Bread Baking (sourdough)

[~mikey b]

I’ll mail you a 30 year old starter

[SB]

Thanks, I got a King Arthur set coming.

Got the crock container and the flour for it also.

One thing I want to do is make sour dough pretzels as well as bread.

[SB]

So is there a difference in flavor of an older starter as opposed to a new one like I will be getting?

[Game Over]

Absolutely.

But its not really time that makes one starter different from another it’s the different types of bacteria and yeasts.

[SB]

Gottcha, lot like the various yeasts we use for beer.

I do know from brewing that yeasts will mutate. After 5 generations or uses it is time to dump and start again fresh. This causes off flavors and can contribute to infection or spoiled batch.

[KQ]

Get a room you two.

We've got one.... it's the kitchen and man is it hot!

So is there a difference in flavor of an older starter as opposed to a new one like I will be getting?

You can add a little rye flour to it when you doing the initial feeding. That's what I did. I think I stuck to half a cup per the advice of the people at King Arthur. They have a chat line, you can pick there brain about all things baking!

King Arthur Live Chat


Or you can just poke around in their Flourish Blog


Look at all the great stuff they have - found this just now:

SAVE THAT SOURDOUGH! TURNING UNFED STARTER INTO YUMMY PIZZA CRUST.

[SB]

Ha, Iffin you caint stand the heat, get outter the kitchun.

I Wil be definitely doing that pizza dough thing.

[~mikey b]

the Crock Pot makes a good vessel for rising dough

[SB]

^^^ pro tip

[SB]

Hope inn that mah starty shows up Tuesday. They sent me an email about how to feed it and stuff.

Stoked for the bread of sourness.

[cinnepa]

seems like studies now showing SD bread much better for you than any whole wheat bread out there. might be old news but pretty suprising to me.

[~mikey b]

It’s good for glutards

[iceman]

I've basically never baked in my life but I love good bread, especially sourdough. In the course of starting their business my wife and daughter have come to know this guy who makes just ridiculous sourdough. I'm stoked and the bread is great: https://loafbakehouse.com

My wife has become a gluten freak over the past couple years but she'll eat this bread, so it's a double bonus. Guy is young, he's a CPA but he bagged that to bake bread instead. He's selling all he can make at a farmers' market and at a couple restaurants so he's not taking orders online at this point but he plans to in the future.

[Buke]

My sourdough system is finally in full swing.

This weekend I made sourdough pancakes Saturday morning, sourdough crackers Saturday evening, and a loaf of sourdough bread on Sunday. Actually I made 2 loaves of bread. The first loaf was a total flop. I'm not sure exactly what went wrong but I think I screwed up the hydration. The dough was way too wet and as a result the loaf ended up as kind of a flat dense mess. The second loaf also had some problems but they were completely tied to me starting the project and then having to leave the house for a few hours when I should have been baking the bread. The flavor was amazing.

No pictures but both the cracker recipe and the pancake recipe came from the King Arthur website.

[billyk]

Having lived in the Bay Area, I love good sourdough bread. In the last few years (10 or so) I’ve started to find decent sourdough bread made here in Austin, as well. I’d love to try making it myself, but the care and feeding of the starter looks like a chore that I’m pretty sure I’d forget at some point. It’s just a lot easier to buy the bread.

[KQ]

Having lived in the Bay Area, I love good sourdough bread. In the last few years (10 or so) I’ve started to find decent sourdough bread made here in Austin, as well. I’d love to try making it myself, but the care and feeding of the starter looks like a chore that I’m pretty sure I’d forget at some point. It’s just a lot easier to buy the bread.

If you refrigerate your starter you only have to feed it once a week plus it can take a lot more neglect than if you keep it out. Not that you should neglect it. I feed mine on Saturday night so I can use the discard to make a sponge for Sunday morning sourdough blueberry pancakes. YUM!



Speaking of SF - did you know it has it's own specific yeast?

Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis

Why Is San Francisco's Sourdough Special?

