January 2, 2010 - 4:27pm
My first breads of 2010
Two old friends ...
Vermont Sourdough
My scoring was inspired by Shiao-Ping's most recent miche.
Vermont Sourdough Crumb
San Joaquin Sourdough
San Joaquin Sourdough crumb
Now, the difficult decision: Which to use for our dungeness crab sandwiches for dinner. Aha! My wife has spoken: "Both!"
David
Share
Comments
I'm thinking about finally making your San Joaquin sourdough soon and this is great inspiration! :D
Hi, Stephanie.
If you do make the SJ SD, let me know how it turns out for you. I think its technique is better than most for fitting into a busy mother's schedule.
David
Your loaves always look perfect. I wish mine looked half as good.
David
Those are great looking loaves! Very attractive scoring. Did you use your lame, tomato knife or something else with these? It looks like 2010 is starting out great for your breads.
Hi, occidental.
As it happens, I scored all these loaves with a tomato knife.
David
for the New Year! What gorgeous loaves!
Sylvia
David
crab sandwich...I have been so craving crab today!
Sylvia
Hi, Sylvia.
They're in my happy tummy. If you'd like, I'll warm up the ultrasound and upload a video. ;-)
David
David, do you have any update on the starter you bought on line? Do the breads you make with it still have a distinct SF sourdough taste?
I bought the Ischia starter from the same place. It is still performing well as a starter but has lost its original very delicious flavour & produces bread that tastes the same as that made with my home grown starters.
Patsy
I've nothing new to report. I still have it segregated, but I haven't used it recently. I probably should,but I don't have high expectations.
David
Nothing better to start the New Year with! Crab sandwiches, yum. Nice loaves, as always.
Betty
David
I couldn't do scoring like that. It looks perfectly balanced like a flower (Vermont Sourdough).
Both look delicious. I would have difficulty choosing which one to have first.
Shiao-Ping
The "flower" was made with 3 cuts, intersecting in the middle of the top of the boule. Nothing fancy in the technique, but it does give a nice effect, doesn't it?
We had some of each bread with dinner. The flavors are very similar, since the flour mix is almost identical (rye and white flour). The less open crumb of the Vermont SD makes it a better sandwich bread, but the San Joaquin was good with the potato-leek soup we had before the crab sandwiches.
With the recent discussion of what Hamelman means by "bread flour," I used KAF AP in the Vermont Sourdough and followed Hamelman's procedure, except for mixing the dough for about twice as long as he specifies. This is probably equivalent to his 2 1/2 minutes in a spiral mixer using my KitchenAid. The crumb is quite chewy - just right to my taste.
David
Nice loaves David! Have you tried lightly smoked Dungeness Crab sandwiches?
Happy New Year too!
+Wild-Yeast
Hi, Wild-Yeast.
I'm not aware of ever having seen smoked dungeness. Does it come canned or how?
Happy New Year to you, too!
David
i'm venturing into sourdough this year. my starter is very healthy, has been sitting in the fridge for the last 2 weeks (for someone who just learned how to make a starter, i'm very pleased with the results).
which one of the two you just made would you recommend for a sourdough newbie, taking into account the frustration factor and difficulty level? I'll worry about scoring later, i'm sure your scoring tutorials will come in handy. :)
many thanks for your recommendation in advance!
The Vermont Sourdough is a classic American sourdough. If you have a stand mixer and Hamelman's "Bread," I'd recommend that one. Actually, even if you don't have "Bread," the formula is pretty much reproduced on SusanFNP's wildyeastblog.com. See: My New Favorite Sourdough
The San Joaquin Sourdough is made without any machine mixing, but is a wetter dough. If you are comfortable with somewhat slack doughs, it's easy to make, and many TFL members have been happy with their results. See this version: Sourdough bread: Good results with a new tweak of my steaming method. (You can use AP or bread flour, if that's what you have, rather than the high gluten flour in this formula.)
Other good choices would be any of Susan from San Diego's formulas. See her blog on TFL. They are among my own personal favorites. See: Susan from San Diego's "Ultimate Sourdough" and Susan from San Diego's "Original Sourdough" .
Let us know what you choose to bake and how it turns out.
David
Beautiful job David. You certainly make aesthetic boules. I will be consulting some of your comments and examples when I make my next boules.
Do you have a recipe that you can share?
Bix
See the links in my response to ques2008, above, for recipes.
David
I have never seen Vermont Sourdough look so beautiful!
Love the color of the crumb and crust...
I guess this proof...your old friends never let you down!
Judd
David
Nice sour!
Make and bake or some retarding?
The Vermont SD is retarded after the boules are formed. The SJ SD is retarded in bulk.
Links to both recipes are in my response to ques2008, above.
David
Hi David, My first taste was at the Point Loma Seafood Company in San Diego. The in season crab sandwich (Dungeness) is lightly smoked and served on San Francisco sourdough. I lightly smoke my own in a small smoke oven using a few twigs of alder, apple and cherry woods. Smoked seafood was once a staple of small local seafood companies.
+Wild-Yeast
Point Loma Seafood is owned by a friend of my brother's. I'll have to check with him on this product.
David
The Vermont SD is my favourite bread. I keep thinking I've found something to better it, then I bake it again and it re-establishes itself at number 1. Also love Hamelman's variation substituting wholegrain flour in place of rye.
I haven't tried your San Joaquin SD yet...bumping it up the queue after this post of yours.
Oh, by the way, re:
That's just cruel...
As usual. A true inspiration.
Beautiful loaves David. I especiallly like the Boules, with their mahogany crust. I can imagine the deep flavor in that crust. Perfect bread, as usual. As always, inspiring. Ray
thanks for taking the time to answer me, david, much appreciated. i think i will start with the one you suggested, and you'll certainly be the first to know how my efforts turned out!
don't ever leave TFL; otherwise many of us would feel lost... :)
I love your San Joaquin Sourdough! I will be giving it a try this weekend!
Nick