I waited 2 weeks for the starter to do its thing. It seemed to have bubbles in the flour mix and after feeding would get water rise to the top.It smelt yeasty so I put half a cup of the mix into flour and water a splash of oil and waited I put it in the hot water cupboard and got a very small rise the next day It sat in the warm oven for an hour . Nothing happened . Back it went into the hotwater cupboard . Today I added yeast , honey and water and enough flour to kneed it, I put it warm oven for another hour to give the new yeast a chance to rise then I baked it in a hot oven on a pizza stone with a water bath underneath . what I got was a super heavy dense loaf of bread YUK.(Looks like I will have to buy the bread again this week!)my question is what do I have to do to make one of those loverly fluffy sourdough breads that seem to stay fresh. any input welcome thanks as not getting this right is driving me nuts
Thanks uli just had a read through. I am obviously going through the initiation period as buzzy also mentions a rock hard loaf of bread at the begining so I have done as she did and placed the pet in the fridge and will bring it out to play in a weeks time . I cant wait!
pickles7,
Oct 28, 2:05am
You got me up to feed my sourdough. thank you. I will make one loaf, and two pizza bases, this time.
beaker59,
Oct 28, 6:55am
Personally I only put my starter in the fridge when I am not using it when I am baking it lives on the kitchen bench and gets fed every day. The fridge puts it in a coma, when I take it out it takes 3 or so days of feeding for it to come back to life.
seaturtle,
Oct 28, 1:40pm
Pickles do you pre cook your pizza dough when you make it!
seaturtle,
Oct 28, 1:46pm
these little pets are not cheap to feed every day when they are getting organic flour . fussy we things! After feeding for 2 weeks daily it can sit in the fridge for a week untill I am brave enough to have another go. the link from uli, above to sjons breadmaking is the best one I have seen yet. I will re read over the week
pickles7,
Oct 28, 5:32pm
No , The first time I used the dough for pizza bases I was very impressed. It came about by accident. I had bread ready to be baked and wanted to start dinner.I looked at the bread devided it, it was easy to pat out in the tins, filled them and baked them straight away. yummmmy I make up two loaves at a time, from now on it will be 1 bread 2 pizzas.
pickles7,
Oct 28, 5:52pm
If I leave it out of the fridge it over flows. Mine has been out of the fridge all night after a feed. I sat it in a sink of warm water this morning and right now its buzzing.
uli,
Oct 28, 7:03pm
No - you do not feed it every day. You take it out of the fridge 1 day before you want to bake.
You calculate how much sourdough you will need for your dough and then you feed it accordingly in 3 steps:
First with a little flour and warm water in the morning, making a fairly sloppy dough (like a thick pan cake batter) and put it somewhere where it gets about 28 to 30 degrees C - this will increase the yeasts which will raise your bread.
Then you feed it again after about 6 hours (early afternoon) with more flour and only enough water to make a fairly stiff dough. This gets placed a bit cooler about 24 to 26 degrees C - that will increase the acid forming bacteria which are responsible for the long keeping and the taste.
Finally just before you go to bed you add the reminder of the flour so you have the quantity of sourdough you need the next day for baking. The mixture should be soft, but not as sloppy as the first one. This gets put at around 26 to 28 degrees C - that will increase both the acids and the yeasts ready for tomorrow mornings baking.
Next morning you first take a few spoonfuls away and put them in a glass jar with a lid and that goes back into the fridge. Then you add flour, water and salt to make your bread dough, knead it and put it into tins straight away.