Almost every food lover associates sourdough with San Francisco, but why is that? Surprisingly, it's because sourdough really does taste better in San Francisco! Here's scientist and food specialist Robert Wolke explaining it to NPR:

"The sour flavors come from lactic and acetic acids produced by inevitable environmental bacteria, which are working on the flour's sugars along with the yeast. Different bacteria make different sour flavors; San Francisco is awash in local bacteria species that make its sourdough bread famous. So sourness per se in some ryes and many other breads is quite desirable."

And there you have it: San Francisco's sourdough bread is good because San Francisco's bacteria is particularly tasty. Some may find that a touch gross, but I think it's incredibly awesome.

[SB]

Every where has unique lacto. Often brewery contaminations are traced back to what is called "house lacto".


Many sour brewers will collect and propagate wild bacteria in the back yard.

[billyk]

If you refrigerate your starter you only have to feed it once a week plus it can take a lot more neglect than if you keep it out. Not that you should neglect it. I feed mine on Saturday night so I can use the discard to make a sponge for Sunday morning sourdough blueberry pancakes. YUM!



Speaking of SF - did you know it has it's own specific yeast?

Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis

Why Is San Francisco's Sourdough Special?

Almost every food lover associates sourdough with San Francisco, but why is that? Surprisingly, it's because sourdough really does taste better in San Francisco! Here's scientist and food specialist Robert Wolke explaining it to NPR:

"The sour flavors come from lactic and acetic acids produced by inevitable environmental bacteria, which are working on the flour's sugars along with the yeast. Different bacteria make different sour flavors; San Francisco is awash in local bacteria species that make its sourdough bread famous. So sourness per se in some ryes and many other breads is quite desirable."

And there you have it: San Francisco's sourdough bread is good because San Francisco's bacteria is particularly tasty. Some may find that a touch gross, but I think it's incredibly awesome.

I think even just once a week might be asking too much. Although maybe it would add a little more structure to my life, who knows.

I’d heard that about the SF yeast, and had pretty much given up on finding good sourdough elsewhere, and certainly not in Texas. However, in the last few years, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the quality of sourdough that’s been available locally. Maybe some bakers have managed to transplant starter from the Bay Area and have it keep its properties intact?

[KQ]

I think even just once a week might be asking too much. Although maybe it would add a little more structure to my life, who knows.

I’d heard that about the SF yeast, and had pretty much given up on finding good sourdough elsewhere, and certainly not in Texas. However, in the last few years, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the quality of sourdough that’s been available locally. Maybe some bakers have managed to transplant starter from the Bay Area and have it keep its properties intact?

Well it certainly looks like there is a lot of sourdough to choose from in Texas. A quick Google turns up a plethora of articles, reviews and recipes. I'd say you're not doing to bad down there the lone star state.

Where are you? I have family in Jasper, Colmsneil, Beaumont and Tyler.

[~mikey b]

And you’ll be baking bread and feeding starter more than once a week if you just try it out

[billyk]

Well it certainly looks like there is a lot of sourdough to choose from in Texas. A quick Google turns up a plethora of articles, reviews and recipes. I'd say you're not doing to bad down there the lone star state.

Where are you? I have family in Jasper, Colmsneil, Beaumont and Tyler.

Currently living in Austin. My current favorite sourdough is from a bake shop called Easy Tiger, but there are several others that do a decent job.

[riser4]

I've basically never baked in my life but I love good bread, especially sourdough. In the course of starting their business my wife and daughter have come to know this guy who makes just ridiculous sourdough. I'm stoked and the bread is great: https://loafbakehouse.com

My wife has become a gluten freak over the past couple years but she'll eat this bread, so it's a double bonus. Guy is young, he's a CPA but he bagged that to bake bread instead. He's selling all he can make at a farmers' market and at a couple restaurants so he's not taking orders online at this point but he plans to in the future.

The plot thickens. Ice's wife is hanging around with some young Baker dude.

[iceman]

It's true. Dude has a lot of bread too.

[riser4]

He absolutely rolling in the dough?

[MakersTeleMark]

Show me the proof.