After much doubt, I decided to make my first loaf. It has just come out of the oven and looks sensational. All crusty and fab. Can't wait to taste it tomorrow morning.
pickles7,
Jan 5, 1:35pm
it is morning NOW! lol how is it!
bean_pod,
Jan 5, 3:28pm
Very keen to know what you think of it. This is my next project after preserving lemons.
bean_pod,
Jan 5, 6:37pm
Thank you for that information. It had been posted in an earlier thread and I spent a lot of time reading and looking at links given by that poster. I'm almost ready to take the plunge. But first, lemon.
davidt4,
Jan 5, 7:26pm
Preserved lemons are really simple.See my comments in the other thread.
toffeey,
Jan 5, 7:34pm
First loaf was a goody. Taste is a little bland but I am thrilled with texture. Really crusty and fab. I used the Hugh Fernley- Whittingstall recipe. Will definitely have another go tomorrow. The starter doesn't look as happy today for some reason. It was well and truly alive yesterday but seems to have lost some of it's smell today. I am just thrilled with the experience though. Never really thought I would end up with such a good result. Thanks for all the inspiration guys.
carlosjackal,
Jan 5, 8:17pm
Did you use a sourdough "starter" (culture!) LOVE making sourdough Ciabatta using a starter! Divine! Baking bread is so satisfying isn't it!
uli,
Jan 5, 8:49pm
All you need is rye flour and water. Then wait. The "starter" makes itself.
You can do it with wheat too - but wheat sourdoughs often fail because they do not get as sour as rye and so succumb to bacterial infections or moulds quite easily.
carlosjackal,
Jan 5, 9:39pm
I use mainly high grade white/plain flour and alternate with a little wholemeal and I have a very, very active culture! Very healthy indeed! :D
bean_pod,
Jan 5, 11:03pm
You have inspired me to create a starter. Wish me luck.
griffo4,
Jan 6, 12:30am
Love my starter and it works well and l keep mine in the fridge when not in use
l was so proud of myself for starting one and love it and the beautiful bread it makes
vmax2,
Jan 6, 12:49am
I had my starter in the fridge for over a year without touching it at all.It had black liquid on the top.I just stirred it all in and started making bread with it.So it doesn't matter how long the starter stays there.
toffeey,
Jan 6, 4:00am
Good luck Bean pod. Have fun. I'm making another loaf tomorrow.
griffo4,
Jan 6, 2:04pm
vmax l leave mine in there for a while but l like to take it out and feed it occasionally when l am not using it because l think of it as a living thing and l hate any living thing being hungry or not fed enough, might sound silly but l am a farmer
uli,
Jan 6, 6:48pm
The sourdough organisms go into hibernation like hedgehogs in winter and do not need to get fed :)
But nice touch griffo4!
The black liquid on top is called "hooch" by the way vmax2 - the old Canadians and Alakans used to pour it off and drink it - it is alcohol!
buzzy110,
Jan 6, 9:22pm
So glad your first loaf turned out really well. You say it was a bit bland. Did you remember to put in the salt!
Now that you have a starter they are pretty hard to kill off. Yes they can appear to be sluggish sometimes. In the Success thread, once I fully understood thethe whole process from go to baked bread I did an experiment starting from scratch. I discovered that my new starter was rising in the night (I had gotten up to check on it and it was trying to overflow the jar) but by morning it was looking flat and blah with no discernible odour. Maybe this is what happened to yours.
After a couple of years of making wild yeast bread I can honestly say that even when my starter looks like a dreary jar of blackish looking liquid on top (that is mostly lactic acid btw - try tasting it, whew) and runny flour mix on the bottom, it is still excellent for raising bread.
I am making some bread today using a starter I had stored in the back of the fridge for 6 weeks, untouched and unloved and air bubbles were forming and breaking as I was kneading the dough.
The starter smelled like fermenting apples but the sponge just smelled like flour and water.
toffeey,
Jan 7, 1:21pm
Thanks Buzzy. That is really helpful. I have been so sad about that loss of smell. Have loaf number 2 in the oven right now and it looks amazing. Although the loaf was a little bland, it still tasted nice and we gobbled it up. I used more salt this time. Also I found some interesting flours yesterday and bought rye and spelt to experiment with.
I also made your ciabatta while I was waiting for the starter to be ready to use. Very successful. Thanks for the very useful recipe.
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