Recipes / British Election [split dual topic]

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

You should start your own sourghdough if you're in the mood to make great bread.  I think I will do so as well.  Haven't had a sourdough starter in years.

[laylalex 7,300]

1 minute ago, ALFKAD said:

You should start your own sourghdough if you're in the mood to make great bread.  I think I will do so as well.  Haven't had a sourdough starter in years.

Oooooh, good idea! I haven't made sourdough in a while. I had a starter that I got rid of when I moved up here a year or so ago and now I'm kicking myself. This is like the land of sourdough too, so I got lazy and let others do it for me. I think after the move I might get a new one going. The one I used before was the one from my mom's starter, and I don't know if she has one going at the moment. Do you have any recommendations?

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

27 minutes ago, laylalex said:

Oooooh, good idea! I haven't made sourdough in a while. I had a starter that I got rid of when I moved up here a year or so ago and now I'm kicking myself. This is like the land of sourdough too, so I got lazy and let others do it for me. I think after the move I might get a new one going. The one I used before was the one from my mom's starter, and I don't know if she has one going at the moment. Do you have any recommendations?

You can purchase online, find a local store that will share, or... just start your own.  It takes a bit longer, but just start some flour and water on the counter, and the natural spores in your area will soon infest your mix and in 2-4 weeks you'll have your own local starter.  That's how I did my last one in Alaska.  I think I "spiked" it with a few grains of bread yeast, due to the cold up there.  But where you are, I doubt it will be needed.  Ditto in Florida.

[Boiler 45,979]

I would like to be there on Monday morning, should be a hoot.

 

 

[Neonred 3,633]

9 hours ago, ALFKAD said:

You can purchase online, find a local store that will share, or... just start your own.  It takes a bit longer, but just start some flour and water on the counter, and the natural spores in your area will soon infest your mix and in 2-4 weeks you'll have your own local starter.  That's how I did my last one in Alaska.  I think I "spiked" it with a few grains of bread yeast, due to the cold up there.  But where you are, I doubt it will be needed.  Ditto in Florida.

I've thought about that too.

 

Here in Florida will that be sourdough or black moldy dough?

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

3 hours ago, Neonred said:

I've thought about that too.

 

Here in Florida will that be sourdough or black moldy dough?

Lol, it will be ok.  After it starts to sour, you just have to put it in the fridge.  Shouldn't take too long to develop a good colony of spores.

[Neonred 3,633]

1 hour ago, ALFKAD said:

Lol, it will be ok.  After it starts to sour, you just have to put it in the fridge.  Shouldn't take too long to develop a good colony of spores.

How do you know when it is ready for the fridge?  By taste?

[Voice of Reason 10,298]

31 minutes ago, Neonred said:

How do you know when it is ready for the fridge?  By taste?

Pretty much. Taste, smell, and the amount of bubbles.  Wild yeast is in the air all around us of course, and when it settles onto the water/flour mix, it encounters the food and environment it needs to expand the population.  There also exists a certain amount of wild yeast in the flour you buy, but after a while, whether you buy some dried yeast starter from New York, London, or Sacramento, it will eventually become YOUR yeast, because the wild yeast in YOUR air will take over.  

 

So you just start with water and flour, let it sit until it begins to bubble a bit, and feed it daily.  Below is a more detailed recipe for how it's done.  If you get past the "good" yeasty-smelling sourdough point, and you think it is sliding into the moldy arena, simply discard it and start over.  Once you have it where you want it, put it in the fridge for use.  Whenever you use it, take out however much you need, typically 1/4-1/2 cup, and feed it with equal amounts of water and flour (1/2 cup of starter will need 1/4 c flour and 1/4 c water to "feed" it).

 

Your bread will proof more slowly than when using manufactured yeast, of course.  But a domed, delicious, no-knead bread baked in a cast iron skillet will be a great reward for all your effort!!

 

https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-sourdough-starter-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-47337

Edited December 22, 2019 by ALFKAD

[Burnt Reynolds 5,058]

1 hour ago, ALFKAD said:

Pretty much. Taste, smell, and the amount of bubbles.  Wild yeast is in the air all around us of course, and when it settles onto the water/flour mix, it encounters the food and environment it needs to expand the population.  There also exists a certain amount of wild yeast in the flour you buy, but after a while, whether you buy some dried yeast starter from New York, London, or Sacramento, it will eventually become YOUR yeast, because the wild yeast in YOUR air will take over.  

 

So you just start with water and flour, let it sit until it begins to bubble a bit, and feed it daily.  Below is a more detailed recipe for how it's done.  If you get past the "good" yeasty-smelling sourdough point, and you think it is sliding into the moldy arena, simply discard it and start over.  Once you have it where you want it, put it in the fridge for use.  Whenever you use it, take out however much you need, typically 1/4-1/2 cup, and feed it with equal amounts of water and flour (1/2 cup of starter will need 1/4 c flour and 1/4 c water to "feed" it).

 

Your bread will proof more slowly than when using manufactured yeast, of course.  But a domed, delicious, no-knead bread baked in a cast iron skillet will be a great reward for all your effort!!

 

https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-sourdough-starter-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-47337

A wild yeast appears!

 

[Neonred 3,633]

37 minutes ago, Burnt Reynolds said:

A wild yeast appears!

 

So if your wife or girlfriend has a yeast infection.....?🤔

 

 

 

 

Sorry 😨  guess I just ruined this off topic.

[Burnt Reynolds 5,058]

10 minutes ago, Neonred said:

So if your wife or girlfriend has a yeast infection.....?🤔

 

[laylalex 7,300]

5 hours ago, ALFKAD said:

Pretty much. Taste, smell, and the amount of bubbles.  Wild yeast is in the air all around us of course, and when it settles onto the water/flour mix, it encounters the food and environment it needs to expand the population.  There also exists a certain amount of wild yeast in the flour you buy, but after a while, whether you buy some dried yeast starter from New York, London, or Sacramento, it will eventually become YOUR yeast, because the wild yeast in YOUR air will take over.  

 

So you just start with water and flour, let it sit until it begins to bubble a bit, and feed it daily.  Below is a more detailed recipe for how it's done.  If you get past the "good" yeasty-smelling sourdough point, and you think it is sliding into the moldy arena, simply discard it and start over.  Once you have it where you want it, put it in the fridge for use.  Whenever you use it, take out however much you need, typically 1/4-1/2 cup, and feed it with equal amounts of water and flour (1/2 cup of starter will need 1/4 c flour and 1/4 c water to "feed" it).

 

Your bread will proof more slowly than when using manufactured yeast, of course.  But a domed, delicious, no-knead bread baked in a cast iron skillet will be a great reward for all your effort!!

 

https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-sourdough-starter-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-47337

That's a really excellent explanation, ALFKAD. Have you ever made any bread using the Tartine method? I made this a couple of years ago using the starter that I had from Burbank, and while it is a LOT of work, it makes for an exceptional loaf. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016277-tartines-country-bread However, I am lazy and it requires a lot of work. I had a lot of success making loaves of all varieties from this book: https://www.amazon.com/Artisan-Bread-Five-Minutes-Revolutionizes/dp/1250018285/ 

 

My wholemeal bread recipe isn't from that book, but is similarly no fuss and very little work for an amazing taste.

 

450g stoneground wholemeal flour (I usually use Bob's Red Mill stoneground whole wheat for this)

a packet (7g) of instant yeast (I use Red Star)

1.5 tsp of salt 

350ml of "hand hot" water

• Pour the flour into a large mixing bowl, and sprinkle on the yeast and the salt. Combine with a spatula.
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and mix the water in slowly to form a dough. You might not need all the water, you might need more. Depends on the flour. 
• Finish the dough by mixing it with your hands until the dough is smooth and when you roll it around the bowl, the bowl is clean -- no extra flour or dough on the sides of the bowl. More water might be needed here -- it's a little better to have the dough be a little wet than too dry. 
• Move the dough to a lightly floured surface and stretch it out to an oblong/rectangle. Then you fold one edge of it into the center, and then the other edge over that. 
• Put the dough in a VERY well buttered 2lb bread tin (I found mine at Williams Sonoma years ago) and sprinkle with some of the leftover flour. Since a pound is 454g, I usually use the remaining 4g for flouring the board and sprinkling on the dough. I don't need to tell anyone that kitchen scales are your friend.  
• Then you put the whole tin with the dough in a greased plastic baggie big enough to fit the tin and with room enough for the dough to rise, and secure it with a clip. Let it rise for about 2 hours.
• When it's risen (you want it about half an inch or more over the top of the tin), take it out of the bag and pop it in a 400F oven (center rack) for 40 minutes. 

• Take it out of the oven, loosen the edges with a knife and turn it out on to a tea towel. Tap the bottom of the loaf to see if it's cooked all the way through (you should hear a hollow sound when you do).

•  

  For crustier bread, put the loaf back in oven upside down, directly on the rack, for another 5-10 mins, then cool on a rack.

[Boiler 45,979]

Does it have adjustments for high altitude?

[laylalex 7,300]

1 minute ago, Boiler said:

Does it have adjustments for high altitude?

I don't know -- I've only ever made it in Suffolk, London, the Valley (both San Fernando and San Gabriel) and Berkeley, all of which are at pretty low altitudes (all under 1000ft I think). It's a recipe I got from my former MIL. I can dig around in the packing boxes and find the cookbook it was in to see if there's any adjustment.

[Boiler 45,979]

I have had major issues with anything that needs raising, somethings just need need longer, others do not work very well at all. Boiling here is 182f to give you some ides.