Blueberry pancakes and an attractive overnight boule

Blueberries grow all around Amy's mom's house!

The punch of the wild berries went well with the wild yeast pancakes.

Amy put together the dough for these two breads and baked the first one. As is my new ritual, we baked one as soon as it was ready to go and refrigerated the other overnight. Overnight is the way to go!

No refrigeration

Holy crap I've impressed myself. Must've been Amy's magic touch.

Notes for next time:

-more salt... kosher takes up more space than table salt, which is what Peter Reinhart uses. MUST REMEMBER THIS or else I will keep making bland breads

Garlic!

Today I busted out the most delicious sourdough I've ever made, all thanks to some olive oil and garlic--and, you know, these past two months of experimentation and learning.

Basically, I wanted to copy a bread I love from Beach Pea Baking Co. in Kittery, ME. It's a roasted garlic boule that is so good I've had dreams about it. Wonderful dreams, in which I am prancing through a flowery meadow towards the boule, the sun lighting my grin in the most delicate and subtle way. But I didn't feel like roasting the garlic, since we didn't really have a good head, and I didn't really feel like waiting a while for it to fully roast, so I pan fried about 10 smashed cloves in extra virgin olive oil and added to the dough before the first rise.

The result was a fantastic blend of garlic and sour that I can't really figure out. Is it garlic that is making me feel so great or is it the sour? My breathe must be awful right now.

The only major issue with this bread came when I slashed it just before baking. It seemed that as soon as I punctured the skin the swelling monster I'd been patiently proofing exhaled deeply and deflated to about half its height. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I read just now that the blade should perhaps be wet when scoring. I need to research that more, but it sounds about right. Also, it could definitely use a darker crust.

Lucky for me, I followed Peter Reinhart's method closely and have a second boule retarding in the fridge right now. Tomorrow I will bake again and hopefully nothing will collapse.


Notes for next time: will think about this more and post with the second garlic boule.

Twins

I was accidentally experimental with my last two sourdoughs. With an unplanned visit to Amy's mother, my baking was interrupted during the final rise stage. I was doing one bread hearth style and one in a loaf pan, and decided to refrigerate the boule (hearth style, in case you aren't aware), and bring the loaf with me in the car. The dough rose during the bumpy ride, and then I immediately baked. The results were good, but definitely not sour and without that desirable open crumb I've been struggling to find.

slash up the middle opened up nicely and looks good

went very well with some soup Amy pulled together

When I got home two days later, the boule in the fridge was looking alright. It had begun to spread out a little, and the taut skin I had created seemed fragile. I let the dough warm up for about 5 hours, and then baked on my pizza stone. Just after putting it in the oven, I got an important work call, and this kept me from my bread for 10 minutes too long. The result was a tough, dark crust. Amy and I ate most of it while driving, and it really wasn't too bad. The crumb was beautifully open and there was a nice touch of sour. Not as much as my first bread, but definitely there. Next sourdoughs will definitely be retarded overnight in the fridge before baking, and hopefully I can pull them at the right time and enjoy some really great bread.

didn't rise so much, possibly because of the spreading during the long refrigeration period

nice shot of the crumb showing a variety in bubble size

can't say I recommend eating crusty bread in a car

This was a very enlightening bread experience, I must say. With the added stress of interruptions in my normal laid back routine, I was able to see the drastic effect of retarding in a refrigerator and in overbaking. Any unexpected situation is an opportunity to learn and grow, even if you're just baking something. I doubt I would have considered overnight refrigeration of the dough so soon in my bread studies if it hadn't been forced on me. There must be a good philosophical quote to go with all this, but all I can think about is lemons and lemonade. Mmmm lemonade.

notes for next time:
-retard overnight in fridge!
-use more starter in initial dough to hopefully increase sourness
-bake when distractions are less likely

100% Whole Wheat (well, almost)

After the salt incident, I hungered for bread that had taste, so I psyched myself up after busting out another excellent whole wheat cinnamon raisin walnut loaf of Peter Reinhart's and fed my starter with completely whole wheat flour, mostly because I was out of AP flour. Woops.

I looked around for how to convert an AP starter to whole wheat, and the process seemed to take days. I wanted the bread now, though. I needed it after the horror that ensued at Mom's. So, I decided to risk it and just go about things as if the starter was ready to go the next day. And I think it was pretty much ready. I loosely followed a recipe I found online, and baked a single boule on my stone in just the same way I've done for my past few loaves. Actually, no, after seeing how truly hot my Mom's oven got, I preheated to 550F on my apartment oven. Mistake? Probably, because the bottom was almost entirely black.

Rose no problem.

