I know there are some sourdough people here.

[ramonesfreak]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Thanks, but darn. That's what I do but everyone else's pizza dough is better than mine - particularly yours LOL

i wish i knew the secret. my wife is a baker and only says to not mess with her dough, not to even look at it, once she has it portioned out into 4 balls

what you see above looks good maybe because i got the oven to 750 degrees fahrenheit. makes a big difference. the pizza should be done in about 50 seconds

[ramonesfreak]

what i want to learn how to make is crumpets. i love them. they seem very simple to make.

also i remember Bialy from when i lived in nyc and long island.

can’t get either of the above around here

[Skytrooper]

You may have diabetes, that doesn't mean you cannot eat any carbs. Modify your intake and you will be fine. I am diabetic and have been for a long time. I still eat breads "on occasion" , that is the key right there...on occasion. Limit your portions of carbs and sugars...you will be ok. I am also going on two years Keto. So, 50g of carbs is my total daily intake, a goodie here or there won't upset the apple cart. I have also lost 35 lbs. I make Keto/diabetic Chocolate chip cookies that tasta as good as Toll House, if not better. You just have to control yourself.

[ramonesfreak]

Originally Posted by vash

Opps

Very nice. Looks just like my wife's when she makes it. Damn im hungry

[ramonesfreak]

Tim's stuff too above....wow. Looks impressive

[vash]

this was my first bite.

[cantdrv55]

Great looking bread! You are evil.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by vash

I am no expert. but even in my short stint of harboring a sourdough starter, I learned quick that is is nothing to get all anal about. I barely feed mine. once every 10 days with it in the fridge. I went 14 days when I went out of town. heck, I learned I could smear it thin on parchment, let it dry, store it dry, and use it to seed a new batch later. even years later.

I made one before and it took a week and about 2lbs of rye flour. it was stupid easy, and I totally over thought every step.

Interesting, and good to know. We've gone through periods where we made our own kefir, and also for a short while kombucha. Both can be extended and abused with the fridge and/or neglect and come out OK, but all of the "instructions" that you read invariably seem like getting off schedule is going to result in the end of the world as we know it.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by vash

What's the saying?

"Like a boss!"

Of course in this case, that's literal and figurative.

[Alan A]

My wife makes the stuff. These are relatively inexpensive and make a real nice oval loaf fwiw.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CJDLKZBX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Jeff Higgins]

Starter can be made from scratch. No need to get it from someone else. One of the things you will find out about sourdough people is how they love to play up where their starter originated. "Mine came over on the Oregon Trail." "Oh yeah? Mine came over on the Mayflower." "Pffft... Jesus's mother Mary started mine." And so on. When you look at how the process works, you start to recognize that there is far more current b.s. than old starter in the process.

My mix for starter is really simple. 20 grams of old starter, 80 grams of the cheapest damn flour I can find, and 80 grams of water. If starting from scratch, leave out the old starter and leave the mix out for a week or so, uncovered. It will attract yeast from the air. After a week or so, use 20 grams of it and follow the aforementioned recipe. It may take a month to get it living and active, but it will.

Once you have ripe and active starter, start storing it in the fridge when you are not going to use it. The morning of the day before you want to make a loaf, "feed" it. We do this by using 20 grams of it, adding the 80 grams each of flour and water, mixing, and leaving it out overnight.

That, of course, leaves you with 160 unused grams of starter. We call this "discard". Don't discard it, though. Put it in the fridge. Keep saving it every time you "feed" your active starter. After awhile, you will have enough "discard" to make pizza dough, focaccia, cinnamon rolls, etc. (lots of recipes out there for sourdough "discard").

Once fed, take your starter and mix it up to make a loaf. I like 150 grams of starter, 300 grams of water, and 15 grams of salt. Mix this up real good, then add 500 grams of cheap ass white general purpose flour. Too many make the mistake of using too good of a flour here - remember, this is "peasant food". Too good of flour ruins it.

Once mixed, let it sit in the mixing bowl for an hour or so. Then, once an hour or so, stretch it in four directions. Stretch it, lay it back down in the mixing bowl, rotate 90 degrees, stretch, repeat four times. Do this four or five times or whenever the hell you feel like it. Remember - "peasant food". You're out tilling your fields, milking cows, slaughtering lambs, beating laundry... you get to your bread when you get to your bread. Don't over think it, or over schedule it. If you are using a timer, throw it away.

