fresh baked sourdough bread!!!
 

This is some fresh baked sourdough bread made with my own starter and some just churned butter!! Simple but so awesome. The bread had an incredible crusty chewy crust with a soft airy interior crumb.


Rick

That is a beautiful loaf.....it's been a long time since I had homemade sourdough bread. It just doesn't get much better than that!

I'm powerless around bread and cakes and could make the whole loaf disappear. Very nice work, it's beautiful.

The bread look spot on and just as good as any professional.
Too bad I dont care for sourdough bread.
To me it tastes and smells like a soured dish rag and I have tried it many many times and even been force fed it.:lol:
I wish I could like it but I cant.:(

Worth

Worth you most likely would have enjoyed this bread. My starter is only a week old so not sour or tangy at all, with no smell other than that of fresh baked bread . To me natural sourdough bread means its naturally leavened without commercial yeast and doesn't necessarily have to have that sour or tangy taste. If my starter is really strong tasting I will sometimes add honey to reduce the tang.

Rick

Rick

[QUOTE=ricman;651402]Worth you most likely would have enjoyed this bread. My starter is only a week old so not sour or tangy at all, with no smell other than that of fresh baked bread . To me natural sourdough bread means its naturally leavened without commercial yeast and doesn't necessarily have to have that sour or tangy taste. If my starter is really strong tasting I will sometimes add honey to reduce the tang.

Rick

Rick[/QUOTE]

I might I would hope so.
I was offered a starter from Alaska that supposedly dates back to the Alaska gold rush and turned it down.
I had one here that went back close to 30 years my wife started and tossed it after she died.
I couldn't bare the memory of it being in the house.
Now I wish I hadn't.:cry:

Worth

That's a great looking loaf!

I've been experimenting for the last year or so with trying to make my own starter. I like the tangy taste and finally got one going that I liked by feeding it spelt flour. The taste was as I like it, but the crumb was not. :( Time and again I ended up with cakey crumb bread, just annoyingly crumbly although really tasty. :bummer: I just recently gave it up and made ordinary bread last time, did not save any "mother dough" to culture.

Looks great! And thanks for the reminder to get my starter out of the fridge and revive it. It's been almost a year since I did anything with it and with summer here and my work hours down, I'll now have the time to bake again.

I know everyone says it must be fed on a regular basis to keep it alive, but once mine hit about the two year mark, I found I could feed it and stash it in the fridge for at least a year and it would wake right up with another other a feeding. It's now about six years old. I just poured off the "liquor," scraped off the greenish top to reveal the nice cream colored starter below, and mixed in 1/2 cup water and 1 cup of flour. I'll know by tomorrow if sleeping beauty will wake from her slumber.

I'm already craving sourdough pancakes.

[QUOTE=bower;651442]That's a great looking loaf!

I've been experimenting for the last year or so with trying to make my own starter. I like the tangy taste and finally got one going that I liked by feeding it spelt flour. The taste was as I like it, but the crumb was not. :( Time and again I ended up with cakey crumb bread, just annoyingly crumbly although really tasty. :bummer: I just recently gave it up and made ordinary bread last time, did not save any "mother dough" to culture.[/QUOTE]

spelt flour is lacking the gluten it takes to form "chains" in the dough. no gluten = no chains= no texture like wheat flour with gluten gives.

[QUOTE=clkeiper;651512]spelt flour is lacking the gluten it takes to form "chains" in the dough. no gluten = no chains= no texture like wheat flour with gluten gives.[/QUOTE]

Thus the reason many recipes call for flour in cornbread.
You want a good bread use 50% semolina in it and the other half ((Bread)) flour NOT all purpose flour.

Worth

Thanks Clk! I googled and you're right, although spelt does contain some gluten :" . the [B]gluten[/B] in [B]spelt[/B] has a different molecular make-up than the [B]gluten[/B] in modern wheat. It is more fragile and more water soluble, which makes it easier to digest." Apparently well digested by the sourdough culture. :( I thought since the bread was mostly wheat flour there should be gluten enough. I heard that spelt was a good feed to get a sourdough culture going and it seemed to be... but maybe rye would be a better choice. Or use the spelt in tinier amounts, just to make a small culture. :?!?:
I don't know when I've seen rye flour anywhere, for maybe years... :surprised: Back in the day it was easy to make interesting breads with all the grains that were available. But the 'natural foods' market has now moved to the supermarkets. :evil: This means they have a small section - and a limited selection. The specialty stores are hard to find, or just gone out of business.

