sourdough recipes & wild starters! - Page 26

[ian'smommaya]

i try for once a week too.

[Vaquitita]

well last week i tried again to catch some wild yeast. this time instead of rye i used kamut flour, since that is what i use to make bread. i followed the wild fermentation suggestions. then i made a sourdough no knead bread, which i baked today. it came out very flat. i think it rose too long (i had left the house) in the second rise and collapsed when i poured it into the pan. but it had alot more holes then i've been getting with the 100% kamut no knead bread i've been making. the taste is good. i'm eager to try again next week. or maybe i'll try some pancakes or biscuits with it sonner.

[carnelian]

Sourdough Buckwheat Bread?

I've been using the NT recipe for a few years and it makes a good sourdough spelt. Now I'm wondering if it would be possible to sub the spelt with buckwheat. The recipe requires a lot of starter, about 6 cups of starter to 8 cups of flour, so there would be significant amounts of rye in the dough as well as the buckwheat. But I've read that the lack of gluten in the buckwheat makes it difficult to work with. Any experienced bread bakers have any thoughts on this? Would it work?

[Althetrainer]

Sourdough starter

I love my starter and I use it to make bread twice a week. Mine is a 100% whole wheat but can be converted into white or rye starter with a little bit of preparation. I make sourdough sandwich loaves and my family loves them. My friends ask me to bake a few extra loaves so they can buy from me. I make three to four extra loaves each week, not for the money but for the fun of making sourdough breads. It's really worth the time.

[katmann]

Originally Posted by MovingMomma

I wonder if this would work with cultured buttermilk. Any thoughts?

I think it would work. It would be worth the experiment, anyway.

[jenh]

Originally Posted by Althetrainer

I love my starter and I use it to make bread twice a week. Mine is a 100% whole wheat but can be converted into white or rye starter with a little bit of preparation. I make sourdough sandwich loaves and my family loves them. My friends ask me to bake a few extra loaves so they can buy from me. I make three to four extra loaves each week, not for the money but for the fun of making sourdough breads. It's really worth the time.

would you share your recipe? i have been experimenting with ww sourdough bread recipes and still have not found one that we love.
thanks!

[nicolelynn]

Ok, so though I've been into TF for 3 years this is my first attempt at sourdough (I usually just bought sprouted grain bread).

Is there such thing as it being TOO warm for the culture? My kitchen is literally 85 degrees in the summer blah. I used the Wild Fermentation recipe and it said it usually takes 3-4 days to bubble. Mine started bubbling in 8 hours. The next day it rose alot and looked nice and smelled decent. I started feeding it then, which was yesterday. Today it was flat but still bubbly, covered with dark liquid and smells stinky/bad. I fed it again but don't know about it.

Should I keep it going? Shouldn't it have a pleasant even if strong sour smell, not smell like it's rotting? Could my starter really have been ready in like 8 hours and should I have just used it then?

[MovingMomma]

If activity starts before 3-4 days, it is likely a different (& not good) bacteria that is causing the bubbling. Esp. if it rises super high & then quits the next day or so. If you keep up the feeding & discarding, you have a good chance of overwhelming the bad bacteria & getting a good starter going. Using rye to start the starter is supposed to help avoid this initial onslaught of bad bacteria.

[nicolelynn]

Today it smells good again...so I am thinking it is ok again?

[guestmama9911]

What is the point of discarding? I just added small amounts each day instead of adding lots and then throwing some out. It seemed like such a waste.

[MovingMomma]

When you're starting a starter, you may need the larger amounts to overwhelm any unwanted bacteria. After your starter is established you no longer discard, but bake with the "discards."

[Vaquitita]

well i've made two loaves of sourdough now. the first one was a total brick and i fed it to the chickens. the second one was still brick shaped, but rose higher and was edible. though neither my dh or my dc liked it. i can't decide whether to try again this week. i like the idea of sourdough. any suggestions on how to make the bread less sour? shorter rise maybe? and would i shorten the first rise or the second rise?

right now i use cook illustrated's almost no knead bread recipe but with a 1/4 cup of starter instead of the yeast (well i leave out the beer and vinegar now too). i mix it up, let it sit overnight, sometime after breakfast i give it a quick knead (10x), then let it rise 3-4 hours. or 5 or 6. till i get around to baking it. last time instead of dumping it into the hot pan, i used parchment paper to gently drop it in.

[guestmama9911]

When I make bread, I use 1-2 cups of starter, not 1/4 cup. I don't know about anyone else, but my bread won't rise if I don't use a lot. I have read that you can add a Tbls of baking soda to neutralize the taste a little. But it really does need to rise at least double in size if not more before you bake it.

I spritz mine with olive oil before and after baking it, and that makes the crust less brick-like. I ran out of olive oil last night and my bread came out very crunchy. it was still good, but not AS good.

[Vaquitita]

Originally Posted by alisaterry

When I make bread, I use 1-2 cups of starter, not 1/4 cup. I don't know about anyone else, but my bread won't rise if I don't use a lot. I have read that you can add a Tbls of baking soda to neutralize the taste a little. But it really does need to rise at least double in size if not more before you bake it.

I spritz mine with olive oil before and after baking it, and that makes the crust less brick-like. I ran out of olive oil last night and my bread came out very crunchy. it was still good, but not AS good.

hmm... i will try more starter next time. when i made the CI no knead bread i would put it in an oiled bowl and roll it around for the second rise, and the crust was good. i'll try that again too. if i found a warm spot for my dough to rise in, so those my overall rise time was shorter (intead of 18-24 hours) would the bread be less sour?

[carnelian]

My recipe calls for almost 5 cups of starter!

[guestmama9911]

Originally Posted by Vaquitita

hmm... i will try more starter next time. when i made the CI no knead bread i would put it in an oiled bowl and roll it around for the second rise, and the crust was good. i'll try that again too. if i found a warm spot for my dough to rise in, so those my overall rise time was shorter (intead of 18-24 hours) would the bread be less sour?

The more starter you use, tghe less time you have to wait for a riser, though that in itself might increase the sour taste.

What I would do - and I'm no expert - is take 1/2 cup starter and add 3 cups of water and 3 cups flour, then wait for a few hours for the whole thing to get bubbly and happy and then proceed as usual using that. That way, it hasn't spent too long fermenting so you still have a lot of active starter without too much sour.

I LOVE the sour so I sually have at least 4 cups fermenting at any one given time so that I can add lots of sourness.