Hi. Newbie here, pointed to this thread by GA.
I've been baking for a couple of years, often pizzas and flatbreads flavoured with whatever takes my fancy, but my mainstay's a sourdough I bake once or twice a week, depending on whether the kids are for or against it. Which varies.
I raised the starter - often referred to as The Blob - from half and half rye and wholemeal, and have kept it going for about 18months, but now feed it 1/4 wholemeal to 3/4 plain, mainly for convenience when I found I kept running out of rye.
I feed it whenever I bake and keep it in the fridge, and it's gone without feeding for a fortnight a couple of times without complaints.
Prompted by GA, here's a link to a pic of Tuesday's loaf:
I use the 'sponge' technique I found at 'hugh fearnley-whittingstall C4 sourdough' ( I tried to link, but the forum robot said I was being spammy. Impertinent.
Half The Blob gets mixed with a couple of handfuls of wholemeal bread flour and left for a few hours (or overnight, or a couple of days if I forget about it). I've found this step loosens the wholemeal up better when it comes to kneading and really gets the yeasts going. The Blob gets fed and shoved back in the fridge for the safety of humanity.
Then I add white bread flour and 500 ml water, knead until it starts making 'plffp' noises and leave overnight (or a couple of days if I... etc.)
Next day I knock it down, shape and flour it, and leave it from 3/4 to a couple of hours depending on what I'm up to.
I then cut it across the top to let it expand, and shove it in the oven, pre-heated to max (which our thermostat says is 250C, though I don't trust it), over a tray of steam created by pouring some boiling water into the oven tray for a nice crust.
10-15 minutes at max temp (or 20, or 30 if I...etc), then down to 220C for 50-120 mins (if I etc...)
Out, left an hour, and enjoyed!
I've never had less than delicious bread from it, though depending on whether I...etc., it's been flat and/or with a half inch crust. As you can tell, it's a very forgiving process for the short of memory, and once you're in the swing of it, more convenient than baker's yeast baking, because each stage only take 10 mins and you can leave it pretty much as long as you want.
Following the same process and starter, I've made loafs with rye, wholemeal, spelt, granary in varying and probably unrepeatable proportions (limitations of memory again...), caraway, poppy seed, and chilli powder. I particularly recommend using spelt - makes a great loaf with a lovely nutty taste.
I have made it all-white, which has a great texture and nice taste, but I do like a bit of nuttiness in there.
Looking forward to reading about your baking tales...
I've been baking for a couple of years, often pizzas and flatbreads flavoured with whatever takes my fancy, but my mainstay's a sourdough I bake once or twice a week, depending on whether the kids are for or against it. Which varies.
I raised the starter - often referred to as The Blob - from half and half rye and wholemeal, and have kept it going for about 18months, but now feed it 1/4 wholemeal to 3/4 plain, mainly for convenience when I found I kept running out of rye.
I feed it whenever I bake and keep it in the fridge, and it's gone without feeding for a fortnight a couple of times without complaints.
Prompted by GA, here's a link to a pic of Tuesday's loaf:
I use the 'sponge' technique I found at 'hugh fearnley-whittingstall C4 sourdough' ( I tried to link, but the forum robot said I was being spammy. Impertinent.
Half The Blob gets mixed with a couple of handfuls of wholemeal bread flour and left for a few hours (or overnight, or a couple of days if I forget about it). I've found this step loosens the wholemeal up better when it comes to kneading and really gets the yeasts going. The Blob gets fed and shoved back in the fridge for the safety of humanity.
Then I add white bread flour and 500 ml water, knead until it starts making 'plffp' noises and leave overnight (or a couple of days if I... etc.)
Next day I knock it down, shape and flour it, and leave it from 3/4 to a couple of hours depending on what I'm up to.
I then cut it across the top to let it expand, and shove it in the oven, pre-heated to max (which our thermostat says is 250C, though I don't trust it), over a tray of steam created by pouring some boiling water into the oven tray for a nice crust.
10-15 minutes at max temp (or 20, or 30 if I...etc), then down to 220C for 50-120 mins (if I etc...)
Out, left an hour, and enjoyed!
I've never had less than delicious bread from it, though depending on whether I...etc., it's been flat and/or with a half inch crust. As you can tell, it's a very forgiving process for the short of memory, and once you're in the swing of it, more convenient than baker's yeast baking, because each stage only take 10 mins and you can leave it pretty much as long as you want.
Following the same process and starter, I've made loafs with rye, wholemeal, spelt, granary in varying and probably unrepeatable proportions (limitations of memory again...), caraway, poppy seed, and chilli powder. I particularly recommend using spelt - makes a great loaf with a lovely nutty taste.
I have made it all-white, which has a great texture and nice taste, but I do like a bit of nuttiness in there.
Looking forward to reading about your baking tales...
