A near-debacle with a multigrain sourdough
A while back I embarked on a multigrain, multi-day sourdough.
One evening I got the biga going and stuck it in the fridge. The next day I put it in my Ank and... gosh, it's wet. I mean, *really* wet, like a batter, even after adding the rest of the recipe's flour. Why is it this wet?
As it mixes, I start adding flour. And adding and adding. I'm not an expert baker but I'm experienced enough to know not to over-add flour, but it's just soaking it up and still goopy.
I was baffled. It was supposed to be refrigerated for 24 hours, but it was just EXPLODING in the fridge, so I baked it that evening.
As a consequence of adding all that flour, there was a LOT of dough; it just fit on my ~14" x 17 1/2" FibraMent and in my small oven. You can see the resulting massive loaf below, and how it doesn't quite fit on the cooling rack.
And it was sometime while it was in the oven that I realized what had happened: at the same time I'd prepped the biga for this loaf, I'd made up a bowl of overnight sourdough waffle batter (my first time), and... I'd switched the two bowls. So instead of starting with a modestly hydrated biga, I started with something with nearly twice as much liquid (buttermilk!) as flour, plus a cup of 1:1 starter!
For some reason the waffles came out fine (my usual waffles use a much thicker batter than is usual, so I never noticed how thick it was).
For all that, it came out well--pretty tasty, actually. Not that I'd want to replicate the recipe. :)
Thanks for a morning chuckle.
If anyone asks why such a big loaf, just tell them you've always wanted to bake a miche.
Paul
Congratulations, you are now in the company of some of the greatest inventors. I learned long ago that the ubiquitous pink insulation you see was the result of an accident. Some dye was spilled into a batch and "ruined" it, until they began to market it as something unique.
Have you discovered a great way to make multi-grain waffles? Or were they not noticeably better?
Thanks for sharing a great story, beats reading the news this week, for sure.
re: the waffles.
Two points: first, my taste in waffles is atypical. I never get them when eating out because I find how they're typically made to be too sweet and bland. Breakfast for me is always savory; I don't have a sweet tooth--with main courses and sides I dislike ANY sweetness (sweet BBQ sauce on ribs/brisket, glazed whatever)--and my own recipe is all whole grains with no sweeteners. I don't know that how I like them would be to others' taste as a result.
Second, while this was also unsweetened, with the relative low hydration they were similar to what I usually make but denser and chewy. Not unpleasant, but certainly not worth the effort of starting the night before.
The bread was actually better than the waffles; change around the starter quantities/proportions so that I don't get a loaf larger than a toddler and it would be worth repeating.