Second Loaf of Sourdough

Second Loaf of Sourdough

This is a loaf of sourdough pugliese. It rose quite a bit in the oven, was sort of flat beforehand. I think I let it rise a tad bit too long as it tore a bit on the other side. I guess I should have slashed it. Live and learn.

Went better than the last one, likely because I didn't need to do the whole fridge dance thing. Anyway, no idea how it tastes yet. Just finished it recently, will cut it later.

First REAL Sourdough Loaf

First REAL Sourdough Loaf

This is the first real/pure sourdough loaf I made!

Only ingredients were water and flour (and of course 'wild yeast' from the flour).

Because of how it spread out in the fridge, it isn't that pretty. But it tastes wonderful, and, well... makes it so a slice is a rather light snack.

This loaf also used no recipe, just played it by ear. From here on out I'll try to mix my own stuff and recipes. And hopefully remember to add salt in the future...

Beginnings of a Loaf 11

Beginnings of a Loaf 11

fter about 9 hours I was able to pull it out, let it warm up a bit, and then bake it. It had lost basically all of the previous shaping, the slashes were gone, and it had spread out quite a bit. Not much I could do about it though.

More like a bannock in a way now.

Beginnings of a Loaf 10

Beginnings of a Loaf 10

After it had risen again I added a tiny bit more flour and shaped the loaf (not that well, but...)
However, I had to head up to school. So back in the fridge it went.

The slashing went ok this time, but it hadn't risen yet.

Beginnings of a Loaf 9

Beginnings of a Loaf 9

About 13 hours later, I pulled it out of the fridge. The dough still wasn't quite the consistency I wanted, so I refreshed it again, and left it to sit. I didn't get pictures of this step.

But really, it looked pretty much the same.

It was at this point, or earlier, that I forgot to add salt. I didn't remember until the day after I baked it....

Beginnings of a Loaf 8

Beginnings of a Loaf 8

I wasn't going to have time to finish baking the bread that night, so I refreshed it trying to get it as close as possible to the consistency I wanted for the actual loaf, and then left it in the fridge overnight.

Beginnings of a Loaf 7

Beginnings of a Loaf 7

About 4 hours later the starter was definitely ready for another refreshment.

It definitely is quite active, and smells nice now.

Beginnings of a Loaf 6

Beginnings of a Loaf 6

This is after refreshing it again, and moving to a bigger bowl.

Sorry the picture is so awful.

Beginnings of a Loaf 5

Beginnings of a Loaf 5

This is about 16 hours after the the third picture in this series. There is an intermediate refreshment I haven't posted yet, it was on a different camera. Anyway, that one took about 9 hours. So this was about another 7 hours from then. However, that is just when I got home. It was probably ready before that.

Definitely looking more like a poolish or biga or what not now. Smells quite nice too.

Beginnings of a Loaf 3

Beginnings of a Loaf 3

After about another 12 hours the starter seemed ready for refreshment again. Once again, I forgot to take a picture after refreshing it.

Beginnings of a Loaf 2

Beginnings of a Loaf 2

This is after about 19 hours, and it seemed ready for refreshment. I didn't get a picture from after I refreshed it. It may have been ready earlier, it was such a small amount it was somewhat hard to tell. And I was at work anyway.

Unnamed Starter

Unnamed Starter

This is, again, the same starter. After refreshment, and before going back in the jar and the fridge.

Beginnings of a Loaf 1

Beginnings of a Loaf 1

When refreshing the starter this time I removed aproximately a tablespoon of the starter to mix with some new flour and water so I could start down the road to making a loaf.

Unnamed Starter

Unnamed Starter

This is still the same starter from April 09, Still unnamed. This is after I stirred it together, but before I refreshed it. It went nearly two weeks between feeding this time. Probably could have gone more. It does get kind of hoochy in the fridge, but stirs back together beautifully.

An as of yet Unnamed Starter

An as of yet Unnamed Starter

This is the aforementioned starter right after it was first mixed. It was started on April 9th, I think. I started with a bit less this time. I also found the trick, for me at least, to keep a starter actually rising, is to use a thicker mix. The 1/1 flour/water mix, or even with more flour but still quite fluid seem to peter out fairly quickly. I'm not sure if it is a buildup of waste (acid, alcohol) or what. But this one is now larger and still continuing to chug.

Falling Down

Well, I've been rather falling down on my duties for a while. I lack pictures for most of what has transpired since the last post. The few I do have, I will post soon. I think I have a new starter since the last post, can't remember for sure. However, whether it is new or not, it is established now.

It can double itself fairly quickly. It provided most of the rise for a loaf of bread. It smells quite nice, slightly fruity and sour. And it now resides in the fridge where it can go some time without feeding. Soon I will make my first real loaf, and with no commercial yeast (I hope).

Hopefully I can be better about updates in the future, we shall see.