Any Home Bakers Here?

[ThreeOfSeven]

I signed up for a King Arthur Flour class this summer that I'll take while

I have a recipe to make you own sourdough in the index or here
Sour Dough Starter from Scratch
Ingredients
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk ( skim, regular or buttermilk) 1/2 cup unbleached flour
Directions
1. Mix the milk and yogurt together in a glass or pottery container (Do not use metal).
2. Place lid on it, but don't seal it (sealed starters have been known to explode).
3. Put mixture in a warm place (80 to 90 degrees) for about 24 hours.
4. The yogurt and milk will separate forming a large curd, when adding the flour just stir it all back together.
5. Add the flour stir, and put back in warm place for 3 to 5 days; stirring daily.
6. It will bubble and have the odor of fermentation it is ready to use.
7. Remember the starter is a living thing and needs to be fed and fed frequently when an infant.
8. I feed the "infant" weekly by placing it on the counter for several hours and allowing it to come to room temperature.
9. Then remove 1/2 cup starter, discarding the remainder.
10. Feed the 1/2 cup with equal amounts of milk (buttermilk will produce a stronger sour taste) and unbleached flour; i.e. 1 cup flour and 1 cup milk plus 1/2 cup of starter.
11. If you would like, you can feed the starter with 1/3 cup dry milk powder and 2/3 cup bottled water in place of the 1 cup milk.

Cool starter! Never saw one that used milk. My starter was fine, actually, quite active and bubbly, and I did some okay breads, etc. in the past. Guess my heart wasn't into it. But I like this recipe. I'll save it and give it a try! Thank you!

 

[N F C]

Getting better with this no-knead bread recipe. Took a while, and now DH has enough bread in the freezer to keep him happy for a couple months. Going to make another pullman loaf tomorrow, but this time it will go to a friend.
View attachment 2028594

Your bread looks great!

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

That is a beautiful Loaf. Would you share the recipe you used? Aria

That's easy since I know it by heart now! I bought the book, "The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day," recommended on this thread. I also the same recipe at the New York Times Cooking web site. Others have posted this recipe before me, so I'm not taking any credit for it here. And I wouldn't be using it if I didn't read about it here first!

The cookbook gives a whole bunch of things that you can do with this basic recipe, which I've yet to explore.

Simple Crusty Bread
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (910 grams), more for dusting
Cornmeal

In a large bowl or plastic container (my plastic container is 6 qts.), mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as 2 weeks. (I prefer to refrigerate before baking. I find the dough easier to handle.) When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. (Lightly flouring your hands helps too.) Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. (At this point, you can decide on the shape of the loaf -- round, oval, long, etc. I sometimes put the dough into my banneton for the 40 minute rest period.) Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup of hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

 

[Aria]

That's easy since I know it by heart now! I bought the book, "The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day," recommended on this thread. I also the same recipe at the New York Times Cooking web site. Others have posted this recipe before me, so I'm not taking any credit for it here. And I wouldn't be using it if I didn't read about it here first!

The cookbook gives a whole bunch of things that you can do with this basic recipe, which I've yet to explore.

Simple Crusty Bread
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (910 grams), more for dusting
Cornmeal

In a large bowl or plastic container (my plastic container is 6 qts.), mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as 2 weeks. (I prefer to refrigerate before baking. I find the dough easier to handle.) When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. (Lightly flouring your hands helps too.) Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. (At this point, you can decide on the shape of the loaf -- round, oval, long, etc. I sometimes put the dough into my banneton for the 40 minute rest period.) Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup of hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

Thanks. YES, I think Debby first posted the recipe. Have never tried it.
Aria

 

[N F C]

That's easy since I know it by heart now! I bought the book, "The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day," recommended on this thread. I also the same recipe at the New York Times Cooking web site. Others have posted this recipe before me, so I'm not taking any credit for it here. And I wouldn't be using it if I didn't read about it here first!

The cookbook gives a whole bunch of things that you can do with this basic recipe, which I've yet to explore.

Simple Crusty Bread
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (910 grams), more for dusting
Cornmeal

In a large bowl or plastic container (my plastic container is 6 qts.), mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as 2 weeks. (I prefer to refrigerate before baking. I find the dough easier to handle.) When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. (Lightly flouring your hands helps too.) Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. (At this point, you can decide on the shape of the loaf -- round, oval, long, etc. I sometimes put the dough into my banneton for the 40 minute rest period.) Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup of hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

I have that recipe too, it's a good one! It's DH's favorite bread

 

[N F C]

Thanks. YES, I think Debby first posted the recipe. Have never tried it.
Aria

Give it a try Aria! It took me a bit of practice to get used to working with the dough (it's pretty "wet") but just move quickly when you're shaping it and keep some flour on your hands. It makes such a beautiful loaf, no matter what shape it ends up being.

 

[Aria]

Give it a try Aria! It took me a bit of practice to get used to working with the dough (it's pretty "wet") but just move quickly when you're shaping it and keep some flour on your hands. It makes such a beautiful loaf, no matter what shape it ends up being.

Debby, Thanks. I will give it a try. Usually do not have space in the fridge. That is the main reason why I have NOT tried it. Aria

 

[N F C]

Debby, Thanks. I will give it a try. Usually do not have space in the fridge. That is the main reason why I have NOT tried it. Aria

It does need some room in the fridge, the cooling makes it easier to handle and we think it tastes better after that sit time. If you give it a go, let us know how you like it!

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

Give it a try Aria! It took me a bit of practice to get used to working with the dough (it's pretty "wet") but just move quickly when you're shaping it and keep some flour on your hands. It makes such a beautiful loaf, no matter what shape it ends up being.

Exactly! I agree! It took me a while, and I was ready to give up. It baked up nicely, but my loaves looked awful. (DH will eat them anyway.) I'm much more comfortable working with the dough now. In fact, I finished up a batch today, and now I have a new batch in the fridge for tomorrow.

 

[ThreeOfSeven]

Heating to from 180 to 200 and cooling to 109 and adding the culture will get a better consistency in the yogurt.

It is also common for the first batch to be thin.

I always heat my milk, but I use raw milk.