Thursday
Dec132007
The mighty sourdough
Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 12:18PM
As you might have noticed - the posts of late have moved from outside (windy, cold, snow, wet) to inside (warm, dry, yummy)... and with good reason - food! Actually - better than just food - BREAD. Which we have been enjoying in spades since the Kitchen-Aid came home to live with us.
One of the breads that is a bread to end all other breads - when made at home - is the sourdough. Mainly because you are at the mercy of natural yeasts - which don't rise fast - have their own agendas (more than the agenda of regular bread yeasts). It's just a generally difficult bread to get to work - and daily how well it works also changes.
Well - I'm proud to share - after the starter got started / renewed (2 days), the sponge grew (1 day), the dough was mixed and rose (8 hours) and the loaf was shaped and rose for baking (3 hours)... ahem, I'm proud to share my first ever success with this finicky bread amongst breads.
The loaf could have been a little taller - but part of that is me - and part of it is the free critters collected from the air and some spoiled apple cider.
This crusty - yummy bread made a wonder foundation for this fresh salad and some homemade lentil and ham soup. I also have the very starter that this loaf came from growing happily in the refrigerator - for a second attempt this coming weekend. If that goes well - the next trick will be to see if I can get some of the starter to form spores and dry for me - so I can use it whenever and not have to worry about always feeding the stuff... and if I can do that - then I'd be happy to share the starter out to people who might like some!
I'd be happy to post the recipe if it's requested - but really - sourdough is sourdough - it's ultimately the starter that flavors this old fashioned and tasty bread.
One of the breads that is a bread to end all other breads - when made at home - is the sourdough. Mainly because you are at the mercy of natural yeasts - which don't rise fast - have their own agendas (more than the agenda of regular bread yeasts). It's just a generally difficult bread to get to work - and daily how well it works also changes.
Well - I'm proud to share - after the starter got started / renewed (2 days), the sponge grew (1 day), the dough was mixed and rose (8 hours) and the loaf was shaped and rose for baking (3 hours)... ahem, I'm proud to share my first ever success with this finicky bread amongst breads.
The loaf could have been a little taller - but part of that is me - and part of it is the free critters collected from the air and some spoiled apple cider.This crusty - yummy bread made a wonder foundation for this fresh salad and some homemade lentil and ham soup. I also have the very starter that this loaf came from growing happily in the refrigerator - for a second attempt this coming weekend. If that goes well - the next trick will be to see if I can get some of the starter to form spores and dry for me - so I can use it whenever and not have to worry about always feeding the stuff... and if I can do that - then I'd be happy to share the starter out to people who might like some!I'd be happy to post the recipe if it's requested - but really - sourdough is sourdough - it's ultimately the starter that flavors this old fashioned and tasty bread.
Reader Comments (1)
Oh wow - that looks and sounds good! Would go great with the garlicky ham and navy bean soup (with taters, carrots, two heads of garlic, and homegrown kale!) I made yesterday! And I love that bread knife - really cool.
By all means - post the recipe!
So what's this about spoiled apple cider - is that something you were supposed to use in it to start the fermentation process? From what I've read, once you've been making bread in your kitchen for a long time, you'll develop your own herd of micro-organisms/spores that live there and help improve the rising of your doughs. Sounds a little creepy, but cool at the same time.