First loaf of sourdough bread.

[BBQ Bacon]

Made my starter last week and last night put it all together to works its magic over night. About three hours later just before hitting the sack I took a look. Sadly, it had not risen at all. So I added about a 1/2 tsp of yeast and gave it a good stir.

This morning I took it out and added more flour to make it workable and set it to proof.

I covered with plastic wrap and a cloth and let it sit. That's where things went horribly wrong. The plastic wrap stuck to the dough and the dough stuck to the parchment. It was a disaster.

So I scraped as much off as I could and added more flour and worked it into a usable dough ball and set it again to proof. Only this time I spray the top of the dough with cooking spray. This seemed to work as the plastic wrap did not stick.

The second problem came dropping it into the dutch oven. It had spread out fairly wide, so it kind of folded into itself. Oh well, no turning back now. Put on the lid and competed the cook.

Not pretty, but how would it taste?

Surprisingly well. There was that distinct sourdough flavour, so over all not a bad first attempt at sourdough from scratch.

 

[halfcocked]

Improvise, improvise. Bread looks good to me even if not "pretty".

 

[fwdiii]

I don't make bread...but your looks pretty good to me!!!

 

[BooRay]

How did you bake this? Cast iron dutch oven? One thing in looking at the "crumb" of the cut section is I would say is it missed the initial spring from the bake.

I have alot of experience in baking sour doughs and peasant breads and dinking with starters, along with short ferments and long cold ferments. If you really get into it, you can start to learn about poolish and biga starters, leavins ect. Break baking is a science

 

[BBQ Bacon]

How did you bake this? Cast iron dutch oven? One thing in looking at the "crumb" of the cut section is I would say is it missed the initial spring from the bake.

I have alot of experience in baking sour doughs and peasant breads and dinking with starters, along with short ferments and long cold ferments. If you really get into it, you can start to learn about poolish and biga starters, leavins ect. Break baking is a science

It was in a clay dutch oven. I do have a porcelain cast iron dutch oven as well. I've moved my starter into the fridge to do a feed once a week. I may start a new one if this current one does not improve.

I may reach out for hints or tips if that's ok?

 

[NickTheGreat]

I've been baking a lot of bread over the last 6 weeks or so. Did it occasionally before, but have more time on my hands!

How old was your yeast? Old yeast really ain't worth it. I use a recipe that uses the starter and new yeast, kinda like you did.

I tried a no-knead in a dutch oven and it kinda went like yours. Both times!

 

[ferdelious]

I never had luck trying to make my own starter and then using it to make bread. I think the Florida climate doesn't help either, the flavor was always off and never got a good rise like yours.


Now I just stick to regular yeast breads.

 

[ferdelious]

This was my olive loaf from last Sunday using regular yeast. 12 hour bulk fermentation at room temp then 3 days in the fridge. I think this method works best for me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[scp]

Sour dough is a tricky bread to make. Here is the easiest/best recipe and method I have found. Watch the video and he shows how to deal with the sticky dough and how to pull the top of the loaf smooth...a very important step.

https://foodgeek.dk/en/worlds-easiest-sourdough-bread/

 

[BBQ Bacon]

I've been baking a lot of bread over the last 6 weeks or so. Did it occasionally before, but have more time on my hands!

How old was your yeast? Old yeast really ain't worth it. I use a recipe that uses the starter and new yeast, kinda like you did.

I tried a no-knead in a dutch oven and it kinda went like yours. Both times!

Yest was kept in the fridge and about 6 months old so not bad. I did manage to get 2 bricks of yeast last week, so the sourdough starter will be a once a week feeding and kept in the fridge.

 

[jread23]

Yest was kept in the fridge and about 6 months old so not bad. I did manage to get 2 bricks of yeast last week, so the sourdough starter will be a once a week feeding and kept in the fridge.

What kind of flour are you using to feed the starter? Unbleached is best, whole wheat or rye even better. That's just for the starter, use whatever for the bread.



I had a starter going for 5 days using unbleached the whole time and had some moderate activity but not much rise. I then found a small bag of whole wheat flour in the pantry and after two days of using 70g starter, 50g whole wheat, 50 g unbleached and 100g 85 degree water the starter was right where I wanted it to be without needing any yeast.

 

[lunchman]

As long as it tasted fine, doesn't matter how rustic it looks. It looks just fine to me, but I'm just a rookie as well with this sourdough thing. My first loaf looked terrible, tasted fine. My second, looked a lot better and had a great crumb.

One tip I picked up from my free year's subscription to Food Network Kitchen on Amazon prime is to use a peel to slide the loaf into the Dutch oven. It looked simpler, but I've yet to try it. Dumping the dough ball into a hot cast iron pot is hit or miss for me, sometimes it lands nicely but usually I'm trying to get it centered with wooden utensils.

Keep at it, which is what I intend to do. I refuse to let the dough win.

 

[BBQ Bacon]

My starter was 100% whole wheat but switched to white flour for the feeding. Will go back to a mix of the 2.

 

[Hoss]

Butchers,bakers,candlestick makers.I can butcher pretty good,light a fire and make light,but baking has always been a challenge for me.I can cook cakes,pies,etc. but bread,that is another level,except biscuits and cornbread,I can make those pretty well.Just saying,I feel your pain.I tried starting the sourdough and all that crap during our last Great Recession.I never figured it out.Good Luck.

 

[scp]

As long as it tasted fine, doesn't matter how rustic it looks. It looks just fine to me, but I'm just a rookie as well with this sourdough thing. My first loaf looked terrible, tasted fine. My second, looked a lot better and had a great crumb.

One tip I picked up from my free year's subscription to Food Network Kitchen on Amazon prime is to use a peel to slide the loaf into the Dutch oven. It looked simpler, but I've yet to try it. Dumping the dough ball into a hot cast iron pot is hit or miss for me, sometimes it lands nicely but usually I'm trying to get it centered with wooden utensils.

Keep at it, which is what I intend to do. I refuse to let the dough win.

Using a peel does work... that is what I have been doing lately. Also I started inverting the Dutch oven...with the top on the bottom(had to take the knob off the top). Makes it simpler....less likely toget burned. It also gets a better seal...with all the weight pushing down.

 

[BBQ Bacon]

So I took my sourdough and made grilled cheese at the fire pit. Tasted great.

 

[BBQ Bacon]

Second loaf of sourdough turned out slightly better looking but not a huge rise. Will continue to try and perfect this process. Right now I'm doing the once a week feeding in the fridge.

 

[lunchman]

That loaf looks pretty darn good.

I think the one thing I've been missing on is catching the starter at the opportune time, which is when it's about doubled in volume. I wasn't understanding that aspect at first. When I made my 2nd starter batch feeding it with wheat flour it took off. It would have been the perfect time to make bread, except I was experimenting with pizza dough last weekend.

Which reminds me I need to feed my starter this evening.

Someday we might all get the hang of this.