Sourdough

In spite of all the good advice, I have messed up again.  This loaf overproofed and no one suggested that I brush egg and milk on the top before baking. I thunk that up all by myself! It looks kind of nice-

Sourdough NK #3

Sort of like the Mexican pan dulces we ate as kids, but don't you believe it!  Each of those little chunks in the mosaic are suitable for paving the driveway. And the crumb-

Sourdough #3 crumb

Just a few little worm holes, twisting and turning like, well never mind what its like. I know I can do better. In the mean time I'm going to do some reading and get a bit of theory in my noggin instead of mucking around like, well never mind what I'm like.

My goal; to improve upon the Sourdough No Knead ala JMonkey and Susan adding only the overnight proof in the refrigerator and hopefully improving the "nice slashing on top". The result; I managed to bake a couple of weird looking loaves with unremarkable crumb. I thought I would make two batches of no knead testing the old starter against the new starter. In my mind any differences would be incremental. Wrong.

The new rye and grapefruit culture doubled so quickly that I had to fold and form it last evening and put it into the refrigerator. The other batch was just sort of sitting there so it stayed out to ferment at room temperature overnight. This morning it still didn't look puffy so I put it into the 85 degree place. When I next checked it, it was overproofed, of course. Now I know what folks are talking about when they say their dough became soup. I poured it out onto the board and began CPR when it probably should have been DNR. About half a cup of flour and a sprinkle of instant yeast later it was formed and went into the refrigerator.

I slashed loaf one in a crosshatch as carefully as I could. Here's a pic in which it doesn't look too bad-

Sourdough NK view 1

And here is a more accurate representation-

Sourdough NK view 2

I feel lucky it didn't blow the door off the oven! For all that oven spring, the crumb is plumb unremarkable-

Sourdough NK crumb

Slicing really improved the appearance of this wacky loaf. It is soft and chewy with a crackley crust that only requires hand tools to slice! The flavor is nice and sour but not as complex as the older starter. They all say it gets better with age.

This is another in my series of large boules of whole grain sourdough. I may have finally found a way to make a crumb to complex. Using perhaps more rye than I should have, this is a little more dense than I like but still flavorful. My wife made me a tool to create a round slash for the top. She is an artist with all the skills to make what ever tools she needs for sculpting or jewelry making. I was doubtful that it work but alas, the proof is here for all to see. I'm resisting the call for a polka dot pattern (artists are a demanding lot).

Today I will be starting some Tomsbread 100%WW. I think I have decided that it is better from the standpoint of flavor to to use fewer types of flour and therefore develop a more distinct taste that can be identified. The same is true in European style cooking. Some of the best dishes I make are simple distinctive flavors that stand out on their own. Pizza is a good example I think and Focaccia with a little olive oil and tomato/balsamic vinegar topping. Or maybe a slice of Ciabatta dipped in expensive olive oil. Mmmm delicious!

After looking at several other blogs showing amazing sourdough results, I'm feeling really envious!    My starter experiment is dying a slow, horrible death. (If figures that the 3 other starters I have took off in no time at all, but the one I share with everyone tanks!!)   I fed the starters again trying a reduced amount of flour and water to see if anything will change.  If not, I'm going to toss both of them and start over.

I did have a bit of success with my original starter, Boris, this weekend.    I was able to get a batch of English muffins and a couple of loaves of bread baked on Saturday.     I still can't get big open holes in the muffins, but the crumb on the bread was pretty good.

Hello there, flour-heads,

This weekend I made my usual sourdough, but added the extra step of retarding it in the fridge after 4 stretch & fold cycles. It was in there for 19 hours. Then I let it warm up for 2.5 hours, shaped it, rested it for 30 minutes, slashed and baked. It's a two sponge recipe that I began on Friday morning and finished baking about midday Sunday. It has the best tang of any I've made so far -- wouldn't really call it sour, but a nice lingering aftertaste.

