Our Daring Bakers Host for December 2011 was Jessica of My Recipe Project and she showed us how fun it is to create Sour Dough bread in our own kitchens! She provided us with Sour Dough recipes from Bread Matters by AndrewWhitley .
This challenge was like a science experiment. I never quite felt in control of the situation and that was a bit unnerving. It is cold here now and that did not help my sourdough starter in the least. I made a rye starter and a wheat starter...twice. The wheat starter showed signs of life the second time around so I tried making some bread with it. My son came home from school that day and asked what the smell was in the house. It was my baking loaf of sourdough and I had to laugh. I had envisioned an aroma much like that of Merita Bread Company that baked bread in my hometown and made me hungry even if I had just eaten.
My bread made me open a window and light a scented candle.
The bread tasted flat and very sour. It was very heavy and I am sure I should have proofed it longer and baked it longer. I did not have the time or enough starter for a second batch. I will not give up though. I think I will wait until the weather gets warmer here and then give it another try. I love the thought of having a sourdough starter in the fridge, making cakes, pancakes and especially pleasantly fragrant bread.
Until then, I am relying on Iggy's Bread,my local favorite, to see keep the sourdough love alive.
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| It's ALIVE! |
Oh no! It made you open a window and light a candle? Mine wasn't that foul smelling, but it wasn't really edible. Better luck next time!
ReplyDeleteOh hopefully as the weather warms up you'll have another go! Great effort! xx.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely pull it out and try again. I "refreshed the leaven" the night before and left it overnight rather than just giving it four hours. I think this helped too to get the yeast active and bubbly. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to me that your "young" starter had such a sour taste... I thought that was a mark of a more mature starter. either way, I am sorry that your bread didn't turn out as well as you hoped, and I hope youhave better luck next time!
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