You can buy rye flour till the cows come home here.
Worth

Mail ordering from King Arthur used to be the only way you could get flours other than wheat around here. Now the flour sections in the grocery stores have just about anything you want, including a whole array of gluten free options.

And my starter is starting to wake up! It survived another year of total neglect.

I find that odd, we could buy rye flour here in the stores over thirty years ago even in small towns it is nothing new.
I wonder why that is?
Worth

I try to bake a lot of bread. More in winter than summer. I am going to try sourdough just for the heck of it. When I bake my own I actually add gluten because it tastes better and the texture is much better. I really don't understand the rise of the gluten free fad. From what I have been able to read, testing for gluten intolerance is fairly difficult and can be expensive.

The number of gluten free products have exploded to take advantage of those who equate gluten free with healthy. Just a decade ago, gluten-intolerance levels were at 1 in 2500 worldwide. Today, it’s at 1 in 133. Is our food system and all the preservatives causing a problem we didn't use to have? Or are too many folks just jumping on a bandwagon.

A few years back there were no peanut allergies to speak of, no milk allergies and not many wheat allergies. Now its seems like everyone either has or wants to have an allergy. Still less than 1% are gluten intolerant. Hopefully I will be able to continue to eat the bread I bake and not become one of the 1%.

I guess the stores are selling what people are buying. I bake all the bread for my household and have done so for many years. I usually had a variety of flours and grains on hand including rye, whole wheat, cracked wheat, etc to change it up a bit. I used to get unbleached flour in the big sack but now all they carry is all purpose ie bleached in the large size. Can't stand the taste of it. At least I can still buy unbleached in 2 kilo bags. There is some whole wheat in the general baking aisle, but it's not worth buying - it's actually just the bleached white flour with bran added back in.
The natural foods section will have stone ground whole wheat for a crazy high price, and small bags of a few offbeat flours - spelt they seem to be carrying now, and they still have buckwheat which I always buy because so tasty in muffins. I put a little in bread too sometimes but the buckwheat really has no gluten at all so a very little for flavor is all it will take.

[QUOTE=bower;651618]I guess the stores are selling what people are buying. I bake all the bread for my household and have done so for many years. I usually had a variety of flours and grains on hand including rye, whole wheat, cracked wheat, etc to change it up a bit. I used to get unbleached flour in the big sack but now all they carry is all purpose ie bleached in the large size. Can't stand the taste of it. At least I can still buy unbleached in 2 kilo bags. There is some whole wheat in the general baking aisle, but it's not worth buying - it's actually just the bleached white flour with bran added back in.
The natural foods section will have stone ground whole wheat for a crazy high price, and small bags of a few offbeat flours - spelt they seem to be carrying now, and they still have buckwheat which I always buy because so tasty in muffins. I put a little in bread too sometimes but the buckwheat really has no gluten at all so a very little for flavor is all it will take.[/QUOTE]

Soon you will be able to get what you want.
Here is the new proposed US expansion of the north east adding more states.

[ATTACH]74823[/ATTACH]

:)):)):)):P

[QUOTE=Worth1;651563]I find that odd, we could buy rye flour here in the stores over thirty years ago even in small towns it is nothing new.
I wonder why that is?
Worth[/QUOTE]



I'm sure you could find it in the health food stores around here back then, but you had to be able to afford to shop there.

[QUOTE=PaulF;651608]I try to bake a lot of bread. More in winter than summer. I am going to try sourdough just for the heck of it. When I bake my own I actually add gluten because it tastes better and the texture is much better. I really don't understand the rise of the gluten free fad. From what I have been able to read, testing for gluten intolerance is fairly difficult and can be expensive.

The number of gluten free products have exploded to take advantage of those who equate gluten free with healthy. Just a decade ago, gluten-intolerance levels were at 1 in 2500 worldwide. Today, it’s at 1 in 133. Is our food system and all the preservatives causing a problem we didn't use to have? Or are too many folks just jumping on a bandwagon.

A few years back there were no peanut allergies to speak of, no milk allergies and not many wheat allergies. Now its seems like everyone either has or wants to have an allergy. Still less than 1% are gluten intolerant. Hopefully I will be able to continue to eat the bread I bake and not become one of the 1%.[/QUOTE]

Sometimes I feel left out, I dont have anything.:(

Worth.

