Homemade Bread Thread

[ba-brewer]

Yesterday's bread

Maybe needed a little longer final proof and or deeper slashes

Got a decent rise and lift off

A little dense but nice and soft

 

[ba-brewer]

my mom's sourdough waffles
1/2cup/110gm sourdough starter discard (can use active/ready too)
1cup/236gm lukewarm water
1.25cup/150gm AP flour

1TBS sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 TBS dry milk
2 TBS oil
1 egg beaten

1/2 tsp baking soda


Mix flour, water and starter together and allow to set overnight, should be bubbly/foamy in the morning.

Add remaining ingredients except baking soda, stir until well mixed. Sprinkle baking soda over the batter and mix to just blend. Let rest for 5min while waffle iron heats.

makes 4 7in round waffles using just under 1 cup of batter each.

I use brown sugar instead of table sugar(my starter is not very sour), replace the dry milk, oil and salt with 2 TBS melted salted butter and add 1/2 tsp of vanilla.

They are very airy but get soft quick so I give them an extra min or so in the waffle maker to get good and crispy or toss in a 250F oven to keep them crispy. They freeze well and can be reheated at 250-300F for about 5min.

 

[Kent88]

Semolina with sesame seeds from the King Arthur bread book.

 

[Tony B]

My starter is 3 days old. I enjoy cooking but I have not done much baking. I watched a few YouTube tutorials and read some stuff online. There’s a ton of information out there and many different methods. Hopefully it works out.
Question for the more experienced… Let’s see how many different answers I get.
I started with 60g each water and whole wheat flour. I’ve halved it and fed it with the same ratio twice. I read that I should switch to unbleached AP or baking flour at some point for feeding. Some stuff I read says after the first few days, some says after it’s established. 7-10 days-ish. What say you?

 

[ba-brewer]

I don't recall what I did but I don't think it took very long until I started feeding AP. I would find a place you feel comfortable with and follow their direction. If that does not work try someplace else.

I dont think I used the method on this site for my starter but did get some information from there early on. I got the idea for stretch and fold from there for sure. https://www.sourdoughhome.com/

 

[PCABrewing]

Darn it, now I'm hungry again!

 

[Kent88]

About once a month, when I feed mine I add the water first and stir it up, then pour into a clean jar before adding the flour. I'm concerned (just a little) about the crud on the side of the jar getting moldy.

I can add an ... interesting... data point here. Buckle up, it's gonna be a little gross.

This has not been my first foray into sourdough. I think it might be my 4th. I can use starter to make decent bread, but I have killed my last three from neglect. My most recent victim was from my sister in law. I'm sad to say I hardly got to know this culture. I'm pretty sure I neglected it by mid-september.

Well it was towards the back of the fridge in a crock I've used for the past two sourdough cultures... until about half an hour ago (don't judge me). I wanted to know if I could reuse it for this new culture or if I just needed to throw the crock away. I put on some gloves, grabbed it, and prepared myself for what horrors I might see. I pulled the lid off and found... no fuzzy mold. No nasty smell. Just a little grayish clear liquid on the top. I poured that off and saw that the starter didn't look very different from the last time I checked it, it was just a little grayer. It even pretty much smelled like a healthy sourdough starter.

I scraped out the old into the garbage and put the crock in the dishwasher. I might put some sanitizer in there for an hour in the morning, but I see no reason I can't put my current culture in there after I clean it up.

These sourdough cultures apparently make the environment suitable for themselves and not much else. Reminds me of a thread or two where people decided to try making sour beers with their sourdough starter. I wouldn't suggest doing that, but I think those people had success doing so.

 

[ba-brewer]

I can add an ... interesting... data point here. Buckle up, it's gonna be a little gross.

This has not been my first foray into sourdough. I think it might be my 4th. I can use starter to make decent bread, but I have killed my last three from neglect. My most recent victim was from my sister in law. I'm sad to say I hardly got to know this culture. I'm pretty sure I neglected it by mid-september.

