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Has Achieved Nirvana |
...I stumbled upon these Etsy listings... https://www.etsy.com/listing/8...ganic_search_click=1 https://www.etsy.com/listing/7...ganic_search_click=1 Who knew?
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| (self-titled) semi-posting lurker Minor Deity  |
Wow!!
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Has Achieved Nirvana |
Very cool!
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
I ordered some of the French bakery starter; it's supposed to arrive today. I've only tried keeping starter once, many years ago, and I managed to kill the stuff my friend shared with me. I have houseplants that are 45 years old, but I couldn't keep the yeast beasties alive. Anybody here bake bread with starter? Got any tips for care and feeding? I'll be posting updates after I get the starter rolling...
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Starter arrived. Am reading up on how to get it going and keep it alive. Also realized I probably should get a covered cast iron Dutch oven/pot to bake the bread in. Decided on the Lodge Combo Cooker, which is kind of a neat multi-use pot. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lod...0450312?athbdg=L1100
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
It's alive!  
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| knitterati Beatification Candidate  |
Cool! I have a Lodge enameled dutch oven; I’ve always meant to bake bread in it but haven’t yet. That thing is HEAVY!
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
So - do you take the starter with you on vacation?
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
 - I just said to Mr wtg: "This is like taking care of another pet."I won't be baking more than once or twice a week, so I'll be putting the starter in the refrigerator, which slows down the beasties. From what I've read, if it's refrigerated you can feed it every week to two weeks and it will be OK. It's actually pretty funny. All these recipes have you doing precise measuring of starter, water, and flour on a kitchen scale. I'm pretty sure bread bakers over the last several hundred years have been winging it and managing without weighing the ingredients down to the gram....
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
So am trying my first batch of sourdough bread. Recipe. Bread getting ready for final rise:  The power kept blipping this afternoon, of course when the bread was baking. Mercifully, the power stayed on. The bread is cooling. And I have a stick of butter out softening on the countertop.  I gave it a pretty good cut across the top but I'm not sure it was deep enough. I hope it was enough to let the steam escape. We'll see.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Can’t wait to hear how it tastes! 
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
It is excellent!  Wasn't sure it was going to happen, though. I had the bread baking in the oven and was sweating bullets that the power would go off. The bread finished baking and about an hour later, just after it was cooled and I could slice it, off went the electricity. It just came back on. Anyway, nice starter. Not incredibly sour but really good flavor. This recipe has some olive oil in it so the dough was easy to work with; it also results in a tighter crumb and not as many holes as a wetter dough. A good bread for the sourdough noob like me. I also think it will keep a little better than a bread without any fat would. I'm off to make a batter for waffles for tomorrow morning. This stuff grows like crazy... Waffles: https://www.kingarthurbaking.c...s-or-pancakes-recipe
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Most excellent waffles, too!  I put the starter in the frig, so I get some time off from caring for it. It has seemed like a full time job for the last few days.
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| Has Achieved Nirvana |
Have branched out in the sourdough baking adventures. I made some sourdough rye that was excellent, though the dough is much stickier and more of a pain to work with. I've also acquired a clay baker. I wanted a rectangular pan and thought this was a good opportunity to try an unglazed clay baker. I love the results. My original sourdough recipe. I've found that if I put the dough in the refrigerator overnight after the initial rise, it continues to develop and I get a more open crumb and great texture.   I also bought a new bread knife (the one shown in the pic). It was recommended by ATK, and it does a wonderful job of slicing through the crispy crusts I get on my sourdough breads. Under $20, comes in a bunch of different colors. Highly recommended. https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod..._title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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well-temperedforum.groupee.net The Well-Tempered Forum Off Key While doing research on Steve's cabinet...