This bread is actually my new favorite for homemade 100% whole wheat bread. No offense to Peter Reinhart's recipe, which uses commercial yeast and is definitely good. It's just that this one had just a slight tinge of sourness that made it work for almost any application, especially as a standalone piece of dry toast. Best dry toast I've ever had, I think. Adding some Nutella was pushing it, however, since the sweet vs. sour battle was quite brutal, so I will continue to periodically bake Peter's recipe.


Notes for next time:
-go back to preheating to 500 despite lame oven performance
-let ferment longer to really expand flavor

Salt

I brought a firm starter with me on a visit to my mom's for the weekend and baked bread in a much better oven on a much denser stone. And I really thought the bread was going to be my best ever. It baked into two beautiful boules.


But... as soon as I took the first bite (just as the second boule was finishing in the oven), I realized I had made the most fatal of errors. My tongue writhed and retracted to the back of my mouth and my heart sank, because, yes, you guessed it, I forgot to add salt. One of just four ingredients, and it slipped my mind. I don't even want to talk about it.


notes for next time:
-use brain

White Breads

The time had come to try an entirely different method of preparing a sourdough. Instead of just skimming, I read all of Peter Reinhart's section on sourdough in The Bread Baker's Apprentice, and went with his first basic sourdough recipe, which used 100% unbleached AP flour. I was temporarily out of whole wheat flour anyway, so I was open to the opportunity.

This bread session had a lot of differences from the other four to date. The first big change was using a firm starter.

I let the firm starter watch TV with us

I had to set an alarm for 3am to follow the timing guidelines in the book for when to check on the starter and move to the fridge. It was supposed to double in size in 3-4 hours. Luckily it did, and I didn't have to set another alarm for 4am.

The recipe indicated the the dough was for two boules (or other similar-sized breads), so I took the opportunity to try the new method with a variation in a loaf pan. Since I was following his instructions closely, I finally learned how to properly form a boule, which I had just been guessing at with my first three breads. I gave it a nice, tight skin and it didn't collapse at all! Winging it just doesn't work with bread.

Before final rise

After final rise

This note on the microwave door is a necessity

Pound sign slash style ROCKS

Don't they look pro? These smelled soooo good

The boule is slightly burned on the bottom. I think I need a hotter oven to reduce cooking time.

Not a very open crumb, but went very nicely with some bluefish Amy and I picked up

The bread was actually kind of disappointing, despite it's good looks. The crumb was tight and reminded me of cheap white bread, and there was barely a hint of sourness. Not that it was a BAD bread, not at all. When toasted it is a full football field of flavor. I just need to figure out why things keep changing so much!

Notes for next time:
-watch actual oven temperature more closely
-research starter prep to increase sour flavor
-research bubble production
-try not to eat it all so quickly

Pancakes and Loaf Pans

Having just run out of that powdered yet somehow "real" buttermilk, I decided the time had come to expand my sourdough horizons. The above pancakes were simple to make and had a nice taste. Definitely different from buttermilk pancakes, but I think I'll save the money and hold off on getting more of the buttermilk.

Sourdough Pancakes Recipe (modification to the one found here):
Mix all of the following together and cook however you want to cook pancakes:

• 1 1/2 cups sourdough starter, fed the night before
• 1/2 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 Tablespoon oil or butter
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 egg slightly beaten
• 5/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 Tablespoons soymilk

For my fourth sourdough baking session, I finally broke down and decided to bake bread from my New Zealand starter in loaf pans.

Per Amy's suggestion, I split the dough in two in hopes that there would be a tremendous oven spring

Issues with sunken doughs and burned bottoms made me curious about the other realm, and I have to say, the results were pretty good. And a nice bonus was that the pieces were not so awkwardly wide, allowing for easier toasting.




But, I forgot to slash once again, so the spring was small. Or at least that's what I'm going to blame for these wimpily small (yet still delicious) breads. I've been reading Peter Reinhart and I'm starting to see several mistakes in my methods. My next breads will be following his methods outlined in The Bread Baker's Apprentice.

Notes for next time:
-Follow Reinhart closely; this means shaping boules with INSTRUCTIONS (what a concept) and proofing as he recommends, not just winging it

#3

Bread #2 with some perfect berry jelly made by someone Amy knows

With about 1/10th of my #2 remaining, I went ahead and made a third sourdough bread, this time ditching the terracotta planter altogether and using my new cheap ($10 at Target) pizza stone. This change is one of several that I experimented with for this bread.

Another change was to let the final rise take place on a freestanding inverted sheet pan, which would allow me to slide the dough directly onto the preheated stone with minimal disturbance.

At first, I was going to leave a round Pyrex storage container over the dough, but decided that it was not going to be large enough. I was correct, but the dough spread out more than I would have liked.