Well it was towards the back of the fridge in a crock I've used for the past two sourdough cultures... until about half an hour ago (don't judge me). I wanted to know if I could reuse it for this new culture or if I just needed to throw the crock away. I put on some gloves, grabbed it, and prepared myself for what horrors I might see. I pulled the lid off and found... no fuzzy mold. No nasty smell. Just a little grayish clear liquid on the top. I poured that off and saw that the starter didn't look very different from the last time I checked it, it was just a little grayer. It even pretty much smelled like a healthy sourdough starter.

I scraped out the old into the garbage and put the crock in the dishwasher. I might put some sanitizer in there for an hour in the morning, but I see no reason I can't put my current culture in there after I clean it up.

These sourdough cultures apparently make the environment suitable for themselves and not much else. Reminds me of a thread or two where people decided to try making sour beers with their sourdough starter. I wouldn't suggest doing that, but I think those people had success doing so.

It was not dead just sleeping. You could of scrapped away a little of the grey bit on top and scoop out some cleaner stuff below and build it back up. It take a few days of feeding and it would of been back on it's feet.

 

[Kent88]

Maybe I would have tried that in October, but January...

 

[jwill911]

I bake ~once a week, mostly just sourdough.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I can add an ... interesting... data point here. Buckle up, it's gonna be a little gross.

This has not been my first foray into sourdough. I think it might be my 4th. I can use starter to make decent bread, but I have killed my last three from neglect. My most recent victim was from my sister in law. I'm sad to say I hardly got to know this culture. I'm pretty sure I neglected it by mid-september.

Well it was towards the back of the fridge in a crock I've used for the past two sourdough cultures... until about half an hour ago (don't judge me). I wanted to know if I could reuse it for this new culture or if I just needed to throw the crock away. I put on some gloves, grabbed it, and prepared myself for what horrors I might see. I pulled the lid off and found... no fuzzy mold. No nasty smell. Just a little grayish clear liquid on the top. I poured that off and saw that the starter didn't look very different from the last time I checked it, it was just a little grayer. It even pretty much smelled like a healthy sourdough starter.

I scraped out the old into the garbage and put the crock in the dishwasher. I might put some sanitizer in there for an hour in the morning, but I see no reason I can't put my current culture in there after I clean it up.

These sourdough cultures apparently make the environment suitable for themselves and not much else. Reminds me of a thread or two where people decided to try making sour beers with their sourdough starter. I wouldn't suggest doing that, but I think those people had success doing so.

Since there was no mold, just “hooch” it could have been revived it was just very hungry. Of course, there really isn’t any need to get sentimental over flour and water with bugs in it. (Well, maybe if it was handed down for generations, but really it’s flour and water.)

If one is really happy with their starter spreading out some discard to dry is a shortcut to starting completely over with a new started. Let it completely dry, crumble it up into a small jar or freezer bag and store it in the freezer. It can be shared that way as well.

 

[Kent88]

(Well, maybe if it was handed down for generations, but really it’s flour and water.)

Did you know that if you scoop out the rumen contents of two cows, analyze the microbial contents of each, and then swap them / give them each other's rumen contents, wait a few months, and repeat the analysis, you'll find that the swap really didn't change anything. Everything will be back to the way it was before.

Idk how much overlap there is between cow stomachs and sourdough containers, or how similar microbes in a rumen are to microbes in a sourdough culture, but I, perhaps foolishly, think this suggests that environment has a lot to do with what microbes thrive in a sourdough culture.

So even if you get a sourdough from a sentimental place/person, but you take it out of it's usual environment and into your house, I wonder how much it changes over a few months.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Did you know that if you scoop out the rumen contents of two cows, analyze the microbial contents of each, and then swap them / give them each other's rumen contents, wait a few months, and repeat the analysis, you'll find that the swap really didn't change anything. Everything will be back to the way it was before.

Idk how much overlap there is between cow stomachs and sourdough containers, or how similar microbes in a rumen are to microbes in a sourdough culture, but I, perhaps foolishly, think this suggests that environment has a lot to do with what microbes thrive in a sourdough culture.

So even if you get a sourdough from a sentimental place/person, but you take it out of it's usual environment and into your house, I wonder how much it changes over a few months.

Yes, this is true whenever one gets a starter, the microbes in the flours it is fed eventually overtake the original population. I’m not a biologist so I wouldn’t venture to guess the lifespan of the yeast and bacteria, but I suppose they age and perhaps become less vibrant, hence what is added takes a foothold. With that said, someone grieving the “loss of such and such starter” might not care about the science, nor my statement that it’s just flour and water for that matter.

