Hi all,
I'm pretty new here, been baking with my sourdough starter (created via tutorials on this site) for about four weeks now. I'm really impressed with the great information here, not just the amount but in the way it's presented, especially SourDom's tutorials. The detailed loaf-shaping instructions are awesome.
Here are some pictures of my first-ever sourdough loaf:
So far I've made:
- Pane Francese (from the last tutorial, pictured above). Not perfect, but still good.
- Tried to convert my old staple oatmeal-flax recipe (also contains brown sugar and some whole wheat) to sourdough instead of commercial yeast. Turned out mediocre -- too dense -- though still better than store bought. However, I've learned a lot since and may try again (I might even use 1/8 tsp of yeast to help it along).
- Norwich Sourdough Rye (from wildyeastblog.com but heard about it here). Turned out superb! In fact a couple more loaves are proofing in the fridge right now!
- Sourdough pizza, from the recipe on rossnroller's blog site. This was nice, though I think because of personal preference I still like my regular pizza over this New York style crust.
- Sourdough pancakes, recipe again from wildyeastblog.com. HUGE hit! These are an unbridled success with the family, especially my wife. Though my 3yo misses the purple color in my old pancakes that came from the juice I used to use, and makes me add some to hers.
Anyway, I'm really excited about my new hobby. It seems funny that it was only January that I baked my first loaves of bread. It was a test to see how much my family liked homemade bread and whether it was worth buying a bread machine. Turned out we loved the bread so much that we could NOT go back to supermarket bread aka cardboard. Besides the taste, we knew it was healthier too.
And I also realised I did not want a bread machine after all, because I truly enjoyed the labour of love that making and shaping dough by hand, and then watching it bake in the oven, entailed. It's nice to have a hobby that involves creating something for your family to enjoy.
Then I found out about wild yeast / sourdough and there was no looking back!
- Mike
P.S. Thanks for the advice about getting a kitchen scale, it really helped! (plus it's so handy not to have to dirty measuring cups)
Replies
Welcome to the site. Glad you are having a good time making bread. It is fun isn't it?
I'm with you Mike.
I LOVE making sourdough bread as well and haven't bought a loaf of bread since I started making my own about a year and a half ago. I find it so relaxing and rewarding ............ yet frustrating when things don't go as you planned, but I'm always back for more :o)
Sure, you end up with flour all over the kitchen floor every weekend! But what the heck!
K.
I'm with you on the bread machine, many have reported that their machines made them stop baking bread! And many more people have said that switching to sourdough was the key to returning to making real bread!
When I first started making sourdough I used my mixer for a lot of doughs, but now it's just my trusty bread bowl a bread wisk, and my own two hands. It just seems like too much trouble to use a mixer! My life is way too busy right now but I can't just eat any stupid commercial bread anymore... So I always find the time to bake our Bread, it may be the only thing keeping me going!
Keep baking - sourdough of course!
Terri
I'm with Karnie...I can't even stand most commercial bread since getting hooked on sourdough. There is a bakery using trad methods up the road a ways, but the price will choke a horse. Not that it's not worth it but why pay for what I can do fairly easily myself? Sure, there are good days and bad ones, spoiled starters and those that are (teeheehee) wildly successful. It's so relaxing to work with the hands and so gratifying when you eat something delicious you've made from the simplest of things.