Perfectly risen, as well as spread out. This is when I should have baked.

A great theory, but, as you will see, the dough ended up collapsing onto itself, giving me yet another flattish bread.

If only the oven had been ready!

I witness first hand one type of disaster possible when baking bread.

The third thing I did differently was institute a steamy environment by adding boiling water to my cast iron pan, positioned on the top rack of the approximately 500 degrees Farenheit oven.

I snapped this picture early in the baking process, just after spraying down the walls of the oven.

And, for once, I remembered to slash the dough! As you may have guessed, I have actually buckled down and studied a little bit, exclusively dependent upon Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I'm not nearly through with it, but I picked up some quick tips while I was waiting for the overnight proof period to end Sunday morning. But no matter how much I read, I still don't have the necessary instincts to create consistently pleasing bread. I take comfort in Peter Reinhart's "golden rule" for home baked bread, however: "It will always be a hit no matter how it turns out." And so far, that rule has proven to be correct. My third loaf was really a different beast than the first two, with a crisp and delicious crust I didn't realize I was lacking until the first bite. The steampan and spraying the oven walls had had a major effect, as well as the freestanding pizza stone. The heat went through the dough in a completely different way this time.


Aside from being flat and wide, the bread had another unforeseen issue; the bottom was blotched with charred crust. As long as I don't eat the burnt bits, this bread is definitely my best sourdough so far, but if even a speck of burnt crust hits my tongue, the experience is ruined until I drink something to clear my palate.


And I should also note that the overall volume of this bread was much greater than that of the previous two, which actually turned out to be quite a concern, since I had nothing large enough to store it in until a few slices were consumed and I was able to squeeze it into a rectangular baking dish with a cover.

Notes for next time:
-use a bowl or something else to provide structure to the final rise, but still do it on the sheet pan
-don't wait too long to bake!
-perhaps try a longer, refrigerated fermentation as Peter Reinhart recommends... but if I'm too hungry, perhaps not
-figure out if there's a way to avoid the burning
-slash dough JUST before baking, not while oven is just starting to preheat

Second Bread

Nearing the end of my first sourdough, and anxious to see if my refrigerated culture was surviving, I decided it was time to bake another. I took one of the cultures out, fed it, and let it sit in room temperature overnight.


Yesterday morning, I found another of those wonderful explosions, and quickly pulled together the same dough as I did for my first bread. My plan was to let it do its first rise all day, and then I would start the second rise at around 6pm, leaving me plenty of time to bake it before bed at around 9:30-10pm. Since the first bread was quite sour, I decided to experiment this time by reducing the amount of culture I used. I went down to 230 grams from 250. Otherwise, everything was exactly the same. Here are a few pictures of everything coming together:

Short ingredient lists are important for a healthy lifestyle

Before first rise

After first rise

Another adjusment I decided to make was to use a smaller bowl with a bottom that was not as flat as the one I used last time. This was a great idea, but great ideas with bread are so dependant on a multitude of other factors. I did not flour the cloth napkin nearly as much as last time, which resulted in the dough sticking, and when the time came to bake I had to fiddle with the sensitive risen dough so much that it deflated quite a bit. NEXT TIME I WILL DO IT PERFECTLY!

Before second rise

After second rise

I preheated the oven for what seemed like forever (we estimated it to be about an hour) until the temperature in the pot was around 400 degrees Fahrenheit. No more low temperatures for me. Next, the struggle to separate dough from napkin ensued on the hot terracotta saucer, and then I quickly inserted the probe into the dough, which had indeed fallen but was definitely larger overall than my last loaf. Just spread out more. I put the pot in place, and slid the assembly back into the hot oven. The air in the pot did not take long to get back to 400, which was a big confidence boost.

Actually taken near the end of baking, but you get the idea

The bread came out a lot different this time, at least in terms of crust. I did not presoak the pot, I made sure everything was hot, and I used less starter. One or all of these factors got me the attractive loaf below.





Noticeably tamer than my previous bread, this one was actually somewhat disappointing at first taste this morning. The lack of sourness was not the issue, however; rather, it was the lack of smell. This turned out to be a personal issue caused by allergies (or perhaps the bread improved with age), because later in the afternoon when my nose had cleared, this bread had a taste that seemed an instant classic. Tonight we will have it with some tri-colored pasta with mushroom sauce from Terra Cotta Pasta (best in our region for sure). Should be nice.

Notes for next time:
-flour the napkin
-flour the napkin
-see if I can get a baking stone instead of using saucer
-if I get the stone, get a peel
-or maybe just bake in loaf pan?
-use all 250g of starter, me likey tang

Is it winking angrily?