Hello from the U.P. | The Fresh Loaf

Hello from the UP of MI!

Would say cooking has been a long time hobby, but I'm very new to baking breads. Got into it when my daughter became gluten sensitive and all of the store bought GF breads were, let's say, un-inspiring. Ironically, she's the one that loves to bake (although cakes and decorating them are her passion). So far, all my breads have been active yeast loaves, with a mix of white and whole wheat. I have a GF recipe for my daughter that uses Domata pre-blended flour and Bob's GF oat flour that she likes (although this is more the batter bread approach).

I have a large smoker/rotisserie that we use for pigs, chickens, turkeys, pork loins, ribs, etc. I also love fermented food and make my own sauerkraut, dill pickles, pickled peppers, etc.

Haven't made my first loaf of sour dough yet. Still trying to figure out the starter, but looking forward to the learning curve (which I know will be steep based on what I've read so far).

A big thanks to Abe and phaz for the help they've given me already!

Is a major part of the learning curve. Everything you've learned making a starter can be applied, in one way or another, to the levain and so to the final dough. You aren't far off from your first loaf and now it's picking up it should gain in strength quite quickly. Looking forward to your first bake. My advice is to start off simple with a recipe you can use to perfect technique. Then move on to more involved recipes.

Other than me, my family is pretty simple when it comes to food. White rolls with spaghetti is about as exotic as they get. :-)

So, if possible, I'm looking to make something for my first loaf that would be great for sandwiches. Basic white flours and would be great for paninis, grilled cheese, etc. Something I can use to ease them into a bread that doesn't come out of a bag. :-)

I know I may be trying to run before I crawl, but if you know of a recipe that lets me crawl and make that kind of loaf, any insight is much appreciated! I was so focused on getting the starter going that I hadn't really researched recipes. Going to start that tomorrow.

My standard sandwich bread

A bunch of flour

A little of yeast

A bit of starter

Water to make a dough

Let rise to 2x

Knead to degas

Rise to 2x

Form and toss in a loaf pan

Rise to 2x

Bake at 375 till done

Should get a mildly tangy (lactic acid tang) without any offensive sourness. Oh - speaking of grilled cheese this is more than good with a sharp cheddar and the ever so lightest dusting of smoked cumin (really light, like barely noticeable). Enjoy!

Welcome. Mind sharing your GF recipe?

The frustrating part about a sourdough starter for me was the big stigma regarding its difficulty that I had built in my head. I kept thinking, sourdough is so difficult. But... I was wrong, once you figure it out and find a feeding regimen that works for you, it is very easy and forgiving. Personally, I had made a mountain out of a moehill.

My biggest mistakes:

I used to maintain a much larger starter than necessary. I would feed about 1 cup of flour a day, or stick it in the fridge and feed less often. It was so wasteful, but also, due to the waste, I dreaded feeding the sourdough because if I didn't end up baking bread, I felt bad about wasting so much flour. I have 6 kids and when we bake, we usually bake 1.5kg to 2kg of dough. And, even with large amount of flours like that, I am able to rise the dough with 100g of starter in one day, no problem. I am certain I could rise with only 50g of starter. My daily feeding regimen is, discard/use all previous starter, using only what sticks to side of jar as the seed, and I feed a heaping 1/8 cup of hard red, 1/8 cup of water, twice a day.
At first, I just followed instruction online. I never closely watched my sourdough to see when its rise peaked. For years, I was allowing my sourdough to sit too long between feedings. Turns out that because my house is warm 78-80dF, I had to adjust my feeding schedule and amounts to get the feedings done at more optimal times. Once we made that change, my starter went from being difficult, to being just as good or better than commercial yeast.

A lovely buckwheat recipe which is even more delicious when toasted. From buckwheat groats to buckwheat sourdough in a day or two. No starter needed.

Glad to... It's just my variation on this recipe https://www.glutenfreepalate.com/gluten-free-bread-recipe/

For the flour blend, I use

2 cups (290g) Domata 1-for-1 flour blend

3/4 cups (75g) Bob's GF Oat Flour

1/2 cups (60g) Bob's Almond flour

I used honey for the yeast proof (going for a honey oat flavor)

I sift the flours together prior to mixing and have the eggs at room temp before adding the whites.

I don't pre-heat the oven. I do the rise in the oven after I warmed it up a bit. I pull off the plastic and set the oven to 350 deg F. I do the foil tent at the half way point.

I haven't tried too many recipes. We found this one, my daughter liked it, and never really experimented too much after that. :-)

Concerning your daughter's gluten intolerance, I suggest you try an experiment. Go visit Wheat Montana's website and buy some berries. Hard Red Spring or Hard White. Mill it into flour, bake a loaf, and ask your daughter to eat a small sample. If she doesn't react, then she's "Roundup intolerant" and not Gluten Intolerant.

There is an (imo) insidious farming practice called *pre-harvest dessication," where the farmer is encouraged to doused his crop with Roundup herbicide in the claim it will boost the yield. The problem is that the Roundup gets absorbed into the berries where it cannot be washed off, and so the Roundup gets introduced into the food supply. Consequently, anyone consuming such tainted grain is getting repeatedly poisoned from the Roundup.

I have a prepper friend who, for 20+ years, thought she was gluten intolerant, until she vacationed in Italy and was stunned to discover she could eat the bread and pasta. The reason is the Europeans don't allow Roundup near their food.

Recently, she and her husband also received their GrainMaker mill. She was ecstatic when the first loaf baked from home-milled flour caused no problem for her.

The reason I recommend Wheat Montana is their products are certified non-GMO and chemical-free. So, buy some of their products, mill it, bake it, and see if she can tolerate it. Either way, you'll learn if she really is gluten intolerant or not.

I'll take a look at this.