Wild Yeast

NPHuskerFL

@SciAggie something I have noted over the last 2-3 months our local weather has went from fairly cool (30s-70s) and lower humidity (for us) to hot in the upper 80s to lower 90s and high humidity and right back to the latter.  A lot of things we can control in the bread making environment but there are things we cannot control like the weather. You would think that by making the bread in a controlled environment inside the home it would make it'd be easier and it does but you do have to take outside forces into account as well. I agree with you, I also believe you probably over proofed given your results. I have done that many times myself in the past. In fact I was looking at pictures of previous in my cloud. One thing I noted was the crumb on these loaves had almost a glossy look to it with several large holes rather than it looking lite and spongy with a lot of little holes along with larger ones. 
Here's an oldie 🤦🏼‍♂️ #showusyourfuckedloafs

SciAggie

@NPHuskerFL Thanks. Here’s the loaf in question:

Glossy, gummy, tacky are all good descriptions of the crumb. It actually tastes fine. It made great toast this morning. 

I think it’s like when starter reaches maximum volume then collapses as it consumes the flour and the gluten strands weaken - I think that may have also happened due to the prolonged retarding in the refrigerator. 

Either way, I plan to shape my loaf sooner on the next loaf and see what happens to it. 

Thanks for the feedback. 

buzd504

You guys are making some amazing breads, and with all of this free time, I've gotten the itch.  I want to make a starter from scratch, so I've given it a shot.

On day 2 and 3, it exploded.  Wheat flour and water and it just went crazy.  According to the pineapple solution (good read here - http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10856/pineapple-juice-solution-part-1), I determined that I most likely had a bacteria in my starter and was going to have to wait it out to get the yeasties rolling.  This was Sunday a week ago (12 days).

I've been feeding it since then - sometimes wheat flour, sometimes AP (and I'm pretty much down to AP at this point), and I think 2 days of pineapple juice.  Nothing has really been working, but I do see the occasional bubble or two, so I've kept at it. 

In the last 2 days though, I've seen a lot more activity.  It's been pretty much AP only at this point - I'm out of wheat and that's all you can get around here.  After this mornings feeding, she has just about doubled.  I think I'm in business.

SciAggie

@buzd504 Welcome to the addiction. It seems like you have a nice starter going now. It’s time to jump in and start baking. 

caliking

Yup, I think you're in business @buzd504 !!

SD starter is good for so much more than just bread too. If you like waffles, they're a great way to use the discard.

Looking forward to your loaves.

buzd504

SciAggie said:

@buzd504 Welcome to the addiction. It seems like you have a nice starter going now. It’s time to jump in and start baking. 

I think I need another day or two.  It's still a little slow off of the jump.

I may try to put something together this weekend with my discard.

Thanks (all) for the inspiration.

buzd504

caliking said:

Yup, I think you're in business @buzd504 !!

SD starter is good for so much more than just bread too. If you like waffles, they're a great way to use the discard.

Looking forward to your loaves.

I've been keeping up.  I can't wait to try the english muffins.  And pancakes.  And hamburger buns..  Oh my.

Eggpharmer

@SciAggie

SciAggie

@Eggpharmer Those look great!

buzd504

So I went ahead and tried foccacia this weekend after y'all declared my starter ready, although I still had a ton of doubts.  I don't have much bread experience and zero sourdough experience, so i was kind of flying blind.

I used the perfect loaf recipe linked above. I added extra starter (because why not) and used all AP flour because I forgot I had some bread flour in my back fridge.

Working with the dough was weird because it was all so wet.  I was a little hopeful as it seemed to firm up after the first few folds, but I lost hope again during the final proof, as it didn't seem to bubble or rise as much as I expected. 

Still, I stuck with it, and I am super-happy the way it came out.  And so delicious.  Thanks for the parchment tip!

Final proof on the back porch (where it is a little warmer).

Decorated - tomatoes, rosemary, sea salt (and EVOO)

It was temping at 200, but hadn't really browned, so I put it under the broiler and looked away for a minute.  It's not as burned as it looks.

It really came out nice - very pleased.

caliking

Looks excellent, @buzd504. My first sourdough attempt did not turn out nearly as well.

SciAggie

I agree - great start.
Dealing with starter and working with wet dough definitely has a learning curve. Just do as you did - jump in.
You will have failures and frustrations - I still have them. Just let it be fun. You'll have far more success than failure and the failures usually taste good.
Congratulations.

ColtsFan

Found a King Arthur soft crust recipe using levain. Not much rise but tasty 

HeavyG

xkcd is always spot on.

