Making bread the old fashioned way

thegrindre's picture
thegrindre

Hi all,

Does anybody around here make their bread the old fashioned way? I mean, without store bought yeast?

I'm now retired, as of January, and on a real tight budget because of my meager income and had to start cutting back on a number of things, yeast being one of them.

I've experimented using my starter as the only raising agent and have succeeded in making some of the best sourdough french bread I have ever eaten. The raising times are a little longer but, now that I'm retired, I have plenty of time on my hands to make bread, the old fasioned way. LOL

I was just wondering if anybody else is doing it this way, too?

 

I can post my recipe if anyone is interested...

 

Rick

Replies

rossnroller 2010 April 13

We're all sourdough devotees here! And almost all the recipes you'll find on Sourdough Companion are sourdough based. Why not have a look through the many that people here have shared...and add yours to the collection!

Cheers
Ross

wforrest_s 2010 April 13

Most everyone here has a love for sourdough and the information from the many bakers is always helpful.  best of luck.

Frost 

thegrindre's picture
thegrindre 2010 April 14

I haven't been around here much but I do believe this is the 'real' sourdough web site I once visited a few years ago.

I'll poke my head in a bit more often now that I've realized how good this place was.

 

Thanks,

Rick

thegrindre's picture
thegrindre 2010 April 14

Maybe one of the dumbest questions I've ever asked but, how do you make a starter that isn't sourdough?

I have a wonderful 50/50 Honey Wheat bread recipe that I once made in a bread machine using commercial yeast and have adapted it to the hand making process. I've made it a couple of time this past month but I don't like the sourdough twang in this recipe using my sourdough.

So, how do you make a non-sourdough that will raise the dough without using commercial yeast?

Is this even possible?

Does all this make any sense?

 

Thanks,

Rick

thegrindre's picture
thegrindre 2010 May 18

No. I mean a starter that isn't sour. I very much enjoy making bread without commercial yeast and didn't know if a 'flat' or non sourdough starter was possible. 

 

thegrindre's picture
thegrindre 2010 July 12

I'm still asking if there is a non-sour sourdough. I haven't got a clue how to explain it but I don't want to buy commercial yeast to raise my bread but don't like the twang of sourdough in some of my old yeast bread recipes.

I'd like to convert a few of my bread machine recipes over to the natural rising process without the twang in the taste of the bread.

Does this make better sence?

 

Rick

Millciti's picture
Millciti 2010 July 12

There are a lot of factors that can make your bread more or less sour... Temperature, the hydration level of your starter, the amount of time, and the temperature you bulk ferment at and more ... 

I know that there was a noticable shift to sourness when the weather started to warm up around here.  I had to make some adustments to get back to normal.  Try adjusting one factor at a time till you get to the right mix.

Check out the following post...  http://sourdough.com/forum/about-sourness-dough 

Also when you add ingrediants to the bread can make a difference.  For example - honey has a mild antiseptic quality to it. How much you add, and when you add it, could affect the development of yeast or lactic acid bacteria in your dough. Which could lead to an increase of sourness.  Try adding it in when you add the salt after the soak of your whole grains in a hydration or soaker phase. 

Terri

 

 

 

 

 

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