A little off topic, but human gut microbiome and the bugs that thrive within us is closely related to diet, probably true for cows too. The good bugs seem to like fiber, and different fruits and vegetables are favored by different populations of gut flora, and by favored I mean they multiply and thrive.

 

[ba-brewer]

staying off topic, I recall reading a article in national geographic or it could of been a NPR segment but there was a human biome researcher that was checked his biome when on vacation. He was expecting to see new items but it turned he did not get new bugs just a shift in the quantities of the existing ones.

back to bread
There are people studying sourdough and what happens to the starter over time is one of the things they are studying. https://robdunnlab.com/projects/sourdough/

This is interesting too, they have people the same flour and got quite a few different results. What I thought was funny was that the sourdough culture infested the bakers hands instead of the hands of the bakers infesting the sourdough.
https://robdunnlab.com/projects/science-of-sourdough/belgian-sourdough-experiment/

the end of the podcast has information on the results https://gastropod.com/secrets-of-sourdough/

 

[ba-brewer]

Tried baking my standard 1:2:3 bread in a Dutch oven. This was the first trying that method and got much better oven spring, maybe too much. Going to have some messy grilled cheese this week.

 

[Kent88]

There's a potluck tomorrow and I made things.

 

[MaxStout]

I went full Neanderthal bread baking last night. I've seen those "make flatbread with just flour and water" YT videos. Watched one from some prepper guy--survivalist bread or some such. His recipe: 1 cup AP flour, 1/2 cup warm water. I added 1/2 tsp salt. Mix, let it hydrate a few minutes, tear off some chunks and roll out. Cook in an ungreased fry pan on med to med-high heat, flipping often. I used my trusty cast iron.

Turns out a lot like naan bread, but a bit more chewy. Flavor kind of bland, as expected, but then, so is naan. It's made for scooping.

I warmed a couple in the microwave this morning, spread a little butter and sprinkled some cinnamon sugar. Yum.

Next batch I might add some garlic and herbs.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Sourdough bagels. Everything and sunflower seed.

 

[Tony B]

I went full Neanderthal bread baking last night. I've seen those "make flatbread with just flour and water" YT videos. Watched one from some prepper guy--survivalist bread or some such. His recipe: 1 cup AP flour, 1/2 cup warm water. I added 1/2 tsp salt. Mix, let it hydrate a few minutes, tear off some chunks and roll out. Cook in an ungreased fry pan on med to med-high heat, flipping often. I used my trusty cast iron.

View attachment 867694

Turns out a lot like naan bread, but a bit more chewy. Flavor kind of bland, as expected, but then, so is naan. It's made for scooping.

I warmed a couple in the microwave this morning, spread a little butter and sprinkled some cinnamon sugar. Yum.

Next batch I might add some garlic and herbs.

Looks and sounds kinda like homemade tortillas.

 

[pcdiver]

My wife makes sourdough bread using my spent grain in the mix. It’s wonderful.

 

[Kent88]

So, yesterday I decided to try making Tourte au Seigle from King Arthur's bread book. I wouldn't say this went smoothly.

I started by making a pre-ferment with sourdough starter and a bunch of rye flour.

This morning I toasted some rye flour, which actually did add color.

It was a little weird opening the oven and a haze wafted out as it toasted.

Then I mixed the rest of the ingredients with my pre-ferment.

There's a lot of mass here. I had forgotten this makes two loaves. I let the additional bakers yeast take over and it started bulk fermentation. I was puzzled that this recipe wasn't instructing me to knead this. I went back to the book at looked around and realized that it at no point instructs me to knead this.

It was darn sticky and really frustrating to get to this point, but I managed.

And here it is finished. Not as much rise as I was hoping for, but tasty.

Roughly two thirds of the flour in this was rye. Is it like making a rye beer and I just need to go in assuming it'll be a mess, or should I add a kneading step and get something I can handle?

 

[amber-ale]

I make 100% rye bread (no wheat flour at all)….. but some of this may be helpful….

