I have a question......
Does it really matter how and with what you assemble your sourdough loaf as long as you are using a sourdough starter, ( ? natural leaven) is that the right name.
I ask this because I like the bread I make and so does all my friends, whether I make it with commercial yeast or starter.
I don't really follow any hard and fast recipe, and I don't understand any thing about bakers percentages, or hydration.
my latest bake was the Australian sourdough loaf posted as loaf a little over baked also a picture of the crumb. I think it looks good and for sure tastes good. but I expect some of you will find some thing not quite so with it.....
Don't ask me for the formula as I sort of make it as I go along,
So again does it really matter how I do it as long as I don't want exact results every time......
Am now going to hide under the bed in case you want to hit me, :-)))
qahtan
Replies
Qahtan, one of the advantage of traditional methods is that the system is simpler; in fact if you know what you are doing measurements become less important.
Hi Chembake,
Meaning if it turns out well, and not a brick etc then it's OK :-)))
qahtan
[quote="qahtan"]
Hi Chembake,
Meaning if it turns out well, and not a brick etc then it's OK ))
qahtan
[/quote]
Yep, if it works for you then do it.
Qahtan,
of course if your bread looks great (as it does), and tastes great (as I am sure that it does), then nobody minds how you do it!!
I have had a quick look for an old post by Dan Lepard, but I can't find it this morning.
Essentially he wrote about the myth that measuring ingredients destroyed the romance of baking, that our mothers and grandmothers never weighed ingredients, and that it would be more natural to just be dictated more by 'feel'.
The advantages of weighing ingredients are that you can compare the bread that you make this week, with the bread that you make next week, with the bread that your neighbour (or online friend) has made. Our mothers and grandmothers were probably very good at measuring precisely and reproducibly even if they didn't use scales. If you are able to do the same, there is no reason why you need to weigh ingredients, but many home bakers find that once they start weighing ingredients they can more easily understand the difference between loaves that they bake, and reproduce their successes!
hope this helps
Dom