sourdough

[qahtan]

After many tries with sourdough and not really having much luck , this is my latest attempt.
Regular bread I have no problem, but maybe at last I have sourdough right,
;-))))) qahtan

[cheesecake man]

Looks GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I too am having difficulty with sourdough bread.
Seems my starter never gets "started". I follow directions but it never seems to bubble much and after two weeks of feeding I tried to make a loaf anyway and it did nothing. I have tried to get starters going in the past and have not had any good results - frustrating.
Am trying one more time!

[Cvejic Jovan]

Bread is very good,i dont know maybe you want to prepare it with fat crust,cause look he got it.
If you want to make with thin crust preheat the oven just for 20-25 C more and put more humidity in the oven...By the way looking nicely

[KyleW]

Hey cheesecake man - maybe we can help solve your problems. How are you trying to build your starter; amounts, ingredients, times etc?

[cheesecake man]

KyleW
I started with 1/4 cup rye flour and enough water to make a consistency of pancake batter in a corning ware dish. Covered it with a loose fitting piece of plastic wrap and put in the electric oven with the light on and the door ajar a little so as to not let it get too warm. Feed it twice a day with 2 tbs rye flour and enough water to keep the same consistency. After 4 days I started using white bread flour.
Every thing I read says it should foam up to double the size but it never does, barely makes any bubbles at all. Have had this one going for eight days and nothing in the way of action. Decided to try another batch tonight! I am frustrated but guess will keep trying until the works! Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.

[Norma]

Without bread all is misery!!!

[KyleW]

Originally Posted by cheesecake man

KyleW
I started with 1/4 cup rye flour .... Feed it twice a day with 2 tbs rye flour and enough water to keep the same consistency.

A couple of thoughts. I would try whole wheat, rather than rye. I would start with 4 OZ of flour and 8 OZ of water. It's important to be fairly precise in the beginning. If you don;t have a scale use 1 cup of flour and one cup of water. This is a 200% hydration, really loose. The feeding should be only once a day for the first few days. You need to give it 24 hours to fully digest the meal.

As to the quantities you feed, it has to be at least 100% of the starter you're feeding. If you start with 12 OZ (4 flour , 8 water) you need to feed 4 flour and 8 water. THis gives you 24 OZ, so at the next feeding it should be 16 flour 32 water. You will intitially be dealing with huge quantities. But after 3-4 days you can begin tossing half of your concoction and feeding the remaining half.

Peter Reinhart's starter from Crust & Crumb uses raisin water in the beginning. Soak 1 cup of raisins in 2 cups of water for 15 minutes. Toss the raisins and measure 1 cup of the remaining water to use in your day 1 starter. The sugars from the raisins help jump start the process.

His complete starter formula and commentary can be found here:

Formula
Commentary

[Norma]

Okay. I have 4oz flour + 8oz water in a stainless steel bowl sitting on my countertop. Should I leave it uncovered? Room temperature?

Thanks

[kokopuffs]

I used the sourdough starter recipe as listed in the book Artisan Baking Across America and succeeded. After a week or so the dough smelled like white vinegar. I'd checkout that book if I were you.

This was 4 or 5 years ago that I executed the procedure. All ingredients were placed in a Tupperware bowl and covered with the snap lid slightly unsnapped at one side. The bowl was placed outside during the summer in the Denver area.

[BBiggs]

Just make a nice thin slurry of flour, hi glutin is fine. Make sure all your containers tools are disinfected. Any additional bacteria wont help matters. Go buy a cluster of organic grapes, The dusty white stuff around the stim is yeast. Wrap the grapes in gauze and just immerse into you slurry. Cover container with film or with its lid if it has one. In a day or so youll have a bubbly mix. Keep it fed. If you get a nice starter going, take some and freeze it. Ive killed a few starters too, and Ive learned to keep a back-up. Ive used this method in making 10-20 gallons of starter to get a restaurant bakery going, and it work like a charm. P.S. Keep your slurry covered, dont about Canada, but I live in Tennessee and it is mold central, you dont want any pesky critters invading your culture.

[KyleW]

Originally Posted by BBiggs

Go buy a cluster of organic grapes, The dusty white stuff around the stim is yeast. Wrap the grapes in gauze and just immerse into you slurry.

EeeekThe ghost of Nancy Silverton! Covered and room temp