January 14, 2009 - 5:18pm
After many questions / the first loaves of sourdough bread
After many questions and 2 weeks of work I finally baked my first loaves of sourdough using rye seed culture 1/4 cup whole wheat, 1/4 cup coarse rye, and 4 cups KAF unbleached bread flour. Here are the results. Are they OKAY?
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They are way better than okay! That's a great result for your first effort. Congratulations!
Paul
My wife and I cut into them after I allowed them to coll for 45 min. and she said they were the best loaves of any bread I've made to date. I usually bake ciabatta and Italian peasant bread; also a German peasant bread made with and extra stout beer but after cultivating a wild yeast from a seed culture I decided to try to venture into the sourdough realm. The crust turned out crisp and sweet and the crumb had a wonderful texture. Now I have to learn how to make my starter more sour. Thanks for the compliment.
Congratulations! GREAT looking loaves....
I just did an experiment where I made dough, divided in half, kept half in the fridge and half on the counter and the one on the counter was VERY MUCH more sour tasting than the one in the fridge.
I will be honest, I think it also depends in the strain. Some people say cool retard makes sour. Some say heat makes sour. For me, for this one (of three) strains that I have, hot made sour.
Make a batch of dough, divide in half, and try putting half in the fridge, half on the counter for about 24 hours and see what happens. Now, truth in advertising, I was not that pleased with the crumb of my experiment, but I was not going for crumb, but purely for sour (sometimes you just want a bread that bites back).
Hope this helps!