# sourdough



## ahoiberg (Mar 11, 2008)

i know this is a stretch, but i haven't been able to post anything in forever as the shop is still in storage (soon, soon...), so here's my one of my other hobbies, bakin' bread! enjoy...


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## jackrichington (Mar 11, 2008)

Great..right before bed..now I'm hungry


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## Ligget (Mar 11, 2008)

Yummy![]


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## Tea Clipper (Mar 11, 2008)

Mmmmm, bread!  Those look very tasty. []


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## Kalai (Mar 11, 2008)

Hi Andrew, that looks great, I love home baked breads  Aloha.

kalai


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## karlkuehn (Mar 11, 2008)

Is that a CA finish? []

That looks SO good. *drools*


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## GoodTurns (Mar 11, 2008)

Bring those over...I'll put one of the lasagnas in the oven!  OK, who has a decent bottle of wine?


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## VisExp (Mar 11, 2008)

Home baked bread.  Not fair to tease us like that   Looks delicious.


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## karlkuehn (Mar 11, 2008)

> _Originally posted by GoodTurns_
> 
> Bring those over...I'll put one of the lasagnas in the oven!  OK, who has a decent bottle of wine?



Hey Jon, if Andrew's making bread like that and you're making lasagna, I'd be happy to spring for a really high-end box of wine. You know, only the good stuff...I never buy those $10 boxes, I always go straight for the $15 stuff that's really up to my standards. Let me know an hour ahead of time, and I'll turn it on its back and open the little valve so it can breathe. heh

[]


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## ahoiberg (Mar 11, 2008)

mmmmm, boxed wine, lasagna and bread... sounds like the best date i ever had.


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## karlkuehn (Mar 11, 2008)

> _Originally posted by ahoiberg_
> 
> mmmmm, boxed wine, lasagna and bread... sounds like the best date i ever had.



Heh...afterwards, you can break out your banjo, I'll bring my dulcimer, and Jon can play the 'jug'. []

It'll be a real hootinanny. Er...ho-down...?...shindig...what's the word I'm looking for?

If we end up in some backwoods stream in a couple of canoes, I get to be the guy with the compound bow. [}]

We do need a fourth guy, though...someone's got to play Ned Beatty's part. heh

Dingda ling ding ding ding...


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## GoodTurns (Mar 11, 2008)

> _Originally posted by karlkuehn_
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I like playing with jugs![}]

I'm not playing Ned or Jon Voigt!


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## rincewind03060 (Mar 11, 2008)

But how does it turn?[}]


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## Aderhammer (Mar 11, 2008)

My dad makes great rye bread and italian, he needs a sourdough recipe though, mind sharing?


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## ahoiberg (Mar 11, 2008)

> _Originally posted by Aderhammer_
> 
> My dad makes great rye bread and italian, he needs a sourdough recipe though, mind sharing?



not at all... the tricky part to making sourdough is the starter. i've been perpetuating this one for maybe 2 or 3 months now, you need to feed it weekly (after you establish it) if you're not making bread every day like pros do. you basically start it with flour and water and let the yeast that naturally occurs on the flour particles feed until they start to rise. so, if your dad has a starter or if you have a friend that has one, or whatever, that's your starting point. or you can start your own, instructions can be found on the net or in books for that. count on 2 weeks until it's strong enough to be used.

once you find or make a starter, you mix 2/3 cup of the starter with 4.5 oz (1 cup) of bread flour and 1 to 2 oz (1/4 to 1/8 cup) water. this makes your "firm levain" or firm starter. sourdough is made in 'builds' to enhance the flavor and continue to feed the natural yeast. form this into a small piece of dough, cover in plastic and let sit in an oiled bowl at room temp for about 4 hours, or until at least doubled. refrigerate overnight.

pull from frig about 1 hr before mixing, tear into pieces and let warm up covered with plastic. mix in with 20.25 oz (4.5 cups) of bread flour, 2 tsp. salt and 12-14 oz water (1.4 to 1.75 cups) at 90-100 deg. knead  by hand for 12-15 minutes or use the kitchenaid dough hook for 4 min on, 5 off and finish with 4 min on.

let rise for 4 hours oiled in a bowl. remove from the bowl, divide into 2 loaves, shape them how you wish and either put them in gallon zip bags and refrigerate AGAIN overnight or let rise, covered for 2-3 hours. i choose to refrigerate as i think it improves the flavor. if you refrig, bring them out 4 ours prior to baking the next day so they can get to room temp and rise. i always have trouble with sourdough rising, but it always gets nice oven-spring.

