from San Francisco’s Boudin Sourdough Bakery
Well, that’s ONE kind of sour dough but hardly the only one, all sorts of breads from very subtle to very tangy to sweet breads can be made with sourdough. That’s because sourdough isn’t a particular style of bread, it’s a technique.
“Sourdough” doesn’t specifically refer to sour dough or tangy, acidic flavour. The term sour here means “fermented” or cultured, as it does in sour cream or sauerkraut. Continue reading “Sourdough: More than ‘San Fransisco’ style bread”
Once you’re ready to make actual bread from your starter, which means it’s doubling or tripling in 3 to 8 hours, you’ll want to bump up the amount of starter you have.
For this lesson, we’ll assume that your main or “Mother” starter is active and you’ve seen it double or triple in size after each feed for about two weeks – in other words, you’re confident it’s good, strong and active – and now store it in the fridge and feed it once a week (or will do so next).
Just as a good example:
Let’s say you’re making Continue reading “Growing Up: Moving from starter to bread”
What I’m about to list here is what I’ve managed to collect so far or feel I need to cobble together a useful bread making set up. It’s not necessarily ALL the toys and gadgets and must-haves one must have but it’s what seems to be a decent starting point. Anyone who cares to suggest/recommend other useful tools is welcome to add a comment below describing the item and why they feel it’s a good addition to the break maker’s toolbox.
You’ll also see some links to “Get this tool here” which will send you to your local Amazon site to purchase that item. Note that I am not specifically suggesting the items linked here; they are just examples of the tools in question. You can probably find most of these at your local retailer and perhaps at a better price than offered by Amazon. Plus, buying from your small, local kitchenware shop helps your neighbourhood economy. Continue reading “Tools of the Baking Trade”
