Sourdough breadmaking

[21TonyK]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

21TonyK said:

Arrrgghh!!

My 10 day old starter died

Oh well, plenty of time to try again

a/ how do you know?
b/ if you do, how do you think that was?

Stupidity... On Saturday when it was half decent weather it was looking a bit slow so I thought I'd put it next to the sun lounger I was on so it was nice and warm for the afternoon.

It was still there this morning, somewhat like a solid lump of clay with half an inch of brown water on top.

I suspect it got far too hot and it killed all the yeast off.

[illmonkey]

chemistry said:

illmonkey said:

I wanna play!

Low on yeast, but plenty of flour, so wanted to get a starter going as we seem to be doing bread/pizza/etc a few times a week.

I currently have plain flour and strong bread flour. Looking through the thread, seems the strong bread flour is best to use. I also have 00 flour on order, should I wait for that?

Need to purchase a Banneton, do I need to buy anything to bake in, or just put it on a tray?

Anyone recommend the besdt way to do a starter? TIA

You don’t need any special equipment; I started off following these instructions and using regular strong white flour and it worked fine (my recipe is a few pages back in this thread):

https://youtu.be/2FVfJTGpXnU

Starter instructions I followed are here:

https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2019/03/beginner-s...

Good luck and post pics of your results!

Thanks. I am lacking in the wheat flour department, would be ok to just add the quanties together and use the SBF? Seems thge wheat is just to start it faster then not used.

[chemistry]

illmonkey said:

Thanks. I am lacking in the wheat flour department, would be ok to just add the quanties together and use the SBF? Seems thge wheat is just to start it faster then not used.

I didn’t read the instructions properly and just used Homepride plain white flour! Worked ok.

I think any unbleached flour will work.

[illmonkey]

chemistry said:

illmonkey said:

Thanks. I am lacking in the wheat flour department, would be ok to just add the quanties together and use the SBF? Seems thge wheat is just to start it faster then not used.

I didn’t read the instructions properly and just used Homepride plain white flour! Worked ok.

I think any unbleached flour will work.

Just need to eat all of the dark chocolate digestives to get my swing top jar empty! working on it...

[jet_noise]

chemistry said:

Suitably chastised after yesterday’s XL1 debacle, I thought I’d try sourdough in a tin.

A far more regular loaf as a result...more T5 van than XL1

Chastisement not intended. Shared amusement and encouragement.
My attempt was so bad I didn't even post. Suspect flat battery (or other starting malady).

[Bonefish Blues]

jet_noise said:

chemistry said:

Suitably chastised after yesterday’s XL1 debacle, I thought I’d try sourdough in a tin.

A far more regular loaf as a result...more T5 van than XL1

Chastisement not intended. Shared amusement and encouragement.
My attempt was so bad I didn't even post. Suspect flat battery (or other starting malady).

Indeed, we need more aero bread

[jdizz]

So, when the recipe calls for say 300g of starter, what do you top up the starter with?

[chemistry]

jet_noise said:

Chastisement not intended. Shared amusement and encouragement.
My attempt was so bad I didn't even post. Suspect flat battery (or other starting malady).

No offence was taken!

[jet_noise]

chemistry said:

jet_noise said:

Chastisement not intended. Shared amusement and encouragement.
My attempt was so bad I didn't even post. Suspect flat battery (or other starting malady).

No offence was taken!

[chemistry]

[chemistry]

All that effort...and my teenage son has adulterated two slices with alphabetti spaghetti for lunch...

[andrewjamesroberts]

My starter has had a week off and has been resting in the fridge.

An order for bread was put in for Friday morning for Sour Dough so I attempted to revive Burt last night.

Took it out fed it as normal ..........



And ITS ALIIIIIVE!

We are back in the game.

[illmonkey]

I LOVE your splash back! I hope it's treated otherwise that bugger is going to swell

Only a few more biscuits to go and I start my, err, starter.

[andrewjamesroberts]

Thanks!

Not just a splash back but an entire wall!