Rye flour needs more liquid than wheat flour-enough that the dough is soft and a bit shiny. If you don’t have enough liquid, the bread will stay a dense, but tasty, loaf/brick. Your dough doesn’t look wet enough. You can “knead in” a bit more at the end to adjust the hydration. Just keep kneading the dough in a few tablespoons of water (or with dropping wet hands) until, all of a sudden, the dough gets softer and glistens.

Rye flour is VERY sticky- stir with a thin instrument like a butter knife until dry flour is fully mixed in. Then use wet hands. Or scrape half the loaf off your fingers with the butter knife.

Rye doesn’t need kneading like wheat bread, just enough to mix in. Since you have 1/3 wheat flour, some kneading before the final hydration step (when you CAN actually knead it, use damp hands) would be useful. But kneading rye bread is more like squooshing it . Or folding slimy corners into the centre. Again use REALLY wet hands

If you keep kneading it and keep wetting your hands under the tap, this will achieve kneading and adjusting hydration steps together.

And I can’t tell from the photos, but did you let it rise enough? With 100% rye bread you can tell it has risen enough when it has doubled in size (I use a Pullman loaf pan for the high supporting sides ) and you have several (6-7) bubble holes in the top surface.
But of course, the proof is in the pudding….is it tasty? Nice texture? Yes? then you did it right, no matter what anybody else says

 

[Kent88]

I make 100% rye bread (no wheat flour at all)….. but some of this may be helpful….

Rye flour needs more liquid than wheat flour-enough that the dough is soft and a bit shiny. If you don’t have enough liquid, the bread will stay a dense, but tasty, loaf/brick. Your dough doesn’t look wet enough. You can “knead in” a bit more at the end to adjust the hydration. Just keep kneading the dough in a few tablespoons of water (or with dropping wet hands) until, all of a sudden, the dough gets softer and glistens.

Rye flour is VERY sticky- stir with a thin instrument like a butter knife until dry flour is fully mixed in. Then use wet hands. Or scrape half the loaf off your fingers with the butter knife.

Sounds like I just need to get used to it if I want to keep making it. There was a lot of scraping dough off fingers with a bench scraper and a butter knife.

Rye doesn’t need kneading like wheat bread, just enough to mix in. Since you have 1/3 wheat flour, some kneading before the final hydration step (when you CAN actually knead it, use damp hands) would be useful. But kneading rye bread is more like squooshing it . Or folding slimy corners into the centre. Again use REALLY wet hands

If you keep kneading it and keep wetting your hands under the tap, this will achieve kneading and adjusting hydration steps together.

I don't want to alter my hydration like that, adding unmeasured amounts of water. I probably can't get away from doing a little of that, but I feel I should limit that.

And I can’t tell from the photos, but did you let it rise enough? With 100% rye bread you can tell it has risen enough when it has doubled in size (I use a Pullman loaf pan for the high supporting sides ) and you have several (6-7) bubble holes in the top surface.

It definitely rose, if not enough then darn close. Went from around 2L to almost 4L.

But of course, the proof is in the pudding….is it tasty? Nice texture? Yes? then you did it right, no matter what anybody else says

It's definitely edible. Aesthetically, I wish it had more rise, but I don't think it's a big problem.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

@Kent88 the crumb on your rye looks like what I’d expect. Depending on the ratio of rye to wheat flour, you have much less gluten to develop so kneading/stretching the dough is somewhat pointless shaping may be enough as in the “no knead” method.

Sourdough with sunflower seeds on the outside mainly to keep it from sticking to bowl I used for the cold rest.

 

[Kent88]

I think this is referred to as Everyday French Bread (or something like that) in the KA book. First time using a lame, and first time the slashes I put in have behaved how they're supposed to.

I'm not even going to eat any of this, they're going on a bake sale.

 

[amber-ale]

I make 100% rye bread (no wheat flour at all)….. but some of this may be helpful….

I forgot to mention….

Since rye flour doesn’t have the same amount/type of gluten-ish proteins, it has trouble retaining the yeast farts to give a nice bubbly rise.

So I add 1 tablespoon whole husk psyllium (powdered psyllium needs less for the same action) . Then I get a nice, normal looking loaf.

Psyllium husk is what is in products like Metamucil.

 

[Kent88]

I have some vital wheat gluten powder in my house, but it's just for bagels and occasionally pizza dough. Would that provide some structure to a rye bread?

