Sourdough Bread - the Perfect Loaf technique

[hoovarmin]

Looks like you got it nailed!

[58limited]

Just checked, King Arthur's is temporarily unavailable.

[58limited]

Yeah, I know they are a geographically diverse group of people. Fairly strict membership guidelines but no real way to do quality control. My culture recently got contaminated with mold so I replaced it. The one I received seems pretty good. I've had to replace it before (hurricanes), each time it seems to be nearly the same. Hopefully that trend will continue (and hopefully I won't have to replace it again). You might want to try King Arthur's culture. It has been maintained since the 1700s.

[MBMorgan]

Nice job, Richard !!!

[lonnie mac]

Yep! That's where I had originally purchased my starter from many years ago. It was the best. It is important to note that these starters do not all come from the same place or person. It's like a chain, or a group list. When you send in your envelope and some cash, (which I always do as well) that your dried starter will come from someone, who ever has some, from wherever... The last several batches I got just were not the same as the first. I'm gonna try again though!

[58limited]

Here is a good one, and it is free (well, you have to pay for the envelopes and postage) http://carlsfriends.net/source.html I always include a $5 or $10 bill to help them out with flour and supplies. Or I can send you some of mine - I have 7 different ones now.

[rickgregory]

Man this makes me wanna get back into sourdough! Years ago I lost my starter I had had forever. I have tried many times since to start a new starter but it has never been the same.

I found starters (yes, I have two, what?) being sold from bakeries here. You might check around your area - even places that didnt used to sell them are now to bring in cash (along with other stuff).

The Perfect Loaf is great. Lots of sourdough recipes on the site, not just bread.

[lonnie mac]

Man this makes me wanna get back into sourdough! Years ago I lost my starter I had had forever. I have tried many times since to start a new starter but it has never been the same.

[RonB]

That's a great lookin' boule.

[rickgregory]

Hahah... I just baked the same loaf. My crust was much darker (I need to check oven temp) but yeah, that's a winner.

[Skip]

That is a great looking loaf!

[RichardCullip]

I've been baking sourdough bread each week since the pandemic lock down. So-so results until today. Yesterday I revisited the Perfect Loaf blog and followed the recipe/technique for the Beginner's Sourdough bread. I was surprised at how wet the dough was at 78% hydration and I wasn't expecting it to turn out since my previous bread/pizza dough recipes called for 65-70% hydration. After the over night proof in the frig it went into the oven this morning, Turn out to be better than my expectations. Was yummy dipped into homemade clam chowder. A great lunch for the three of us.