Hi,
I've just tried making my first loaf with just flour, salt and water. The starter is only about a week old and rye based. I am using a bread machine and want to stick with it.
Any feedback much appreciated. It didn't rise nearly as evenly and much as I kind of hoped. But I think the texture looks good. I'm not sure what caused the air pocket in the top though.
Many thanks,
Dave.
A week old starter and in a bread machine to-boot. What was your formula?
My friend has a bread machine and we worked out a formula for a great sourdough loaf. The formula is simple... The flour within the starter/levain should be 30% (using bakers maths) and the French bread setting seems to be the best. So let's take a simple recipe...
Night before build the Levain. In the bread pan (don't forget to include the paddle) mix together:
20g starter + 110g water + 110g bread flour. Leave overnight for 12-14 hours. Once mature and bubbly then proceed onto the final recipe.
To the levain add 218g water and mix till fully distributed.
In a bowl mix together the 400g bread flour + 8g salt then sprinkle it over the levain/water mix.
Close the lid and choose the French bread cycle.
The only questions I have is what machine do you have? In the instructions is the liquid normally added in first and then the flour? Do you have a French bread setting?
That airpocket at the top is usually corrected by better shaping but being it was in a machine, I'm not sure how that can be corrected.
Overall, your loaf looks really good and I'm impressed with your starter's performance at a week old. How did it taste?
Keep going!