Sourdough bread

[james]

I'm off and running (at least we'll see if I am). I fed my starter yesterday and pulled out enough for bread today. I am using the Hamelman recipe with 10% whole rye flour and 90% bread flour, and 65% hydration. 2 1/2 bulk fermentation and 2 hour final proofing.

I hope I don't make a brick! We'll see if my culture is active enough to do this -- no commercial yeast.


James

[KiwiPete]

Re: Sourdough bread

Hi James.

Go the sourdough way!

I don't know how much starter you are using, but 2.5 hours (bulk) fermentation seems on the light side to me.

In my experience so far, natural yeast starters take longer to ferment. Attached are some pics of a sourdough only bread, a variant of the no-knead recipe. Bulk fermentation is about 18 hours, and proofing 2.

Cheers

Peter

[krosskraft]

Re: Sourdough bread

James,
Good luck with the sour dough. I have been making sourdough pizza dough now for my last few batches. I add about 10 ounces of barm to my pizza dough recipe. I have to figure out the percentages for my hydration rate. So far they have turned out well, especially if I overnight chill the dough.

My last batch of bread, I added a smashed cooked potato......It has been very tasty.

[rlf5]

Re: Sourdough bread

It really depends on your room temperature. Sometimes 2.5 hrs is good...sometimes its not enough...and sometimes its way too long. I think Hammelman recommends that time when the air temperature is 76F.

Hi James.

Go the sourdough way!

I don't know how much starter you are using, but 2.5 hours (bulk) fermentation seems on the light side to me.

In my experience so far, natural yeast starters take longer to ferment. Attached are some pics of a sourdough only bread, a variant of the no-knead recipe. Bulk fermentation is about 18 hours, and proofing 2.

Cheers

Peter

[james]

Re: Sourdough bread

Rise, rise -- I command you.
James

[james]

Re: Sourdough bread

My first effort was so-so. It wasn't a brick and the flavor is very good and the crust is very crunchy -- you just can't get that feel from a yeast-based dough.

Still, my culture either was not active enough, or I didn't get my finish flour to starter proportions right. I didn't get the rise I wanted and the crumb was too dense. The 10% Rye gives the bread great character; it feels like a real country loaf. I'm going to keep reading and keep experimenting. But I've taken the first step.

More to come on this topic. Lot's more.
James

[arevalo53anos]

Re: Sourdough bread

James:

You could use biga in place of poolish to better bread flavors, still when using sourdough.
The day before, feed the sourdough until alive (normally 50/50 %), reserve the normal quantities to next bake and add flour to the sourdough to make a big (normally 45-50% water to 100% flour). You could use rye or wheat flour.
Knead the flour – water mixture until soft and wrap up hardly with a cooking cloth tied with line.
Let it rest at ambient temperature by at least 12 hours.
The result is a kind of salami that will be slightly hard on surface and full of bubbles or holes or nets of gluten inner that.
Broke the biga in small bits. Mix with the water that you are gone to use to make the bread. Mix a little and add the flour and the other ingredients that you like in your bread. Like salt, oils, seeds and even a little (1-2% max) of IDY if you are in a hurry.
The biga percent will be no higher than 20%.
Some people like to use only the soft part of the biga, discarding the hard surface. I never did that.
Normally, the rise before shaping will be from 4 to 6 hours, and the final rise of two hours, depending on ambient temperature.
The biga makes a crispy, aromatic bread and poolish makes a soft one. Your choose.

Luis

[krosskraft]

Re: Sourdough bread

Yeah.....what He said.....Anyway, I usually do a biga, let it rise, and refrigerate it overnight or go on to the next step after 4 hours or so. I have also been known to cheat a bit and put a twee bit of yeast in the mix.