The first sponge usually begins with just one tsp. of starter, but for some reason this time, I thought 1/4 cup would be good. So now I have introduced two new variables: more starter, and the refrigeration. Oh well, now it's hard to say which change affected the flavor. Guess I'll have to do it again, playing with more variables. It's hard to limit myself to just one change each time I bake this!

The Blob after 19 hours in the fridge

I only recently figured out how much to slash the dough to avoid blowouts in the oven. I go over the initial cut a time or two to make sure the dough has room to expand. Who cares if it's not traditional? Neither am I!

Slashed just before baking

Ta-daaaaaaa

This recipe/formula claims to be about 65% hydration, so I guess I won't get the big holes unless I increase that. But it sure tastes good!

I use Bob's Red Mill flour exclusively right now. The sponges contain some whole wheat and some rye, thus the tan color. The rest of the flour is organic unbleached, protein approx. 11.75%.

The un-holey crumb

Now as a last note, I must thank Susan for suggesting that I resize my photos to 640 x 480 in order to post. I was at my wits' end trying to post pictures. They just would not appear. So resize those buggers and start posting! Susan, I owe you a loaf of bread....someday....just not one of these...you understand....!

Sue

Yesterday morning I was busy feeding starters and I recalled some recent mentions on the forum about using the excess starter instead of discarding it. I decided to quickly put twice the amount I normally use (100g) into a bowl and start a soaker for later. My starter was very happy, bubbling away and smelled great! So I weighed out 200g and finished feeding the boys.

When I got around to finishing the soaker, I decided to make a SF style 50% whole grain combination using a "everything but the kitchen sink" blend. This is a highly random selection whatever I see in the flour pantry and never ever gets measured, except that the total weight equals the AP weight. A look at today's gumbo; WW, white WW, rye, seven grain mix, wheat germ and milled flax. This was a lean mix with no oil or malt or honey. I set the hydration at 85% based on the total flour weight and set it in an 80f spot for the day.

I managed to remember to stretch and fold once before I started my Saturday run around routine. Today was going to be a challenge to get everything accomplished and still do justice to the bread. Off to deliver 2 lap tops, repair a stubborn router, bank, take daughter bowling, Stretch and fold, drive to Milwaukee with son to move band equipment, another stretch and fold, groceries an pick up a pizza (no energy for home baked tonight).

A side note; My son is an aspiring musician. He teaches/plays the saxophone and most everything with a reed, flute and guitar. While Jazz is his passion, rock and roll funk style is the band focus. The drummer is a tall good looking boy who is a self described Vegan. My son tells me he is struggling trying to find tasty food that fits the vegan profile. Always looking for a justified excuse to bake something I decide to look into what this means. From initial research it looks like most of my breads would qualify since I don't add butter or milk as a general rule and honey is my sweetener of choice. Maybe I could just make most of my breads "OK for Vegans". The Tomsbread style 100% WW would be a hit for sure.

After dinner I declared the bulk ferment finished. One last fold and a decision about the final consistency of the dough. I added a little more flour at the last s&f so it's now about 80% hydrated. Formed into a boule and set on parchment for a free form proofing. My daughter had a friend over for the evening so they picked the movie. Had to be a thriller sci-fi flick for them. Movie's over and the oven is heating up again.  Checker board slash, hold my breath (no it didn't fall on slashing) and into the oven. Tonight I'm ignoring all the steaming gadgets/covers and unceremoniously toss a 1/2C of hot water onto the brick in the bottom of my oven. Quick cover the vent and set the timer for 10 minutes so I don't forget the towel covering the vent. Another 13 minutes and it looks done. The question now is will 2 teenage girls let it alone long enough to cool?. I better take the picture now, just in case!

It looks about right but I could of rotated it for a more even browning.

Look at that structure! I might try and remember how I did this! I do love the taste of whole grains caramelized on the outside and chewy in the inside.  

Well, I'm not going to post any pictures because the starters aren't doing anything right now.   I'm hoping that it is just the typical down time in the early life of a starter.   I fed both of them again tonight with a 30/60/60 feeding.    Hopefully I will see bubbles tomorrow.