I recently read some medical advisory, the officials are cautioning the public that "gluten free" diet is not a health benefit to anyone who is not gluten intolerant. I don't know if you've tried any gluten free baked goods, I have tasted them and /puke no way I would choose this in place of regular wheat baking. Worst kind of fad (ie not even tasty, nor good for you either!!).:dizzy:

[QUOTE=Worth1;651627]Sometimes I feel left out, I dont have anything.:(

Worth.[/QUOTE]

poor baby.

I really do fret a bit when making food for a dinner for anyone. there are so many allergies anymore... I have a friends who is allergic to pepper plants and blue...only blue petunias(so far) all fruits except apples and pears maybe a few others but she isn't willing to try them as they are anaphylactic allergies... sunflowers and sunflower oil... look at any label on a bag... "sunflower and or canola" is a normal label.

[QUOTE=bower;651640]I recently read some medical advisory, the officials are cautioning the public that "gluten free" diet is not a health benefit to anyone who is not gluten intolerant. I don't know if you've tried any gluten free baked goods, I have tasted them and /puke no way I would choose this in place of regular wheat baking. Worst kind of fad (ie not even tasty, nor good for you either!!).:dizzy:[/QUOTE]



I have a friend who is severely gluten intolerant and even after many years still struggles with the restrictions to her diet. She says it's something she wouldn't wish upon anyone.

Then I know others who voluntarily went gluten free for the "health benefits."

My husband and I tried the Virgin diet once. It's the one where you eliminate all "common" allergens for two weeks (soy, dairy, gluten, lactose, peanuts), as well as sugar and corn (because of GMOs) for good. After two weeks you start swapping in the allergens one at a time to try and pin down which is causing you health issues. I didn't feel anything except deprived for the entire time.

This is one of my favorite kitchen tools a flour mill. I use it to produce almost all of the flour in my bread recipes. Cinnamon raisin pecan sourdogh:D


Rick

I know people that have everything or at least say they do.
One guy we had at work I would tell him in the morning he looked sick and it wouldn't be 2 hours he would take off from work sick.:))
I know good and well he had Munchausen syndrome.
The quagmire of illnesses and allergies he could come up with was astounding.
Let me see if I can remember all of them.
Carpal tunnel syndrome.
Bad back.
Allergies of all kinds.
Tennis elbow.
Scared of heights.
Sunlight.
Bread.
Spastic colon.
OCD and what ever other condition on the news.
Constant fever and colds.
The list could go on for ever.
The guy was in his twenties and the perfect weight for his size.
Always had an appointment with a doctor.
If someone had it he got it.
If it was on the news he had it or was going to get it soon.
There wasn't one thing wrong with him but he had a desk full of pills.
He had a little girl and I asked him if he thought it was right he pass on his genes.
Cruel yes.
He was the most sickly non sick person I have ever met in my life.
Every time he would come up with something his wife would just roll her eyes.
One time they pulled him out of the office to help me and I found him shivering in the middle of a flat roof, I had to talk him off of it.
But yet I still considered him and his wife friends.:lol:
Worth

[QUOTE=ricman;651654]This is one of my favorite kitchen tools a flour mill. I use it to produce almost all of the flour in my bread recipes. Cinnamon raisin pecan sourdogh:D


Rick[/QUOTE]

I have a friend up north that got into bread making and got all of the fixings including the mill.
He could never get past heavy bread bricks.:(
Worth

[QUOTE=ricman;651654]This is one of my favorite kitchen tools a flour mill. I use it to produce almost all of the flour in my bread recipes. Cinnamon raisin pecan sourdogh:D


Rick[/QUOTE]



Very nice--both the mill and the bread!

Worth....I know that feeling. I made many a door stops when I first started using freshly milled flour. There is certainly a learning curve and bread making is as much art as it is science IMO.

[QUOTE=ricman;651663]Worth....I know that feeling. I made many a door stops when I first started using freshly milled flour. There is certainly a learning curve and bread making is as much art as it is science IMO.[/QUOTE]

I love baking bread and in my opinion and others I make good bread.
I dont nor have I ever used a recipe to the exact amounts.
To many peoples dismay I dont use scales.
I cant stand any kind of bread unless it is fresh out of the oven.
Your bread looks great.
I have a question.
Have you braided bread, that is what I like to do?:yes:
Worth

[QUOTE=Father'sDaughter;651661]Very nice--both the mill and the bread![/QUOTE]


I second that. :yes: