Veggie Cooking Around the World teaches whole foods, plant-based cooking in the Chicago area
Friday, December 2, 2011
Sourdough Bread Class - Dec. 6, 2011
The participants in our December 6, 2011 wild yeast sourdough bread class at Vernon Hills High School will mix a wild yeast dough in the class and bake the bread the next day at home. They will also begin capturing wild yeast from the air. This post is for class participants to add comments and describe their adventures with wild yeast bread.
The sourdough bread class web page has links to our bread recipes.
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When Amy and I got home last night I cut the two loaves the we baked in class in half before putting them in the freezer. I noticed a big difference in the texture of these loaves as compared to the loaves that we had for dinner. The loaves we baked in class were softer, more spongy, and had larger holes than the loaf we had for dinner. As we could all see, the loaf we ate for dinner held its shape better than the loaves we baked. Even though I mixed both batches with the same formula, the loaves that we baked were more hydrated. My best guess is that this was due to the fineness of the grind of the flour. The loaf we had for dinner was made with Arrowhead Mills whole-wheat flour, and the loaf that we baked in class was made with flour from a Minnesota mill that I bought from Country Life Natural Foods. When you mixed your batches, the flour in the plastic tub and in the big bowl was from the Minnesota meal, while the flour in the paper bags was from Arrowhead Mills. The Minnesota flour was ground finer than the Arrowhead Mills flour. The next time I bake with the Minnesota flour, I am going to use less water. I'm going to try to get a loaf that has a soft texture but still is able to hold its shape.
ReplyDeleteI left my loaf out all night, because it is cold in my house at night. Baked my loaf today and had to deal with the scent of baking bread throughout my morning calls (cue stomach growl). Success! I love knowing that I can check the temperature of my bread to see if it is done, much more scientific than the thumping test. Lunch was great--fresh bread and blueberry preserves. Now I just have to remember to feed my starter!
ReplyDeleteMy bread was in the fridge until last night (Friday) and I thought I'd leave the bread out overnight and bake in the morning to make it more sour. It rose A LOT overnight and when I took it out, it stuck to everything, no matter how much flour I added. I assume this is because I didn't follow the directions and left it out for 12 instead of for 3 hours. I will try to bake it again from the beginning another day, since I couldn't figure out this loaf. Story of my baking life...takes a few tries for me to get things right. I really enjoyed the class though!
ReplyDeleteKaty, another thing you can do to make your dough stick less is to make it with less water, either by using a little less water when you mix the dough or by making sure that you have sufficient flour on the surface when you knead the dough.
ReplyDeleteHi Jim and Amy...Wednesday night after our class, I baked my bread. However it did not turn out so well. I forgot to set the timer for the 50 minutes cooking time. When I remembered that I had bread in the oven, I couldn't remember how long it had been in the oven and I didn't own a thermometer to check the internal temperature. The bread was not quite done when I took it out of the oven. Now, I think I got it. I created a new starter earlier this week and made my loaf of bread this afternoon. It turned out perfectly and it's delicious. I can't believe how simple it was. The main thing I contribute to my success is not being distracted. My first attempt at baking bread I had a lot going on that evening and thought I could multi-task cooking, sewing, and taking calls. All turned out well with the second attempt. Thanks so much for sharing such an easy recipe. I really enjoyed making my starter and baking the bread. I'll send you pictures.
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