I've been "playing" with sourdough!

[Suncat]

I've been wanting to try some sourdough again. I tried it once here and didn't have a lot of luck. But I did some more research since I didn't really want to use a commercial yeast and found these directions Wild Yeast Sourdough Starter It was different from what I'd tried before so we started it and have a good starter going.

 

My daughter made the first loaves and those were kinda heavy and blah.. not bad but not great. We tried some pancakes,

 

So I looked for another bread recipe and found This Bread Recipe I'd also been doing a bit of reading elsewhere I combined with things I knew and just needed jarred loose I determined that I wanted to work the bread with all ingredients but less flour creating a sponge to proof, then mixing in the flour and letting that rise in a greased bowl and then punching it down and letting it rise the second time as loaves. I also rolled this one out and did a cinnamon sugar mix for a cinnamon swirl loaf. But I forgot I'd doubled it and should have been making 4 loaves so I ended up having to let them be free form on a cookie sheet.. kinda spread out but really nice and soft yummy bread. I've got 4 plain loaves in loaf pans this time, that I'll be baking up later today.

 

And then I've tried some real honest to goodness sourdough biscuits (no other leavening) with This biscuit recipe. These came out great. The only thing I changed was that I mixed up the dough and left it in a bowl to rise over night.. then with only a couple of kneading strokes spread it out with my hands to cut out the biscuits. A definite hit.

[Andrea]

Thanks for the info and recipes! Sourdough is something I've wanted to try and just haven't gotten around to. I'm not sure I'm organized enough to keep my starter happy and fed in the fridge! I make a "cheater" sourdough, which means it tastes like sourdough but really isn't! I use this recipe: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html?_r=0

 

But, instead of using water, I use warm beer. I also never let it sit overnight. I've found that it rises better for me if I mix it in the morning and then bake it in the evening.

 

Keep us posted with your future experiments! WE LOVE BREAD at our house!

[Suncat]

Well we heat with wood so overnight is definitely cooler so slows the rise. Also, once I get the hang of working with it we may use it up and take a break now that we know how to get a good starter going. I have a folder that's disappeared with some recipes I want to try though,including a sourdough chocolate cake I need to figure out where that is.

[Andrea]

Okay, I must request that you find your folder - sourdough chocolate cake sounds YUMMY!

[Twilight]

Don't forget sourdough pancakes.

 

If your sourdough tastes bland you may not have left it make long enough.