#30: Basic Sourdough Bread

After blogging about the first couple days of my sourdough starter, I kinda lost track of time and didn't get around to posting the other days.  Luckily I didn't lose track of my sourdough starter (mostly!) and things progressed right along.

Day 1, Saturday: Nothing exciting; just a quiet mix of rye flour and water.

Day 2, Sunday: Again, not much exciting.  Feed with high-gluten flour and more water.  Starting to see some bubbles and a tiny bit of expansion.

Day 3, Monday: Woke up Monday morning and the culture had overflowed the 1-quart bowl and oozed out on to the counter.  Oops! I quickly moved the seed culture to a new bowl and then fed in the evening according to schedule.  Instead of throwing away half, I start a second batch, in case anything goes wrong with the first.

Day 5, Wednesday: Oops!  Forgot to inspect Tuesday night.  Rachel inspects while I'm at work and we decided to hold tight since it hasn't doubled according to the directions.  I hope Sunday night wasn't the doubling we are expecting and that it will rise some more by the time I get home from work.  However the culture rises some but not as much as I'm expecting.  There is also a slight skin to the surface and minuscule mold colonies are visible.  I scoop the top layer off (I needed to toss half any ways), feed, and return the culture to the counter.

Day 6, Thursday: This is the point where I would normally build the barm but it still hasn't got the expansion I want.  I decide to let it sit until Friday.

Day 7, Friday: More bubbles and another slight skin.  No mold in the morning but I again scoop off the top layer and build the barm in the morning.  Rachel slips it into the refrigerator during the day after it ferments for a few hours.

Day 8, Saturday: I take 2 cups from the barm and start two firm starters and return the rest to the fridge.  5 hours of fermentation and the firm starters are slid into the fridge.

Day 9, Sunday: Start the Basic Sourdough Bread dough before church and ferment during church.  I then shape the loaves and set them to proof.  They aren't expanding as much as I want and mostly expanding in the horizontal direction so I reshape the loaves into a makeshift couche made of parchment paper.  We need the bread for dinner so after giving them ample time to rise, I prepare the oven and bake them, hoping that I'll see a little oven-loft.  Alas, the loaves don't rise much in the oven and come out pretty dense.  However none of the three loaves survive dinner so they must not have been that bad.

I wasn't surprised by the ripe smells given off during the first few days but when I smelled the signature sourdough smell in the final days, I was excited for the end.  I think next time I'm going to "spike" the dough with a little instance yeast to ensure the expansion I want and still have the sourdough flavor.