[Closed] What do you think of my first sourdough loaf?

In my (obviously completely unbiased) opinion, it was delicious...

Looks good, but I'm no expert. I love the idea of sourdough but can't be bothered with the time investment. I've been perfecting baguettes in lockdown and enjoy them so much I haven't really felt like moving on from them.

Looks good, show us the crumb, please. I've just started again , after a long lay off, and it's taking a bit of getting back into.

My plan is for sourdough pizza bases

Sounds like you'll be needing a pizza oven...

Good effort, wTch the massive weight gain 😉

Looks great, well done, gives a huge sense of satisfaction.

In reality, it's no more work than normal bread, my pizza recipe takes more work than sourdough does.

No need for a pizza oven tp, I managed for years without one...

*They are way better though! 😆

Looks great. There was a sourdough thread on here last year with loads of photos, recipes and tips that's worth looking at.

It looks far too good for a first effort - hope it tastes as good too.

It has blisters on the crust which is good but it all depends on what’s going on inside!

Come on show us the crumb OP.

Blimey, that looks bloody good!👍

Looks pretty good but yeah we need a crumb shot. 🙂 Certainly looks a lot better than my first sourdough loaf.

This was my last effort

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GF got given some sour dough for Xmas.

So far we've had 4 pizza nights and one attempt at making a loaf. Loaf looked great, but unfortunately she forgot the salt so the bread was a little bland.

Lots of faff keeping the dough going/fed, but it's not my department.

OP how did it taste?

That's the acid test surely

why is it glued to a wall 😕

great effort OP, and yes itd be good to see a crumb shot.

@grum, that looks about perfect, nice one.

Looks good from the outside! I am impressed. Unfortunately I don't have the patience to look after a sourdough starter, otherwise I would give it a go.

The inside of the loaf

the crumb

That's a success sproot!

Unfortunately I don’t have the patience to look after a sourdough starter, otherwise I would give it a go

Mine took 5 days to do at first, it now lives in the fridge, untouched for weeks at a time, take it out the day bfefore I want to us, let it warm up and give it a feed.

That's it.

We don't have a logburner but we do have a designated beer fridge so the starter (Vincent) is going to live in there. That should mean that I can get away with feeding him once a week.

Grum, your loaf looks professional which is the best accolade I can think of. I think mine has room for improvement but good for a first effort.

It was not labour intensive to make, it was more the time it took. I proved it overnight then folded and proved again for a further 4 hours then popped it in the le Creuset and baked it for 35 mins with the lid on and 15 with the lid off.

My mistake was using the wrong paper to line the pot, the paper stuck to the bottom of the loaf and is hard to peel off. On the plus side I did remember the salt (I often forget this for some reason)

show off. share your method @sprootlet?

I followed Betty Bakes no knead sourdough recipe on youtube. I made the starter over 6 days and used it when it floated in a bowl of water.

The other guy who was useful was pro cooks on youtube but I wanted to try the simplest way I could find.

Looks great inside too, nice one! I think the number one thing is getting the fermentation right - ie not under or over proved.

As NBITF says you can actually manage your starter using the fridge so it's really easy, I tend to just get it out and feed the night before baking too.

I like The Bread Code channel on YT, really useful for me.

Mine took 5 days to do at first, it now lives in the fridge, untouched for weeks at a time, take it out the day before I want to us, let it warm up and give it a feed. That’s it.

I might give it a go then. I didn't realise it would store in a fridge for so long.

is it bad after a couple of loafs (one good, two terrible) I've only used my starter to make sourdough crumpets?

Andy, my starter maybe just under a year old and get dumped and ignored in the fridge for months at a time. Drain off the hooch, even when it looks pretty grim, feed it and the starter is fine. It's when it actually goes mouldy it's dead I believe

Thanks, Z1ppy, I had no idea it could be so neglected. I was under the impression it needed weekly pampering!

A little bit different but here's my rosemary and seasalt focaccia

focaccia

Working from home lunch for the other half is this with parma ham, mozzarella, tomotoes and pesto (instead of butter).

Nice work on the crumb shot.

That’s the acid test surely

Chapeau

@sproots - I see you are using Nextcloud, I use it also for addresses and calendar and backing up/ syncing phone stuff.

I got a loaf on the go right now, maybe I will post some pics later when it is ovenned.

Thread resurrection.

I've been making a loaf a week and did make some pizza bases which did not go to plan
Top tips are : an entire loaf of rye flour will give you a brick instead of a loaf of bread.

This is part white flour and part multiseeded flour. Really pleased with the slash, hope the inside is as good as the outside

I'll try again on the pizza bases - I used a you tube of a guy called Patrick Ryan, it looked easy but mine did not look anything like his, mine seemed to have no structure at all

technical delay in the link .......

I use this one, has been very successful for me

https://foodgeek.dk/en/sourdough-pizza-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-34829

Seeing as this seems to be a general sourdough thread now..... 😛

My best rise so far

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Rye is different. Here is a nice nearly 100% wholemeal rye loaf - quite dense but luscious. You don't need the yeast kicker but it helps. Above about 20% rye content it stops being possible to develop gluten in the usual way because of the sticky. And rye doesn't have much gluten it is the sticky which holds the bubbles up. Everyday rye loaves would have 20-30% wheat to get a lighter crumb. Spelt goes well with eye try 20% each wholemeal rye and spelt in a loaf for flavour.

My best rise so far

@grum, i dont think its possible to get a better looking loaf, congratulations <golfersclap> 👏👏👏</golfersclap>

@sprootlet

This recipe has worked well for me as a pizza dough base Ooni sourdough.

You can leave it for an overnight prove, or just do it in a day with no fridge time and a warm room.

OK, I'm not going to try and compete with Grum's awesome looking loaf.

Thanks for the advice on the rye flour, I did use it again but 450g ordinary and 50g rye (much better).

Thanks for the link on the pizza bases, if I'm honest the pizza bases are the reason I started using sourdough

It's still to warm to cut so no crumb photos as yet

Loaf

Thanks peeps! It's taken a lot of nerding out and practice - it's been my lockdown obsession. I still can't get it quite as good as that consistently but I'm reliably happy with my bread now. I have dreams of starting up a little micro-bakery/coffee takeout at some point, we shall see.

That's looking great sprootlet. Looks like good oven spring and crust. Definitely a lot better than I managed at first.

BTW I always used to leave mine to cool completely and impatiently wait for an hour or two, but then in the Tartine book he says he likes to cut it open almost straight away and enjoy the 'custardy' crumb. Seems to go against the received wisdom but I've not noticed any ill effects - I do leave it to cool for at least 10-15 mins though - just so I can cut it ok mainly.

the crumb

More importantly it tastes great !

Looks lovely. What are the bits in it, some kind of whole grains?

I'm waiting for a starter to mature before I can bake, might have to leave it until tomorrow now.

There’s a good sourdough pizza recipe by gozney on you tube. Very minimal work and good results.

Thanks for the pizza bases advice, I'll be trying one on Friday for sure

The bits in it are because I used Sainsburys wholegrain seeded bread - 100g and 400g of white bread flour. The seeded flour is really nice but after my rye flour disaster I thought it prudent to do a mix at first.

With your bread looking that good Grum, do you use the Bakers % for your hydration and if so what kind of level of hydration are you using? I'm managing about 330ml of water and 100g of starter per 500g bread flour. I did try more water in one loaf but it stuck to the tea towel when I turned it out (and it kind of melted all over the place too)

So if your starter is 50/50 water/flour your mix is 66% hydration I think?

I tend to use around 80-85% hydration these days but I've built up to that slowly. To do the super high hydration you need everything to go right.

One of the main things is that it doesn't have much strength so will easily just go splat when you turn it out - you need to get the strength-building and shaping just right. Doing a final prove in the fridge for 12 hours + helps firm it up as well.

Just had a slice and it is the best loaf so far, crust has a chew and the crumb has a lovely (slightly stodgy but springy) texture very happy with it.

Tried to work of the % hydration - this loaf was 330 ml and 120 g starter (50:50 flour and water) so that'll make it 78% hydration I think.

Only good thing to come out of this lockdown has been my bread making 😉

Excellent!

330ml water to 500ml flour isn't 78% is it? The starter amount makes no difference (to the hydration percentage) if it's 50/50 water/flour.

Same re lockdown, though my waistline doesn't agree.

I wasn't sure whether to include the water in the start when calculating the % hydration, in which case I am nowhere near where I would like to be. Next one will be 360ml which I think will be achievable. I suspect the key thing is to build up your confidence and technique and a gradual increase in the hydration will follow.

My other half is enjoying the weekly fresh bread and my starter has given birth to 2 more sourdough starters (next door neighbour and her mum).

Just started making my starter to give Sourdough a try.

First question, with the starter, I expected it to be runnier than it is (it's currently on day 2, and will get it's day 3 feed later)

Does it get runnier later on the process?

330ml water to 500ml flour isn’t 78% is it? The starter amount makes no difference (to the hydration percentage) if it’s 50/50 water/flour.

sorry to butt in on an excellent conversation, but i believe this info is wrong. starter weights do count towards overall hydration (whether its 50/50 or not).

im also a bit confused about the ml/g crossover. to work out the percentage i think you have to use the same for both? so 500g flour and say 330g (not ml) of water? and 100g 50/50 starter would then mean that you use figures of 550g flour and 380g flour for calculations (69%).

you can see why the starter should be added, as some people use up to 300g starter (hobbs house sourdough for one i think?) which would alter the hydration %age as youre now adding 150g of each ingredient. so in this case 650g flour and 480g water (now 73% hydration).

i hope thats right anyway and i havent given duff information 😀

Seems to be different opinions but I used this as a guide

https://leavenly.com/sourdough-hydration-and-calculator/

Some folks like to calculate their hydration including their leaven, as it does change the final result. However, it’s so negligible that I recommend simply using flour and water.

I guess it would be worth it if you're doing a dough with a high starter percentage. 1ml of water is 1g isn't it?

BTW I found 75% a manageable but still quite high hydration level. It starts to get tricky above that imo.

It's a nice feeling to have your starter branching out and helping feed other people delicious bread!

1ml of water is 1g isn’t it?

i thought it might be, but too lazy to check 😀

didnt know it was a thing not to include the starter actually, so you live and learn. at the end of the day i spose the number doesnt matter as long as you know what amounts youre playing with and adjust accordingly.
i genuinely think tho that if youre working to recipes, the major players tell you to include the starter in their percentage (again, too lazy to check).

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paul_m
Full Member

Just started making my starter to give Sourdough a try.

First question, with the starter, I expected it to be runnier than it is (it’s currently on day 2, and will get it’s day 3 feed later)

Does it get runnier later on the process?

Depends on the flour as different flours can absorb different amounts of flour. I’ve a rye starter which is a lot stiffer than my other white/whole meal starter.

If you’re on Instagram check out memoirsofabaker or sourdoughtim for tips.

You may be right sadexpunk but I'm not generally using recipes.

This one partly froze during the proving in the fridge overnight so I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I just let it thaw slightly and baked it and it turned out great 🙂

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Bread Bread Bread.

How about some cake threads.

Start one! I've never really got into baking cakes, kinda feel like I'm fat enough already 🙂

Haven't cut into it yet but here is my loaf for the week, still not at grum's impressively high standard but the hydration was 70% and there was no sticking to the tea towel at the end of the second prove. Photo might not show it too well but there is a crisp line to the slash 🙂

Sunday sourdough

I'd like to thank Toby1 for pointing me in the direction of the ooni pizza base recipe. We had them last night and they were fantastic, thin and crispy with a good chew. Really surprised at how stretchy the dough was - the first one nearly ended up a calzone because it stretched and folded over on itself

I can't see us buying shop bought pizzas again. Happy lockdown baking peeps

HELP

Thread resurrection time

It had all been going so well, I'd made 3 or 4 which looked like the one in the photo. Great crisp slash line, good flavour and crumb with no massive air holes

BUT

my last 3 loaves have been rubbish, there's been no definition to the slash and there have been large air pockets in the loaf too, usually more towards the top of the bread so I'm thinking it might be overproved? They still taste great but they just don't look it and I'm disappointed after having made a few which just looked fab.

Mo ignoring with interest. I killed my sourdough starter, it went mouldy.

Been cracking put some decent non sourdough pizzas using the curious chickpea overnight pizza base recipe which is worth a look. I add a tablespoon of olive oil to the recipe for easier dough handling.

Also the Patrick Ryan baguettes on YouTube are great. I mastered those last summer. Need to get on them again. They’re a 3 day prove in the fridge recipe and give lovely “tradition” type french sticks.

I’m keen to find a good recipe for the standard french baguette - light and airy and very crusty rather than the “tradition” type which is a little denser and chewier. Any pointers?

I must work on a new starter - I used the gozney recipe originally but instructions were a little unclear once it was made, hence my killing it!

Hi Burko73

My starter lives in the beer fridge (don't ask) in a glass jar with a loose fitting lid, I had it in a kilner jar, now it's in a coffee jar but the tight fitting plastic seal has been taken off the lid.

When I want to use it, I fetch it out of the fridge for a couple of hours then feed it with equal quantity of flour mixed with water. To stop it getting bigger and bigger I tend to do one bake feeding the whole thing then the next by removing say 40g and mixing that with 40g flour and 40g water which will make a loaf.

I made it in Jan and it's still OK although when I made pizza bases and a loaf at the same time there was only about 40g of starter left. It seems to have recovered though