Hello all! I'm starting on a sourdough adventure (I actually have two loaves proofing right now), but before I dive into all different kinds of flours....I would like to take the time to learn about how factors like time and temperature affect the finished product, so that when I start to experiment I have a base-line to work from.
So, in the interest of minimizing variables, I would like to keep a consistent flour mix for my first dozen loaves or so. I have Ken Forkish's "Flour Water Salt Yeast" which calls for white, whole wheat, and rye in most of the levain recipes. Is there a flour that you'd recommend for a newbie to keep in stock? I have access to wholesale purchasing through work, so I'm thinking about buying a 25# bag of something if I can, but I don't know what to buy.
KA AP Unbleached
KA White Whole Wheat (what I'm currently feeding my starter)
KA Bread Flour
Bob's Red Mill somethingorother
Something else...?
I also have a local grain company since I'm sort of in the Hudson Valley in NY, but I don't know the differences between Hard Red Spring and Winter and Soft Winter and so on and so on.
I'm overwhelmed and don't know where to start. Any suggestions would be helpful.
If you bake through FWSY that will teach you plenty... all you need at this point is a bag of unbleached white bread and of whole wheat.. playing with those two flour types .. the time and temp of your starter, levain and water and room.. along with fermentation times gives you plenty to play with.. and of course, a small bag of rye for some of the forkish recipes..
In reading through back logs of forum posts...there seems to be opposing views between using AP vs bread flour. If I remember correctly, the KA AP unbleached is supposed to have a high enough protein content, but I'm all sorts of confused about it now.
Also, I'm not quite baking through FWSY, although maybe I should. I basically skipped to Chapter 10 with Pure Levain Doughs. >_<
Try this explanation: http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2016/07/21/substitute-bread-flour-all-purpose-flour/
Enjoy the journey!!
you might want to consider starting out by using commercial yeast and baking straightforward loaves (i.e. all or mostly white flour) since doing so will make the early part of your learning curve considerably more user-friendly by helping you to get used to how dough looks, feels and behaves without introducing variables such as how active your starter is, how different proportions of various flours affect your doughs, etc.
Otoh, if you're just new to SD, I suggest basically making a SD version of a loaf you bake consistently well using yeast while you learn how the variable you are introducing, your starter, makes the dough look, feel and behave differently from a very similar dough you already know.
I've been thinking of going backward a step and learning bread baking basics before diving into sourdough head-on. Maybe I'll just do both simultaneously. Thanks for the advice!
I will continue my bread baking education and flour testing, in the meantime...
...my first sourdough boule out of the oven!
especially for a newbie! well done