 

[Dog House Brew]

When I’m on pizza dough hiatus, I spread my sourdough starter on parchment and dry it in the oven. I just use the light to dry it out. Break it up and put it in a mason jar. I got tired of feeding it, I just don’t bake enough. When I plan to wake it, it’s about a 5 day feeding process. I then make my dough, freeze the balls and vacuum seal it. There’s nothing like sourdough, period!!

 

[amber-ale]

Since rye flour doesn’t have the same amount/type of gluten-ish proteins, it has trouble retaining the yeast farts to give a nice bubbly rise.

So I add 1 tablespoon whole husk psyllium (powdered psyllium needs less for the same action) . Then I get a nice, normal looking loaf.

Psyllium husk is what is in products like Metamucil.

I just read an article stating that psyllium husk alone is less effective than psyllium plus an egg in no-wheat bread recipes

 

[Kent88]

My spouse made some bread this time.

 

[sdbbp]

I am babysitting a culture, so decided to make my first sourdough in quite a while. Dutch oven inside a gas range. I'm into the rustic AF cracks, but may try one intentional slash in the next one for some more spring.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

View attachment 868180

My spouse made some bread this time.

Very nice!

My wife would never take the time. She's fine with a store bought bread. Completely the opposite of me.

 

[Closet Fermenter]

. She's fine with a store bought bread. Completely the opposite of me.

Several years ago, I was going out of town for several days to do some field work. I would be “camping” in a barn. I picked up a few food items, including a loaf of bread.
It was humid summer weather, and I left the bread in my truck, completely forgotten, for about two weeks. When I discovered it, there wasn’t a speck of mold anywhere!
I don’t know what chemicals they put in that bread, but not even mold would touch it. I don’t think we’ve bought store loaves since. I pulled out my grandma’s old dough bowl my grandpa carved out of a log right after they married. My wife got a new sourdough starter going. Going to grind some wheat this afternoon.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Several years ago, I was going out of town for several days to do some field work. I would be “camping” in a barn. I picked up a few food items, including a loaf of bread.
It was humid summer weather, and I left the bread in my truck, completely forgotten, for about two weeks. When I discovered it, there wasn’t a speck of mold anywhere!
I don’t know what chemicals they put in that bread, but not even mold would touch it. I don’t think we’ve bought store loaves since. I pulled out my grandma’s old dough bowl my grandpa carved out of a log right after they married. My wife got a new sourdough starter going. Going to grind some wheat this afternoon.

You live a better life than me, at least in the bread world.

My wife loves my homemade pizza; dough, sauce and sausage. She also enjoys it when I make Amish bread, that sweet stuff, makes great egg toast.

There might be hope

 

[MaxStout]

I have some vital wheat gluten powder in my house, but it's just for bagels and occasionally pizza dough. Would that provide some structure to a rye bread?

I've used it for breads with any large percentage whole wheat flour or rye, it does help.

 

[rallenhall]

Wife is a great baker (OK, cooking in general). Sunday afternoon she's having some friends over to make pretzel buns which should be nice and warm for the Superbowl.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I've used it for breads with any large percentage whole wheat flour or rye, it does help.

I’m not sure whether I’ve mentioned it before, but by and large most of my breads are made with organic AP flour from Costco. To compensate for the slightly lower gluten content a small reduction in hydration is all that’s necessary to have a well behaved dough.

 

[Oldskewl]

When I’m on pizza dough hiatus, I spread my sourdough starter on parchment and dry it in the oven. I just use the light to dry it out. Break it up and put it in a mason jar. I got tired of feeding it, I just don’t bake enough. When I plan to wake it, it’s about a 5 day feeding process. I then make my dough, freeze the balls and vacuum seal it. There’s nothing like sourdough, period!!

How do the doughballs hold up vacuum sealed in the freezer. I have tried the deli container method and they hold up well for 3-4 weeks. After that they don't seem rise as much.

 

[Oldskewl]

Made sourdough bagels for the first time this weekend. I m happy with how they turned out. Really easy. I need to practice my shaping skills some. Ha ha!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Looks tasty! Did you do the “make a bun and poke a hole” method? The “pro” method?