Not necessarily hole-y.
I just brought a loaf of my buttermilk sourdough bread to a friend who has digestive problems, and he was under the impression that all sourdough bread must necessarily be full of holes, like the artisinal breads. I bake most of mine in bread pans so that they're the sandwich-type breads. Anyway, he was delighted to find a sourdough sandwich breads without all those holes through which anything he puts on his bread drips through. And I'm delighted to say that I will be getting a few more sourdough orders in the coming weeks. To think that just 5 months ago, I was desperate for tips and help in getting some sourdough going, and keeping the starters healthy and active, and now people are willing to buy my bread! Thanks to all here who bore with me and encouraged me in those few iffy weeks!
I have tried and tried to conquer sourdough, but some how it just eludes me.
Any other kind of bread no problem but sourdough I just don't have any luck, over the years friends have sent me starters from all over the place, Australia, USA, UK and all have been very helpful and encouraging.
Some how it always seems to smell like paint, I can get the bread to rise and look fine but it just isn't the taste that it should be,,,,,
I envy you,,,,,,,,, Keep up the good work :-))) qahtan
What part of the world are you in qahtan? What sourdough recipes have you tried? From what source this sight or a book? Also where does your sourdough starter comes from?
Rudy
P.S. Paddy congrats on your success.
My attempts at sourdough have been ongoing for years, I am in the Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada.
As I said some of my starter has come from friends, some I have purchased, I have tried different water, bottled, boiled, straight from the tap,and even well water, also tried different brands of flour. but still get that funny smell.
Have made sure every thing is super clean with a run through the dishwasher as well.
;-(((( qahtan
Maybe it is suppose to smell like that, but I am not keen on it.,,,,q
qahtan, your kitchen must be full of wild yeasts! All I did was mix some flour and water, cover it loosely, and put it on top of the fridge for about 4 days, then fed it a bit more flour and water, stirred it up occasionally, and after a couple of days I put it into the fridge. It didn't really smell of anything except flour and water with maybe a hint of sourness, but the bread I make with it isn't sour at all. Like you, I seldom measure anything, and I've got a relaxed, laid back attitude towards baking, which is I think what helped the ol' sourdough starter along.
You could be right, as I am right in the heart of fruit growing country, and there are 60 wineries in the Niagara area, plus wild grapes grow just about every where they can get a foothold, and one knows how much wild yeast is on grapes.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/qahtan/bake/sourdough.jpg
This is a sourdough loaf I made some while back, I baked it in a cloche, but it didn't taste like sourdough.....
Do you add commercial yeast at all, or just plain wild yeast........
qahtan
One has some commercial yeast in it, and has a bit more added to it when I use it for bread, but the other one is just flour and water and I don't add any dry yeast to it when I bake bread.