Blog posts

A comment from Joe Fisher in this lesson I put together got me thinking about trying a really wet starter to see how it turned out. I usually make my sourdough with a 50% hydration starter (1 part water to 2 parts flour) which makes a really stiff starter. What if I reversed it? What if I had a starter at 200% (2 parts water to 1 part flour)? Well, I tried it.

Boy was this a busy weekend! Had the day off today, so I spent part of it baking. First, the 'basic' sourdough recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Always a big winner. Had a bit of a blowout on the boule ;) It probably could have used some more rising time before going into the oven. The oven spring was beautiful! Here's Pane Siciliano, also from TBBA. It's a wonderful recipe.

Submitted by Mini Oven on June 17, 2006 Taking a tip from SourdoLady and since I had a little orange juice (that I didn't mix with Campari) I tried mixing it with oat flour. I'm curious if it is any faster than the process I used for my wheat starter. Smells like breakfast (like the OJ got poured into the cereal). What do you think of "Breakfast in China?" Smell it once a day. It is three days old and maybe I'll add more orange and oats. I'm very patient and it helps to park it out of the kitchen. I refuse to "watch the pot." My other starter is on holiday... no name.

This blog entry is so that I don't forget what I did to make this loaf when I lose the scrap piece of paper I wrote it on :) 50% Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread 1 1/2 cups proofed white sourdough starter 1 1/2 cups warm water 2 Tbsp oil 1 Tbsp brown sugar 3 cups whole wheat flour ~1 cup of white flour 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten Baking schedule: -mixed together all ingredients (except salt) until moist -20 minute autolyze -added salt -kneaded with mixmaster for ~5 minutes 0 hrs->put in greased, covered bowl for first rise 2 hrs->folded do

I made a simple dough this morning with the intent of making some type of a picnic bread today. Something with cheese and onion, perhaps olives or sausage mixed in. But then we ended up picnicing at the lake today as well. After a long day in the sun, I just couldn't face the prospect of baking in 90 degree weather. Actually, it wasn't the baking as much as having the house heat up, particularly the upstairs bedroom, which get sweltering on hot days.

Thanks to this site, I baked my very first sourdough loaf today after two weeks of preparation :) Yippeeee!!! It certainly is not the perfect loaf (quite flat), but I am just happy that I grew yeast from scratch that caused any rising action at all (thanks to a mixture of Floydm & sourdolady's starter recipes and advice)... | | Here is a pictoral account of my adventure...Day 1 is the day I began making my homemade starter. | Day 5...my first big day of "bubble action" in my homemade starter!!!

Coffee Bread Pudding Recipe Last week I found myself with a huge tupperware container full of staling bread of various types, so I made this bread pudding (from a mixture of different recipes I found on the internet) and it was a big hit at tea time. I want to record the recipe here before I lose the scrap piece of paper I wrote it on as I went...

My attempt at 100% Rye Finnish sourdough bread. It seems that it's hung by the ceiling on a pole all year round. That explains the hole in the centre. It also seems that this bread's suppose to keep all year round especially in the cold & cruel Scandinavian winter. It's gonna be winter here too, in Aus... :) Well, since i lack a pole, that also explains the string tied around it.

For father's day, I chose to stick around the house, play with the kids, and bake. I made Dan Lepard's Flax Seed Wheat Bread again. Really good stuff. The big dessert was a cheesecake (store bought) with a raspberry sauce made with fresh, local berries.