Sourdough bread - rediscovered culinary hobby
 

I just recently rediscovered making my own sourdough bread. My starter took 3 weeks as our kitchen is fairly cool and I was about to give up 20 times but boy, was it ever worth it.

I am still working on technique and have some gadgets like banneton, bread lame coming (thanks Canada Post for sitting on my stuff!) but I love this so much!

Now all I want for Christmas is a wood burning (outdoor) oven! ;-)

Anybody else baking their own bread? I was thinking that might be a good discussion and show and tell.

Wife wants to make bread as well. What is your receipe for starter?

I started with King Arthur's recipe (the BEST baking site in my opinion!):
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/reci...starter-recipe

I am following the process for bread on that homepage right now, with some slight alterations on timing to fit our weekend schedule. Check out her instagram for amazing pictures as well:
https://foodbodsourdough.com/the-process/
https://www.instagram.com/elaine_foodbod/?hl=en

I use about 50/50 by weight flour and water. I have just been using Unbleached all purpose flour and it's been working well. Have one starter with some organic all purpose flour too but haven't made bread yet. Still growing.

Pizza crust and pancakes are a big hit in my house with the discard starter from feeding too.

Brett

I do the same. I started out with rye though as it was recommended. But regular AP since then. I do like to play with flours in breads though.

Discard recipes are always handy and I agree pizza crust is great. I haven't tried making pancakes yet. I also want to try this recipe: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/reci...rackers-recipe

You can come use my oven, I had it at 700F on Saturday night for pizza.

I made sourdough thirty of forty years ago. Wife didn't like at and didn't like me cooking.

Second wife now and she makes bread, better then I ever did.
But just regular white bread.

I might make her some sourdough bread one of these days. If I get ambitious.
I hope I don't. She has loved everything I have ever made or introduced her to. Now she wants me to cook more often then I like to. Oh well, it could be a lot worse, as I learned with my first wife.

If you are inviting :)
 

Next time you've got 'er cooling down, can I drop by with a couple of tins of rye to do a proper pumpernickel bake? I've been waiting to hear if you had tried it, and how it turned out!

As for starters - I've got a rye starter, a durum wheat starter, and an oat starter all at 80% hydration, and all used regularly. They all use whole grains that I grind myself, and I keep them refrigerated in between bakes (I bake once every 2 to 3 weeks), but do a 2 or 3 stage feed each bake. I'm more than happy to share starter if anyone needs.

I love this site for all things sourdough: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/ I maintain my starters using the "NMNF" plan from that site, and have had no issues at all with them.

My current "daily" breads are a 100% whole wheat (mix of spelt, durum, hard red, and khorasan), a 64% whole grain (22% rye, 21% spelt, 21% hard red or durum), and a 60% whole grain (30% oat, 30% durum or khorasan). I'm due for some 100% rye soon - ideally done as a pumpernickel (20-24 hour bake in low oven).

There really is nothing that suits wild meat better than sourdough, as a sandwich or to make sure that not a single drop is wasted :)

Oooh! So tempting. Can you tell me more about your oven? Any pics?


Thanks for the link. I am a huge rye and spelt fan. I wish we had some close by local mills (at least I don't know of any). Where do you buy your flours?
I have been looking for cracked or whole rye but I can't find any.

Sourdough is a mile above all yeast breads in my opinion and the more sourdough-y it tastes the better. I also believe the fermentation make bread more digestible.

I also love to use a bread spice mix (caraway, coriander, fennel) that adds great flavour to any loaf.

Ive made some but certainly wish I was better at it, congrats on your passion

Sure any time you want, I can heat it to the temp you want. Pm me for contact info

Josey, thanks for starter reciepe, wife will appreciate it.

@ josey:

I pick up my grains and wholegrain flour at Community Foods (either the 10th Ave or Chinook locations - I haven't been to the other one: https://www.communitynaturalfoods.com/locations ). They have a great selection in their bulk bins, and are more than happy to give you the source information on any of the grains.

I hear ya on the lack of local small mills - I have heard that there used to be one in High River, but haven't seen anything that is still open and will sell smaller quantities to the public. There is always the option of ordering from Saskatoon: https://www.daybreakmill.com/ ).