Let it rise only once and bake it starting with 240 degrees, down to 220 after 10 minutes and to 200 after another 15 minutes. Depending on the size of the cake tins it should be done after 60 to 80 minutes. Take out of tins immediately onto a wire rack and let it cool. Let rest for a day and then cut.
craig04,
Oct 28, 7:08pm
I'm no expert, but just made my first two loaves of sourdough this weekend using starter that I began 9 days ago. They have turned out perfectly and I give full credit to this website: http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.htmlIt has all the info you need laid out in easy to understand instructions and even has some pictures to show what things should look like. I can personally recommend using the authors own starter recipe and method, I used it and had my starter doubling in size after 2 days. It also has some lovely recipes for all sorts of sourdough bread. I am making the Black Canyon Sourdough today and next I'm going to make the Bohemian Rye. Anyway, my first loaf yesterday was utterly delicious and I highly recommend persisting, it's so worth it!
rrrg,
Oct 28, 7:08pm
Dont feed everyday
uli,
Oct 29, 4:52pm
You've done very well Craig!
pickles7,
Oct 29, 4:53pm
I am well happy with my dough this morning. It doubled in size over night. I have formed 4 balls of dough and they are now set in a warm place to double up again. The other lot of dough I am going to make pizza with, is still on the bench, I moved it to a cooler spot. I have prepared the toppings, and won't bake those until after the bread is cooked. I was not keen on that site,.craig04. Prefer to go with .buzzy110.and. uli.there input is easy to follow. I will post pic's as soon as everything is cooked.
craig04,
Oct 29, 5:02pm
WTG pickles - enjoy! I have half a loaf left now, the rest has been gobbled up by the kids and DH (and okay maybe by me as well), guess I'd better make some more tomorrow. BTW I tried making english muffins yesterday evening to use up the rest of my starter and they came out luvverly too, so that's another thing you can try if you like that sort of thing
uli,
Oct 29, 5:07pm
You can do almost anything with sourdough. I have made pancakes, waffles, bread, buns, pizza, my Christmas cake (Stollen), lots of other cakes and fruit breads. Basically anything you would use yeast or baking powder for.
elliehen,
Oct 29, 5:28pm
.just giving credit where it's due ;)
Remember the children's story of The Little Red Hen.The chickens ran away when they were asked to help thresh and grind and knead and bake.but all came back to 'help' when the bread came out of the oven.
dinky17,
Oct 29, 6:35pm
I found a recipe for a sourdough bread,,,,half a cup of yogurt and tbsp.lemonjuice,besides the other ingredients ofcourse,it turned out terrific,,any input!
buzzy110,
Oct 29, 7:19pm
I think you have used a recipe to create a sour tasting bread like sour dough and if you thought it was a fantastic bread to eat then that is very very good.
As for input, well most of those who make sour dough do so for health reasons as well as taste. Sour dough, using wild yeasts does take a little more effort and certainly a lot more time but there are health advantages that are definitely missing in breads made with ordinary, single strain modern day commercial yeast.
The indigestible gluten and toxic gladin present in flour is pre-digested by the yeasts. Also the complex carbohydrates in the flours are turned, once again by yeast digestive processes, into simple carbohydrates. The bread is much more intestinal friendly because no gluten is present to sandpaper away at the enzyme producing vili of the small intestine and the toxic gladin is neutralised. The simple sugars are easier to metabolise.
On top of those advantages, homemade sourdough will stay fresh for days without preservatives and is much more tasty than anything you can buy.
sandhu,
Oct 29, 8:41pm
Very nice pickles7.I had no luck making bread from my sourdough.I stick to the bread maker.lol
buzzy110,
Oct 29, 8:44pm
Fabulous result. What is your taste verdict!
pickles7,
Oct 29, 8:53pm
real nice , tasty.buzzy110. I am up to making it more often.I think my bug is working way better now. It is warmer too , it all helps. I started with only a 1/2 cup of starter, 1/2 cup each flour and warm water last night. I feed it 1/4 cup of each this morning, looks great.
pickles7,
Oct 29, 9:01pm
See you are in Hastings, I could give you some of my bug, when you come for the book you are about to buy.I am going to have a go making it in the bread maker, but really, it's very easy.Timing is the biggie. If you started over winter, you will find it warmer now, so probably will work better for you.
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