heat oven to 500 deg at least an hour before baking. it helps if you have a nice stone or quarry tiles in your oven to make it 'hearth-like'. bake at 500 deg with a steam pan, adding steam with a spray bottle once every 30 seconds for 1.5 minutes (the steam is key to getting a nice, creamy crumb), then lower oven to 450 and bake for 10 minutes, rotate the loaf if need be and cook for about 20 more minutes until nice and russet colored.

kinda complicated sounding, but isn't really that hard. it just takes a while, 3 days, to make sourdough! if anyone is interested, i'd recommend Peter Reinhart's book, "The Bread Bakers Apprentice"

and karl, the only part i'm suited to play is the weird banjo pickin' kid... 



p.s. the first loaf was gone within about 1 hr of coming out of the oven. even though you're supposed to let it set for at least 1 hr... supposed to my ...


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## ahoiberg (Mar 11, 2008)

after seeing bob's comment and in my 'jonesing'-ness for turning wood i just thought about hollowing out the bread and making a bowl out of it... []


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## Fred (Mar 11, 2008)

I can only inagine how much CA it would take for you to do that AHOIBERG ...


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## ahoiberg (Mar 12, 2008)

maybe we can get gadget to make a large mold and someone can cast it... [] the permanent 'bread bowl'


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## RonInSpringTX (Mar 12, 2008)

Those look great!!!  are they edible or is it Elly-Mae biscuit type bread?? (j/k!!) but they do look good enough to turn into bowls!!!  [8D] 
good looking bread ahoi!!!

Ronnie


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## RonInSpringTX (Mar 12, 2008)

sorry, someone beat me to the punch!!!  great looking bread, bet it's tasty!!!


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## Tea Clipper (Mar 12, 2008)

Do you have any good biscuit recipes you can share?  I've tried both yeast and baking powder varieties, but I still can't come up with anything better than Bisquik.   Mine are good/okay right out of the oven, but soon after they turn into hockey pucks.  I'm probably over mixing (I use the kitchenaid w/hook).  I also suspect the best tasting (light and fluffy) biscuits probably use the worst for you ingredients. [B)]  I know I've been avoiding recipes that call for shortening...

Any pointers would be great, thanks!


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## R2 (Mar 12, 2008)

I can smell them from here![^]


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## laurie sullivan (Mar 12, 2008)

I'm acually a co-owner of an Italian Restaurant. although, I don't work there, I could put in a good word for you as baker. You need a job......? I bet that makes for a great smelling kitchen.

Laurie


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## ahoiberg (Mar 12, 2008)

> _Originally posted by laurie sullivan_
> 
> I'm acually a co-owner of an Italian Restaurant. although, I don't work there, I could put in a good word for you as baker. You need a job......? I bet that makes for a great smelling kitchen.
> 
> Laurie



heh, i would enjoy that job, but the commute would be a killer. 

ron, i do have a good biscuit recipe, but i like to just make drop biscuits. they're easier and if you add in some green chiles and cheese and you got yourself a winner. and you definitely don't want to use the kitchenaid for mixing biscuits, wooden spoon only IMHO. PM me and i'll see if i can track down the recipe tonight, all my recipes are also packed up right now but i think i might be able to get to em.

thanks for all the comments.


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## rincewind03060 (Mar 12, 2008)

> _Originally posted by Tea Clipper_
> 
> Do you have any good biscuit recipes you can share?  I've tried both yeast and baking powder varieties, but I still can't come up with anything better than Bisquik.   Mine are good/okay right out of the oven, but soon after they turn into hockey pucks.  I'm probably over mixing (I use the kitchenaid w/hook).  I also suspect the best tasting (light and fluffy) biscuits probably use the worst for you ingredients. [B)]  I know I've been avoiding recipes that call for shortening...
> 
> Any pointers would be great, thanks!



Joy of Cooking has a good recipe. The trick with biscuits is to use a fork, pastry cutter or your hands. Chill the Shortening, Margarine, Lard or Butter and mix it with the dry ingredients until it is in "pea sized" chunks, making sure it doesn't melt. Roll it out, cut into individual biscuits, slap it on a sheet pan and bake. When baking the "fat" melts between the layers of dough. That's what makes it so flaky and tasty. Definitely not PC.


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## wood-of-1kind (Mar 12, 2008)

> _Originally posted by Tea Clipper_
> 
> Mine are good/okay right out of the oven, but soon after they turn into hockey pucks.



Ron, pucks are very well received here in Canada (NHL). Do you bake in any other colour other than black?[)]


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## ahoiberg (Mar 12, 2008)

actually bob, that's the book i got the recipe from also. i like doing the drop biscuits from that recipe. great book, the joy. highly recommended.


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## jwoodwright (Mar 25, 2008)

Now, I'm hungry!


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