For a great selection of malts (different grains, diastatic and non-diastatic), I like Grapes to Glass: http://grapestoglass.com/

For day-to-day use, I just pick up Roger's All Purpose or Dark Rye flour when on sale.

@ CalgaryChef:

Thank you! You are amazingly generous :)

I have only been working with typical home-oven recipes (using the non-traditional sourdough approach, including some rye malts and a scald, and a 16-24 hour bake at 120 deg C / 250 deg F). From the The Rye Baker and other sources, it seems like there should be no starter involved - just a long scald and a low, slow bake (traditionally, in a cooling brick oven - so starting around the 300-350ish mark and going 20-24 hours while falling to around the 200ish area???). https://books.google.ca/books?id=Wty...nickel&f=false

I'm a total beginner with a bit of an obsession with pumpernickel (was corrupted as a kid), so would love to learn more from your experiences! I'll drop you a message later tonight. Thanks again!

I made some fantastic sourdough baguettes yesterday. They didn’t rise as much as I hoped and aren’t the most beautiful ones but man that crust. Outrageously good.
I followed another King Arthur recipe and it worked out great. Next time I will add a cold fermentation in the fridge to increase the tang but I am so happy with this. I definitely will skip the drive to the city on Christmas Eve for fresh baguette and make my own!

http://i68.tinypic.com/24v5q2a.jpg

http://i64.tinypic.com/dgnfvt.jpg

Recipe and instructions: https://blog.kingarthurflour.com/201...for-the-birds/

Just saying a fellow like myself would love some of your goods...
I wonder what Sourdough pancakes are like?

Man ohhhhhhhh man.. that would go good with a moose stew I just crock potted!!!

Well done, and enjoy!!

I have not tried sourdough pancakes or waffles but they are sure on my list.

Still missing my banneton (grrr Canada Post) but I got my bread lame to make cuts on top of the bread. This one is 1/2 wheat and 1/2 rye bread. Smells amazing.

http://i67.tinypic.com/riw9zm.jpg

They are extremely easy to make. Whenever I make an overnight sponge I always make enough for both bread and pancakes.

I have a very healthy unbleached starter to share with anyone who wants to try; it can be converted into white or whole wheat starter very easily.

I'll try them over Christmas.

I cut into the bread this morning. It's outrageously good. Nice crispy crust and moist chewy inside. Super tangy which is optional but we like that.

http://i63.tinypic.com/2r3v4i9.jpg

Nice!

Not necessarily sourdough but nice "dough art"
https://www.facebook.com/groups/perf...4026810000982/

A little house bound in the cold weather with the new pup, so I turned to Sourdough for a project.

Usually I use my heavy enamelled cast iron oval casserole and pre-heat it and slide transfer the bread on parchment.
But have been tinkering with the idea of modifying the base with Lipase to provide a faster recovery rise-so I am halfway through my starter and began to step in lipase additions.

Will post finished bread once the results are proven

I make my mom and baba’s Kolach/Paska bread when I can. Nothing fancy with braiding and such. Just into loaves. Darn good stuff. Toasted it’s unbelievable!
Dang it, now I want some...

I have baked so much since I started this thread. It’s a lot of fun. So many options and sourdough is so versatile.

What’s lipase?

Lipase is an enzyme that breaks down fat.
I have used it extensively to put more funk in my homemade cheeses for the last 20 years.
Envision the aroma and taste of Italian Style cheeses-most achieved by the home cheesemaker by a lipase addition.

It's affect on Sourdough is more of an intellectual challenge for me , but I am both hopeful and bored:sHa_shakeshout:

Huh interesting. Definitely want to hear how that works/tastes.

Two recipes I can highly recommend for sourdough discard:

Biscuits:
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/reci...iscuits-recipe

Crackers:
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/reci...rackers-recipe

Let me warn you though... highly addictive. There is no discard going in the bin ever again. Actually, these two recipes might be reason enough to start getting into sourdough.

Thanks-Probably too soon, but I am making these today with discard.

Zaatar blend instead of the Rosemary