Well, OK, I'm not a baker and I'm not especially good at roaring. I am actually a somewhat chubby old guy. BUT, I turned out a FINE loaf of sourdough today. Crispy crust, nicely browned, very nice sour taste (the most important thing to me). My starter is three weeks old today and the accompanying photos show the first loaf baked using that starter. The bell peppers are today's pepper harvest. I see a tasty, sour future in front of me.
Criticisms and comments welcome, especially criticisms.
Last edited by David Parrish; August 31, 2016, 11:51 AM.
Reason: Please remember we are equals in The Pit, thanks.
> Weber Genesis EP-330
> Grilla Grills Original Grilla (OG) pellet smoker with Alpha/Connect
> Pit Barrel Cooker (gone to a new home)
> WeberQ 2000 (on "loan" to a relative (I'll never see it again))
> Old Smokey Electric (for chickens mostly - when it's too nasty out
to fiddle with a more capable cooker)
> Luhr Jensen Little Chief Electric - Top Loader circa 1990 (smoked fish & jerky)
> Thermoworks Smoke
> 3 Thermoworks Chef Alarms
> Thermoworks Thermapen One
> Thermoworks Thermapen Classic
> Thermoworks Thermopop
> Thermoworks IR-GUN-S
> Anova sous vide circulator
> Searzall torch
> BBQ Guru Rib Ring
> WÜSTHOF, Dalstrong, and Buck knives
> Paprika App on Mac and iOS
Yes, a DO--Le Crueset enameled. I'm tickled at how sour it was. I haven't a sour sourdough since a trip to SF 15 years ago.
Mucho thanks to you & @ChefJacob. It was really not that hard, tho I did pay close attention to detail and watched and listened to Stella videos/podcasts several times.
👍 that's what I've been trying to make my fellow Pit members believe, it's NOT that hard! I used my own learning curve to put together a lesson plan that is ALMOST fail proof.
Did you store your starter in the fridge before using it for this tangy loaf?
Hi, my name is Darrell. I'm an OTR truck driver for over 25 years. During my off time I love doing backyard cooks. I have a 48" Lang Deluxe smoker, Rec-Tec pellet smoker,1 Weber Genesis 330, 1 Weber Performer (blue), 2 Weber kettles (1 black and 1 Copper), 1 26" Weber kettle, a WSM, 8 Maverick Redi Chek thermometers, a PartyQ, 2 SnS, Grill Grates, Cast Iron grates, 1 ThermoPop (orange) and 2 ThermoPens (pink and orange) and planning on adding more cooking accessories. Now I have an Anova sous vide, the Dragon blower and 2 Chef alarms from Thermoworks.
Cookers:
Weber Kettle (used/fair condition; a gift).
Grilla OG.
Pit Boss 3-Burner Ultimate Lift-Off Griddle.
SnS Kettle.
Everything Else:
Sous Vide equipment.
Instant read and leave-in thermometers.
Grill Grates.
Kingsford Blue Bag, Royal Oak Lump Charcoal, Weber lighter cubes, Weber charcoal chimneys.
BBQr's Delight Hickory & Apple flavor pellets, propane torch, 6" smoke tube.
Grilla apple & hickory pellets, Royal Oak charcoal pellets.
Rubs with salt: Meat Church, Meathead.
Rubs without salt: SnS Grills Rocky's Rub and Not Just for Beef.
Rubs home-mixed: None at this time.
Spices: Lots of 'em.
Great looking loaf! Small tip: heat a pan in the bottom of the oven with water to create steam before you put the loaf in. It'll allow the crust to stretch more without cracking. (Unless what you had there was intentional - I see you did put a cross of cuts on the surface).
Breadhead No fridge--the starter has been at room temp the entire time and I followed the SC recipe to a tee--500 grams of starter... I started in the AM, around 9 AM, and had the loaf out before 5 PM. Next time, I'd like to do the bulk ferment overnight in the fridge. I have no plans to keep my starter in the fridge unless it's for long term storage, though I may reconsider that. The starter is very active and I'm even considering feeding it 2X daily--the cost of thrown out starter builds! Your thoughts?
My starter has a very pungent, sour tang to it--open the container and that great sour aroma wafts out. We must just have some good bacteria floating around our area. Also, I feed it 50/50 whole wheat and bread flour--both King Arthur unbleached. I live in SE AZ, so room temp is mid 70s°F, which I understand would not necessarily lead to good acetic acid production, but, the proof is in the pudding, er, loaf.
I'm still pondering on a name for it--I had one last night in bed, but I've lost it this AM. LOL
Breadhead, you are correct! A starter is a living thing. It needs affirmation and care. Also, before a long storage, I have kept as little as 75 grams, and it rejuvenated nicely.
[QUOTE=Willy;n216104]Breadhead Next time, I'd like to do the bulk ferment overnight in the fridge.
A delayed fermentation loaf...
i wouldn't recommend doing your BULK fermentation overnight. I suggest you do everything you did on this loaf of bread, exactly. Then after you've final shaped it and put it in your banneton for final proofing, put it in the refrigerator overnight to delay the final proofing.
The next day take it out of the fridge 2 hours before you want to bake it. I would start pre-heating your oven and DO 30 minutes after you take your dough out of the fridge. With a mid 70's ambient temperature in your kitchen your dough will pass the poke test in about 90 minutes or less, probably. At that temperature you've got a fairly short window of time, approximately 15 minutes, for your dough to go from ready to bake to being over proofed. Pre-heating your oven early is wise.
BULK fermenting overnight would normally be used as a pre-fermentation step. To do that you use 1/2 of the weight of the flour in the recipe. Mix it with an EQUAL amount of water and 1% of the weight of the flour of your sourdough starter. Cover you fermentation vessel with plastic wrap and let it sit on your counter top at room temperature for 12 to 16 hours.
Then you mix in the remainder of your ingredients, using no more starter, and develop your dough as usual. Then if you want to kick it up another notch... When you've final shaped that dough and put it in your banneton, put it in the fridge overnight to delay the final proofing.👍
That process with your very tangy starter would produce a seriously kick-ass loaf of sourdough bread.👌
Great looking loaf! Small tip: heat a pan in the bottom of the oven with water to create steam before you put the loaf in. It'll allow the crust to stretch more without cracking. (Unless what you had there was intentional - I see you did put a cross of cuts on the surface).
Ed... I've never had much success of putting a water pan in my convection oven or my BGE to create steam for my sourdough loaves. I have a much better results using a Stainless Steel mixing bowl over the top of my dough during the oven spring process.
I score/dock the dough and then mist it with a generous amount of water then place the dough on my baking/pizza stone and put the preheated SS bowl over the top of it for 20 minutes. That gives me maximum oven spring, nice blisters and ears.👍
Willy ... Chef Jacob suggested the DO simply because for a beginning baker the DO method is an absolute no brainer and easy - except for getting it in the DO properly. Try the SS bowl method and see how you like it.
Breadhead - you're certainly more experienced than I am at baking. My wife is the baker of the family. But we have had success "super-heating" a cast iron pan in the oven or the egg, and pouring in hot water just before putting in the bread. Yours looks to be less trouble.
EdF ... By setting up my BGE for maximum airflow, trying to replicate a brick oven, any steam that would be generated in the pan would escape through the top vent immediately, I leave the top vent completely off. Trapping the steam under the SS bowl works great.
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