Installed, sanded then treated with Osmo Oil

[chemistry]

andrewjamesroberts said:

My starter has had a week off and has been resting in the fridge.

An order for bread was put in for Friday morning for Sour Dough so I attempted to revive Burt last night.

Took it out fed it as normal ..........



And ITS ALIIIIIVE!

We are back in the game.

Are you sure it’s alive...that’s the lid from a Nespresso milk frother next to it...maybe you’ve confused your cappuccino milk with a successful starter?!

[LaurasOtherHalf]

Boom! Day 8 and mine’s sorted. Has been smelling of vinegar since day 2 but very little rising or bubbling but it’s suddenly gone today.

All I’ve done is add one tablespoon of rye flour, one of plain flour and 2 of water to it every day. No messing about with weighing or subtracting.

Now what to bake first? My bowl and French bread tray are yet to turn up so might have to experiment with a bowl and cloth first this weekend.

[Challo]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Boom! Day 8 and mine’s sorted. Has been smelling of vinegar since day 2 but very little rising or bubbling but it’s suddenly gone today.

All I’ve done is add one tablespoon of rye flour, one of plain flour and 2 of water to it every day. No messing about with weighing or subtracting.

Now what to bake first? My bowl and French bread tray are yet to turn up so might have to experiment with a bowl and cloth first this weekend.

Im waiting on baskets, so using a glass mixing bowl and parchment paper for the proving.

[illmonkey]

Challo said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Boom! Day 8 and mine’s sorted. Has been smelling of vinegar since day 2 but very little rising or bubbling but it’s suddenly gone today.

All I’ve done is add one tablespoon of rye flour, one of plain flour and 2 of water to it every day. No messing about with weighing or subtracting.

Now what to bake first? My bowl and French bread tray are yet to turn up so might have to experiment with a bowl and cloth first this weekend.

Im waiting on baskets, so using a glass mixing bowl and parchment paper for the proving.

Is this instead of the banneton? What benefit does the banneton give, apart from a pretty pattern?

[uncinqsix]

illmonkey said:

Is this instead of the banneton? What benefit does the banneton give, apart from a pretty pattern?

I think the banneton allows the outer skin of the dough to dry out slightly, which helps form a good crust. I've had good results using a glass bowl and a linen cloth though, so it's probably not a huge difference.

The main thing is they are just convenient...

[prand]

I've got a single round banneton, I prove lined with a floured tea towel, a similar shaped mixing bowl lined with a tea towel seems to do the same job.

My starter is nearly a month old now and going very well. I've been knocking out a loaf, pretty much every other day for a week or so, based on Chemistry's recipe and method (plus the youtube demonstration he refers to - gave me some good tips). I think the warm weather helps the starter be much more lively:



I can go from refreshing starter, mix with the rest of the flour and water, turn & stretch a couple of times in the bowl ready for a final shaping and stretching, then cold prove ready for baking all within about 7 or 8 hours. As I'm at home all day, I can start it up at after lunch, and have it ready for a bake by evening. Or I can leave it proving slowly in the fridge overnight ready for a morning bake. I also use a 22cm Le Creuset cast iron cooking pot which really helps keep the shape of a 750g sized loaf ( i try and creat a wet dough for the holes) and give it a nice crust.




I experienced a schoolboy error yesterday. I had a batch going well, rising well in its first prove, and last night I was planning to do the final stretch and fold into shape, and pop the loaf in its banneton for its final prove in the fridge, ready for fresh breakfast bread. However, I got distracted by the first few episodes of Ozark, then went to bed forgetting to sort the bread out. I woke up with a start at 6am, and ran downstairs, finding that the top of the bread had risen almost to the top of the large mixing bowl, but then collapsed in on itself leaving a crusty cap behind.

The dough practically poured out the bowl, no bubbles, strong acidic aroma, and no structure or tension in the dough. I couldn't imagine I didn't want to waste it do mixed up a bit more starter and flour and we had pizzas for lunch, tasty but not great. I'm going to be setting alarms on my phone in future and try not to get too engrossed in Netflix box sets!