Any Home Bakers Here?

[sunflour]

Thanks!
It was wet-like. I didnt deviate from the recipe and it stated not to add more flour. Naturally it froze my natural instinct to add more flour so I plowed onward. Yes we have had very humid days...I remember my first batch required 1 3/4 teaspoon of salt and the family said it was bland so I increases it 1/4 teaspoon more of salt. Could that make a difference?
Not giving up as the family likes the sourdough.

Take my advice with …a grain of salt..lol.

But the salt inhibits the rise. adding more salt may be why it did not rise.

Next time for more flavor add a non salt spice? Sourdough is supposed to be …somewhat bland.

If you want bread with more flavor, try some other bread recipe with rye or a darker type bread, not sourdough.

 

[ronott1]

I'm trying my hand at baking bread in Dutch Oven.As they recommend heating the container to 450 degrees with lid. I line the Dutch Oven with parchment. The bread has a nice crust all over and no burning.
The No Knead bread is interesting.
Made my first bread : sour dough. Left my sour dough bread to bubble and rise about 18-20 hours. This first try had a nice rise in the Dutch Oven however my second attempt was quite sticky and didnt rise as much tho the second loaf tasted better.
Im using Bread Flour...should I switch to All Purpose?
Anyone trying this method?

Take my advice with …a grain of salt..lol.

But the salt inhibits the rise. adding more salt may be why it did not rise.

Next time for more flavor add a non salt spice? Sourdough is supposed to be …somewhat bland.

If you want bread with more flavor, try some other bread recipe with rye or a darker type bread, not sourdough.

Sourdough is a wild yeast--bakers yeast is a domesticated yeast. Because of the wild nature, sourdough is not predictable and will sometimes not do what it is supposed to do.

The age of the sourdough is also important so the older it is, up to a year old, the better it will raise.

Another thing to try is to feed the starter before starting the recipe. Take it out of the fridge, pour out a cup if too full(save it for pancakes!) and then add a cup of warm water and a cup of flour. When it bubbles, then make your sponge for the recipe.

Some recipes I have say to used fed starter and others say to use not fed starter.

The 1/4 tsp of salt should not have made a difference.

 

[lizyusczyk]

Ihave done some beginner baking. Is there any way you can sort of grow your own yeast, and us it safe?

 

[sunflour]

Ihave done some beginner baking. Is there any way you can sort of grow your own yeast, and us it safe?

I'm not sure exactly what you have in mind. Sourdough starter is basically a yeast culture you feed to keep it alive and useful. Handled properly the starter can live indefinitely and be safe as long as it does not get bacterial contamination.

I suppose you could culture yeast like a lab grows it on cornstarch agar, but like the convenience and safety of the fast acting yeast available today.

 

[isabella2014]

Thanks so much for your replies.
Im going to start another sourdough and not increase the salt.
I love sourdough with soups.
Onward Bakers!

 

[ronott1]

Thanks so much for your replies.
Im going to start another sourdough and not increase the salt.
I love sourdough with soups.
Onward Bakers!

Are you starting a new starter each time you bake or do you have one in the fridge?

If you do not have a starter that has been going for six months or more it will not usually raise bread. If you are mixing bakers yeast and then making bread from it later then it is not sourdough.

 

[isabella2014]

O WOW Guess its not true sourdough.
I got the recipe from my book The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger.
I probably would not have been patient to wait six months...not my virtue
Thanks so much for information.

 

[ronott1]

O WOW Guess its not true sourdough.
I got the recipe from my book The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger.
I probably would not have been patient to wait six months...not my virtue

Thanks so much for information.

Go to the friends of Carl website and get the address. mail them a self addressed stamped envelope and they will send you a starter that is about 400 years old. It will be punching up bread in a week after you get it.

What you have is a yeast culture. It will make good bread but it will not have the same flavor as sour dough bread.

http://carlsfriends.net/source.html

 

[sunflour]

OMG, diet is gonna be blown...

Just ordered me some new cookie cutters…Hen, Chick and Egg. Gotta make some for easter….will have to try them out before presenting to friends & office of course..

 

[N F C]

@sunflour , your cookie cutters sound really cute! You'll have to share a picture of the cookies you make with them. Who did you order them from?