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Bread

Continuing on with the success of my last few loaves this is a more or less equal white/wholemeal/rye loaf with sage and rosemary. 75% hydration.

I baked this to go with pumpkin soup that was made with home grown pumpkins 😊. It smells so good it's hard to wait for dinner.

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This wonky beautiful is roughly equal parts white, wholemeal and rye. 75% hydration with chopped fresh rosemary and one table spoon olive oil.

I left it out overnight on the bench to do the long rise/ bulk fermentation because the fridge seems to be too cold (it's around 14*C or 57*F in the kitchen over night) and it was lovely bubbly and doubled by morning.

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Super

Here is a crispy little Rye loaf, 40% rye the rest white flour, 75% hydration.

Bulk fermentation took almost 20 hours before I had enough bubbly action going on but didn't have to add dry yeast this time because I had the time to just wait around for it to be ready. I made sure to use my starter on peak so maybe it's the rye flour slowing it down?

My oven is fixed and I got to bake this at home, but for a little too long or a little too hot?

Baked it in my cast iron pot, Really happy with the oven spring, can't wait to cut it open and see what the inside looks like.

[likelybaking]

Here is a crispy little Rye loaf, 40% rye the rest white flour, 75% hydration.

Bulk fermentation took almost 20 hours before I had enough bubbly action going on but didn't have to add dry yeast this time because I had the time to just wait around for it to be ready. I made sure to use my starter on peak so maybe it's the rye flour slowing it down?

My oven is fixed and I got to bake this at home, but for a little too long or a little too hot?

Baked it in my cast iron pot, Really happy with the oven spring, can't wait to cut it open and see what the inside looks like.

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75% hydration loaf with 10% rye flour and rosemary added in. Although I used my starter a little after it had peaked and started to drop so I put some dry yeast in this morning after it's bulk ferment overnight failed to generate some nice bubbles.

So I don't have The Rona but my oven is still broken so I baked this at my dad's house.

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Boo so sad today because I can't bake. Bandit is doing really well and I got some fresh rosemary to add in but my stupid oven is broken. And I'm feeling sick and got tested this morning so I'm in proper isolation now and can't get someone over to fix it.

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Basic Sourdough Starter Care

Some folks keep their starter on the counter, others keep it in the refrigerator.  It can even go in the freezer if you’re leaving town for a while. Where should you store it? When should you feed it (and how much)? Sourdough starters sound much more needy and intimidating than they really are.

When to Store on the Counter

If you bake with your starter daily, the counter is the best place for it, and it will need to be fed one to two times per day.  

When to Store in the Refrigerator

If you use your sourdough weekly or monthly, it can live in the refrigerator. You’ll want to feed it at least once per week, even if you aren’t using it. If you plan on baking with it, take it out to rest on the counter several hours before you want to form your dough (I like to take it out before I go to bed). After it’s warmed up (or first thing in the morning) give it a good feeding.  In about two hours it will be ready to use.

How to Feed? How Much?

When feeding, you may choose to discard some of the starter (this doesn’t mean you have to throw it out) to keep it from getting huge.  Discards can be used to create starters for friends, they can be the foundation for your levain, or they can get used in another way.  You can save discards in a separate container without feeding the mass for more than a week.

For a good feeding (for the counter or refrigerator storage), add between one half to an equivalent volume of flour as there is starter (eg: if there’s a half cup of starter you can add between a quarter and a half cup of flour). You’ll add less if you don’t need it to be super active after this feeding and more if you’re planning on using it soon.  Add enough water to get the consistency you like. For refrigerated starter, let it sit out for a couple of hours before you return it to the refrigerator.

For the once a week feeding of refrigerated starter that you aren’t planning to use, throw in a couple tablespoons of flour and enough water to get the consistency you like.  Let it sit out for a couple of hours before you banish it to the refrigerator again.  If you keep your sourdough at this state for many months, it may become sluggish and in need of some special attention (see Reviving a Sluggish Sourdough Starter for those details).

The most you can safely feed, without overloading the starter and losing some of the flavor you’ve established is a 1:1:1 ratio of starter, flour, and water.  Many bakers will go by weight, but volume is also fine.

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Awsome, they kinda look like beignets

Just finished making the doughnuts.

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Just gave this a go, I've tried a number of different Naan recipes before and this is the best taste and texture I have gotten!

What a fun thing to make with my sourdough discard, Naan bread! This was very easy and there are so many ways to change this up with different spices, garlic, or fresh coconut! Check out the recipe I used.

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These two loaves where made from the same batch of dough, proved and shaped the same way. Why do they look so different? The one on the left was cooked in a cast iron pot! And the one on the right just on a tray.

The pot keeps the steam in and the crust takes longer to harden, allowing more rise. Because the loaf on the tray couldn't rise very much where i scored it because it cooked quickly on the outside it kinda exploded out the base where there was a point of weakness

So yeah baking in a cast iron pot really helps!

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Success!

Bread!

Attempting a 75% hydration loaf with 20% wholemeal flour. Gona do a pure autolyse and bulk fermentation over night in the fridge

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Bread!

Attempting a 75% hydration loaf with 20% wholemeal flour. Gona do a pure autolyse and bulk fermentation over night in the fridge

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Starter health

This is my starter Bandit. It's undergoing a little rehab because I didn't feed it for a few days. This it day two of twice daily feeding and it's doing a lot better. It more than doubled in 4 hours 😄

It's also starting to smell much better, like tasty bread rather than just alcohol

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It's really yum

Raisin Bread

After my sourdough failed to spring I have a second chance with this cinnamon raisin loaf. It's not sourdough because I think those flavors are a poor compo. Guess how I know.