Sourdough (Wild Yeast) Baking

[racrgal]

THANKS! You rock GW. I fed early this morning. Things are a little nuts right now so I don't know when I'm going to be able to make sourdough bread. I am going to make more English muffins tomorrow. Sweetie is DEVOURING those things. I might make them a little larger this time. He loves to make sammies with the muffins. Darned man is spoiled, I tell ya.

Today is finish up day for all the goodie bags. I'm sure I'll calm down a focus a bit better when that task is finished.

Baking in the cast iron dutch oven has me intrigued. I have one and it gets very little use. I'm anxious to try baking bread with it.

Thanks for all of your time and info!

[Galley_Wench]

No problem, best to do when you can give it your full attention! The english muffins (split in half) make great little last minute pizzas too!

[racrgal]

Sweetie has put anything you can imagine on those darling little muffins. Taco meat, ham n cheese, peanut butter, you name it!

I AM going to ask for a book for Christmas. Is there a different bread book you would recommend or is the one you mentioned the best? I'm also making flakes today. I had WAY too much starter to feed the entire batch. I would have been able to make bread for the entire town. I am also looking for the best way to store in the fridge. Since the lid isn't supposed to be tight, I'm wondering about using a sugar bowl. What do you think?

[Galley_Wench]

As far as the books go . . . I'm a Peter Reinhart fan. Yes, he makes up his own terms in a few places, but he definitely knows what he's doing.

As far storage, I use a small jar (I'm notorious for saving all types of jars) with a screw on lid, punch a small hole in the lid. To insure that the starter doesn't come in contact with the metal lid, I cover the jar with plastic wrap, then screw on the lid. You want it to be spill proof.

Great use of the extra starter, plus you have a fall-back incase something happens!

[racrgal]

GW, I am not sure who is going to win, the sourdough starter, the mother starter, the starter flakes or ME. I "fed" this morning. Made the first step of the English Muffin's this evening. Rather than throw out the leftover starter, I did make flakes. I also made the Mother Starter for the bread. My problem comes in with the fact that the Mother Starter will be in the fridge longer than 8 hours. I should have read the directions closer.) Am I correct in reading that Mother Starter can be used right from the fridge? It will probably be in the fridge closer to 10 hours than 8. Will I still be able to use it right from the fridge or is there something I should do first? You are a doll for putting up with these endless questions.

Sheesh! I know why sourdough bread is expensive!!!!

[Galley_Wench]

Don't worry . . . you're Mother Starter is ok, as long as you use it within 5 days! No problemo! Even if you go beyond that time line you can take out a small amount and refresh it! The rest can just wait until you're ready to use it . . . just fed it again! As it gets older it starts to look like potato soup, but is not dead!!!!!

[racrgal]

That is awesome news. I saved much less starter this time. There was a lot left from the first flakes. I think I could have opened a bakery. LOL

[Galley_Wench]

I know what you mean . . . Peter Reinhart must think we all run a bakery, in his book he has you making about 6 cups of the mother starter the first time . . . that will last you along time. I've cut it down big time.

Not to confuse you, but bread baking with sourdough is really about percentages. Here's an article from King Arhtur that will help you get started. Once you catch on to it it's very easy to scale a recipe back! Bread baking is very scientific. . . guess that's why I'm so intrigued by it (and Alton Brown's shows).

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/professi ... ntage.html

[racrgal]

The leftover mother starter appears to be very happy in my fridge. It's bubbling away. Can mother starter be "flaked" like the regular starter?

I made English Muffins again a couple of days ago. We had rain and snow so I thought baking would be a good thing to do. The starter and dough loved, loved, loved the extra humidity. My first batch of muffins was good but this batch is excellent. They puffed up TALL and had lovely nooks and crannies.

This afternoon I'm going to bake the first batch of sourdough bread. I used your recipe that takes three days. It's ready to go into the oven today. You would have laughed at me while I was putting it together. I'd read a step, then read it again, then make sure I read it right and finally proceed with the step. I thought I would bake it in the cast iron Dutch oven but that was your other sourdough bread. Is it OK to bake the three day sourdough in a Dutch oven? I don't have a stone so I thought the Dutch oven would be better than a regular baking sheet. What do you think? Again thanks for all of your help.

[Galley_Wench]

I've baked every kind of bread you can think of in a dutch oven. On the boat I couldn't get my oven hot enough, so I used the grill. Used a $5 aluminum dutch oven that I found at Big Lots. Put a pillow of aluminum foil on the bottom because it sat so close to the heat source . . . the bread turned out wonderful. Will have to see if I can find the photo.

Besure to preheat your dutch oven in the oven for about 20 minutes. Let the bread rise on parchment paper then you can easily drop into the pot. Replace the lid and close the door. Depending on the size of the loaf, I usually check it at 15 to 20 minutes and if it's gotten the oven spring and starting to brown, then leave the top off for 8 to 10 minutes more. Inside should read 200 (little less if you're at altitute) when it's done. I'll look to see if I have te directions on this site for dutch oven baking.