Hoster05

A lot of wild yeast baking yesterday, started the day with cinnamon rolls:



When prepping these Saturday night I figured I should make up some pizza dough as well for Sunday Dinner:


BBQ Chicken Pizza 



Margherita


One of our new favorites, Honey Hot Pie:  Proscuitto, red chili flakes, shallots, honey and mozzarella cheese.  



With the egg setup for baking, I let it cool down to 425 and made our favorite dessert, oregon berry crumble.  We had a few scoops of vanilla ice cream and let it melt.  I cannot get pictures of that as the spoons are continuously carving away at this dish.  

paqman

Hoster05 said:

A lot of wild yeast baking yesterday, started the day with cinnamon rolls:



When prepping these Saturday night I figured I should make up some pizza dough as well for Sunday Dinner:


BBQ Chicken Pizza 



Margherita


One of our new favorites, Honey Hot Pie:  Proscuitto, red chili flakes, shallots, honey and mozzarella cheese.  



With the egg setup for baking, I let it cool down to 425 and made our favorite dessert, oregon berry crumble.  We had a few scoops of vanilla ice cream and let it melt.  I cannot get pictures of that as the spoons are continuously carving away at this dish.  

😳

caliking

@Hoster05 - DANG!! You were busy  

I don't know how much longer I can hold out on baking those cinnamon rolls... 

GlennM

Sour dough pizza, baguettes and some brioche burger buns

SciAggie

@GlennM Dude! I have to learn to make burger buns. 

paqman

SciAggie said:

@GlennM Dude! I have to learn to make burger buns. 

Sourdough or yeast?  I made some yeast buns this week and they were amazing.  In fact, I made hot dog buns too 😂

GlennM

The buns were yeast, I may modify the recipe to use a starter but I don’t know if it’s worth the effort 

paqman

Yeast is totally fine in my book.

SciAggie

paqman said:

SciAggie said:

@GlennM Dude! I have to learn to make burger buns. 

Sourdough or yeast?  I made some yeast buns this week and they were amazing.  In fact, I made hot dog buns too 😂

Sourdough. Just because I always have starter and make sourdough bread every week (since the Covid)

buzd504

GlennM said:

Sour dough pizza, baguettes and some brioche burger buns

Those are really nice baguettes.  Do you have a recipe?

GlennM

This is one of my favourites 
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19830/36-hours-sourdough-baguette-everything-i-know-one-bread

NPHuskerFL

GlennM said:

This is one of my favourites 
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19830/36-hours-sourdough-baguette-everything-i-know-one-bread

@b@buzd504   good read. First time seeing that one. Personally I prefer playing with flavors by mixing different flours and then just adjust using your basic bakers percentages/calculation.
This same overall process can (and I have in the past spoke of it) to regular SD bread whether in a boule or batard.  The long autolyse gives great extensibility.  The cold bulk allows for a few things... Flavor complexity for me is the biggest driving factor.  (My experience)> throw in some gentle coil folds toward the end of bulk and you'll better control the crumb outcome. 

buzd504

NPHuskerFL said:

GlennM said:

This is one of my favourites 
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/19830/36-hours-sourdough-baguette-everything-i-know-one-bread

@b@buzd504   good read. First time seeing that one. Personally I prefer playing with flavors by mixing different flours and then just adjust using your basic bakers percentages/calculation.
This same overall process can (and I have in the past spoke of it) to regular SD bread whether in a boule or batard.  The long autolyse gives great extensibility.  The cold bulk allows for a few things... Flavor complexity for me is the biggest driving factor.  (My experience)> throw in some gentle coil folds toward the end of bulk and you'll better control the crumb outcome. 

@GlennM @NPHuskerFL  Thanks!!

SciAggie

I found this video interesting. Being in control of the crumb I produce has been an elusive quest for me. I have never laminated dough like this either. I think I'll try it.
https://youtu.be/YZEZLIOecoM

buzd504

Quick question -

I have some sourdough bagels that have been slow-fermenting in the fridge overnight.  I screwed up and initially put them in the fridge before their 2-4 hour proof on the counter last night, then pulled them for about 3 hours before going to bed.  The recipe says they should basically go from the fridge to the boiling water when I cook them today.

I think they could probably benefit from some more proofing at room temp before boiling.  Any reason not to do that?

SciAggie

The refrigerator just retards - slows the fermentation process. My opinion is that if you think they need to rise a bit more leave them out and let them rise. Then go into the boiling water.
Disclaimer: I've never made bagels...