dinnerstick

Recipes 

check out Tartine Bread by chad robertson, he discusses what factors promote sourness by both the overall amount of acid produced, and the acetic / lactic ratio. cooler temps, longer fermentation of the starter, higher percentage of starter to fresh dough favor a more sour dough, according to the book

passedpawn

Recipes 

I've made sour dough with yeast cake from a berliner weisse. That cake had lacto bacteria and standard sacc yeast. I made a big sourdough starter that I fed for a week, then made a bunch of bread with it. Bread was good, but not great. I didn't get enough sour in it. Will try again.

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Now there's some take delight in the carriages a rolling
and others take delight in the hurling and the bowling
but I take delight in the juice of the barley
and courting pretty fair maids in the morning bright and early

gratus fermentatio

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Thanks for the info, I'll definately check it out.
Regards, GF.

dinnerstick

Recipes 

for all interested,,,, MAKE THIS BREAD!! it came out amazing. i have to say that following a recipe from a really good baker helped quite a bit. i tried to follow the recipe mentioned above to a tee. ballsed it up in a few places but more or less got there in the end. i had a problem transferring the risen dough to the pot so it didn't quite rise up to its full potential, but it's still soft and airy in the middle and not at all dense. the taste is fantastic, a bit of sour and funk but not at all overwhelming, hints of that gueuze-y weirdness but with the strong crunchy malliard crust the flavor balance is very nice. two major points, you need to train up the starter for a week or so, don't skip this step! second, for the crisp hard crust you need either a real bread oven or a thick dutch oven style pot like the le creuset one in the pictures. this makes a super humid microenvironment needed for crust development.
get your starter going with bottle dregs, smack pack leftovers, natural bugs, what have you. persevere through the stink for a few days. after a few days, once it is foamy and smelly, throw away 3/4 or it and replenish with a handful of 50/50 white/whole wheat flour and enough water to make a thick batter. do this every day for a week or so, then make a big starter to rise overnight. the dough is 450g white 50g whole wheat flour 350ml water. mix and let rest. add 10g salt 25ml water, mix well and knead until smooth. let it rise 4 hours at room temp, turning and gently kneading every now and then. fold into a round; the author has a method for building up tension using the natural elasticity of the dough by stretching and folding under. final rise 4 hours or 12+ hours in the fridge, upside down in a basket lined with a towel dusted with flour. the dough shouldn't stick to the towel but mine did and deflated a bit when i tried to peel it away. pre-heat the pot in 250C oven, flip the risen loaf into the pot and cover, reduce heat to 225C. after 20 minutes remove the lid, cook another 25-35 minutes until it's golden brown. boom. pics are: 1. the overnight starter (called a leaven)
2. the float test to see if it's airy enough 3. dough before kneading 4. final rise 5. in the pot, scored with a razor

dinnerstick

Recipes 

6. about to go in the oven, you can see where it stuck to the towel and deformed
7. just out of oven
8. i think it's pretty obvious from here on
9. see 8

next one is going to be perfect now that i've got the hang of it

dinnerstick

Recipes 

made one mistake in the above post: the final dough is 450g white 50g whole wheat 350ml water and 100g of the overnight starter/leaven. mix this quickly and let it rest 30 minutes. the author says do not skip this rest. then add the salt and the rest of the water.
keep the rest of the leaven to start the next loaf. for more acetic sourness use a higher ratio of the leaven and/or let it get funky for a few days rather than overnight.

passedpawn

Recipes 

That looks great!

__________________
Now there's some take delight in the carriages a rolling
and others take delight in the hurling and the bowling
but I take delight in the juice of the barley
and courting pretty fair maids in the morning bright and early

Quaker

Recipes 

Back from Oz and finally revisited this. Just started my starter with a cup each of white/wheat flour, about 2 cups of old leftover beer and yeast cake, plus some water to thin it up a bit. When ladling out of my fermenter, I tried to be sure to get some of the floating colonies of bugs on the surface.

I'm prepared for the funk. The family leaves me tomorrow for 3+ weeks stateside, so there will be no one around to complain or be disgusted by it. I hope to bake next weekend.

__________________
My father says, "hobbies are supposed to cost money".

Quaker

Recipes 

I just did my first dump and replenishment, and mine smells quite pleasant actually. Primarily it smells like a Belgian with noticeable alcohol. I guess I'll prepare for the funk to come on in days to come.

__________________
My father says, "hobbies are supposed to cost money".

Quaker

Recipes 

Impatience and laziness caused me to go for an overnight loaf in the bread maker. It only had the normal rise times, so is mildly sour. However it was worth it, since I used my usual dumping of the starter when feeding it and it took no effort. No perceptible funkiness in my starter; it's pleasantly tangy. I'll definitely try to keep it alive and do a proper loaf later.

__________________
My father says, "hobbies are supposed to cost money".