The Baking Thread

[leggo PE]

The starter was bubbly and acidic smelling, but it hadn't doubled in size. I've been feeding it once a day for the last few days but it still isn't doubling.

The bread basically didn't rise at all (I gave it about 24hrs just in case) and was pretty gluey on the inside after I baked it.

If you have enough flour, I'd feed every 12 hours to revive the starter. When baking bread, you want to use a what called a "ripe" sourdough starter, which is one that is happy and fed and has doubled within the past 8-12 hours from the last time you fed it. If you don't have a happy, ripe starter, you might not get good results in your end bread in terms of rise. One thing that could be a shortcut to reviving your starter sooner would be to give it some rye or maybe whole wheat flour, if you have them available. Something about the digestive enzymes in those flours (vs. all purpose flour, which is what I'm assuming you're using to feed your starter right now -- correct me if I'm wrong!) can really wake up a starter and make them work really fast and need to be fed faster!

Without seeing the recipe you used for your method of making bread, it's hard for me to comment much on the actual bread you baked. The gumminess in the middle could have been because you didn't let it cool as much as it needed -- did you break into it when it was still warm? It's tough, but it's best to let sourdough bread completely cool so the crumb can fully develop. It's also possible that you didn't bake it hot enough, long enough.

 

[thekzieg]

@leggo PE Ok, trying sourdough bread again. Doing the first prove now and then letting it rise in the fridge overnight. The starter was definitely not ripe last time, but it’s happy and doubling now!

I’m doing a single loaf that’s:
400g Bread Flour
230mL Water
5g Salt
160g Starter

Last time the bread was still slightly warm when I cut into it, so that may have been the issue. I definitely didn’t have any confidence in it and chucked the whole thing on the spot, so we’ll never know if it was actually ok tasting!

I also made a test cake for the kiddo’s upcoming birthday. She specifically asked for purple cake, so I’m figuring out the food coloring ratios.  It’s cooling now!

 

[thekzieg]

Cake was just ok - turns out I don’t like how white cake tastes. 
View attachment 17224

The bread is a little burnt on top, but REALLY yummy

View attachment 17225

(I don’t know why the pictures are rotated)

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

My very first attempt at sourdough. It didn’t rise much overnight, which I attribute to collapsing my starter before adding (and possibly my starter not being ready...I didn’t test it before adding). As a result, the loaf is a little small. I didn’t cut into it yet, we’ll see what it looks like after.

 

[snickerd3]

no yeast to be found around these parts...was part of the initial shelf clearing like TP.

 

[squaretaper LIT AF PE]

As a result, the loaf is a little small.

Penny for scale!

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

no yeast to be found around these parts...was part of the initial shelf clearing like TP.

Yep. One of the reasons I started so suddenly making my own sourdough starter.

 

[squaretaper LIT AF PE]

sourdough starter.

I still vote for Cheb-batta™ bread.

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

Penny for scale!

How about a pencil?

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

no yeast to be found around these parts...was part of the initial shelf clearing like TP.

check the bulk stores online. i had a friend score a 2lb bag of yeast and a 50lb bag of KAF lol

I told her I'd buy or trade her for some

 

[leggo PE]

I've been having issues finding flour... Luckily, I got some from KAF as this was starting to ramp up, and more recently, was able to get a 5# bag of rye and a 50# bag of bread flour from a local mill. It hasn't shipped (that I can tell), but I've gotten the confirmation that my order has been processed. I've never ordered directly from a mill before, so I'm not sure what the timeline is.

I did have a dream last night that the 50# bag arrived with a hole in it, and my 6 (soon to be 7) year-old neighbor got to it and decided to decorate the garage with my precious flour, flinging it everywhere...

#BakersNightmare

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

Texture is kinda gummy, sadly. I guess it didn’t bake long enough.

Tastes good, though!

 

[leggo PE]

Texture is kinda gummy, sadly. I guess it didn’t bake long enough.

Tastes good, though!

View attachment 17285

Do you have a quick thermometer? Finished temps when right of the oven for sourdough loaves should be around 210-212 degree F.

How long did you wait to cut into it? The crumb won't properly set (and can be gummy) if you don't wait for your loaf to completely cool down.

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

Do you have a quick thermometer? Finished temps when right of the oven for sourdough loaves should be around 210-212 degree F.

How long did you wait to cut into it? The crumb won't properly set (and can be gummy) if you don't wait for your loaf to completely cool down.

It was cooling for about 2 hours before i cut into it. It was still semi-warm, but not hot to the touch or anything.

I have a meat thermometer, which I assume will work in a pinch.

 

[leggo PE]

It was cooling for about 2 hours before i cut into it. It was still semi-warm, but not hot to the touch or anything.

I have a meat thermometer, which I assume will work in a pinch.

Yeah, I think you could use that! I have an instant digital thermometer. I think the finished temperature of the loaf (and whether it sounds hollow) are the best ways of making sure your loaf is fully baked.

Two hours of cooling was probably relatively enough time for it to cool. My guess, then, is that you were correct in thinking you didn't bake it for long enough.

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

I have an instant digital thermometer.

What kind is yours? I might be making some other baking investments soon, anyway...I also need a better bowl (the kitchenaid bowl is shaped kinda strange), a better scoring knife, and a bench scraper, at a minimum.

 

[JayKay PE]

I've always done the tap test with my loaves and I've never gone wrong.  Based on your pic, chebs, I can deff see some under baking near the bottom of the loaf (two spots semi-equidistant).  Also, I've found loaves that are underbaked/still dough tend to retain heat longer since it doesn't have a crumb to allow heat to leave (idk if that made sense, but that's usually how it's worked out for me?).

 

[ChebyshevII PE PMP]

I've always done the tap test with my loaves and I've never gone wrong.  Based on your pic, chebs, I can deff see some under baking near the bottom of the loaf (two spots semi-equidistant).  Also, I've found loaves that are underbaked/still dough tend to retain heat longer since it doesn't have a crumb to allow heat to leave (idk if that made sense, but that's usually how it's worked out for me?).

No, it makes sense. I think next time I might also try increasing the temperature of the oven; I did 475, but I'm sure I could have gotten hotter than that.

Also I did preheat my pot, but probably not for long enough. I wasn't going to wait a whole hour since I was already "late for work."

 

[leggo PE]

What kind is yours? I might be making some other baking investments soon, anyway...I also need a better bowl (the kitchenaid bowl is shaped kinda strange), a better scoring knife, and a bench scraper, at a minimum.

Thermapen is the gold standard, from what I know. But I started with a cheap, $20 one that folded up and was magnetic. It worked well and I loved it! But it was cheap and I broke it after a year or so of use. Then I upgraded to one of the less expensive Thermapens... I think this one: https://www.thermoworks.com/600D??tw=TPL

It's only $30!

 

[leggo PE]

How come no one's posting here but me any more... Did no one else order 50 lbs of bread flour like me??

The weekend roundup:





I got fancy with my scoring. I think both loaves turned out quite nice!

I also made a lemon poppyseed yogurt loaf cake:



It has a lemon syrup on it to give it that nice shiny glaze. It's quite good too!