At the end of the day, "form" your loaf. We call this "putting tension" into the loaf. Throw out some flour, get some on your hands, and do your best to roll and compact it into the smallest, tightest ball possible. It's amazing how much smaller you can make it when you do this. This is key, don't skip this.

Once ready, put it into a "proofing" basket, cover it, and put it in the fridge overnight to "cold ferment". Take it out the next morning and let it rise most of the day. When it's ready, slice the top with a "lame" as many times as you like, either all parallel or make a cross, or whatever. This keeps the top from splitting wide open when baked.

Put your Dutch Oven in the oven on the second from bottom shelf. Put a baking pan under it on the bottom shelf. Preheat to 425 degrees. Put the loaf in the Dutch Oven and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 25. This may vary with your oven, of course, so take a look at about 20 minutes.

That's it, that's all. Easy peasy. The most important part is learning to "read" your starter. When to feed it, when it's ready to bake, and all of that. It's always going to produce edible bread, it's just a matter of how "fluffy" it turns out. That's the real art of sourdough. I've made some real "curling stones" in my day, but they are still edible. The fluffy, airy loaves are better, or course, and those are the sign of an accomplished sourdough baker who can really "read" his starter.

And, yes, you can become a real slave to your starter. It's a living, breathing organism. But it's not as fragile and demanding as many will say. Remember - "peasant food". Yes, it's better if we bake every day, like for sustenance. That's its real role. "Designer" sourdough, and those who see it as a "treat", doesn't really work. My wife and I eat nothing but, along with various discard forms of "bread". You have to keep the starter "working" - that's what it is meant to do. People who give up on it are approaching it wrong. They want it at their convenience, "sourdough in a box", like other things they bake. It just doesn't work that way. It's at its best when used every day, for sustenance. Peasant food.

[Hads930]

Originally Posted by Skytrooper

You may have diabetes, that doesn't mean you cannot eat any carbs. Modify your intake and you will be fine. I am diabetic and have been for a long time. I still eat breads "on occasion" , that is the key right there...on occasion. Limit your portions of carbs and sugars...you will be ok. I am also going on two years Keto. So, 50g of carbs is my total daily intake, a goodie here or there won't upset the apple cart. I have also lost 35 lbs. I make Keto/diabetic Chocolate chip cookies that tasta as good as Toll House, if not better. You just have to control yourself.

You think you could share that cookie recipe? I don’t mind a Keto type diet but after dinner to bedtime I am restless trying to satisfy my sweet tooth.

[berettafan]

holy crap what a thread! LOVE sourdough. And rye. And a really good nutty pizza dough. So key to a great pizza.

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by Bill Douglas

Thanks, but darn. That's what I do but everyone else's pizza dough is better than mine - particularly yours LOL

2 secrets to pizza dough-the first and most important is cold fermentation. Instead of letting the dough rise, put it into a plastic container and ferment it in the fridge for 2-3 days.
The second is autolyze. Loosely mix your flour and water and let it sit for 30 min or up to an hour before you add your yeast/starter and knead. This allows for some enzyme activity and some long gluten to form. It really yields a dough that is easier to work with.
This site is a great rabbit hole of home pizza info- https://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm- they guy went from a home nerd to a full on pizzaiolo.

[Bill Douglas]

A big thanks Greg. I've cut and pasted your words into my pizza dough file and will try that soon.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by vash

Opps

Wait just one gosh durned minute.

Are you saying that this is your first loaf? Really? Honestly?

My wife would hunt you down and gut you if that's the case, she took several months of experimenting and testing to get a loaf with a good ear, and you did it by accident???


There will be times when you have starter discard. Lots of it. Piles of it.

Discard pancakes, discard biscuits, discard CRACKERS. You can make Cheez-its with discard sourdough in about 30 minutes.

Freaking CRACKERS. Unlimited cheese and herb CRACKERS.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by greglepore

The second is autolyze. Loosely mix your flour and water and let it sit for 30 min or up to an hour before you add your yeast/starter and knead. This allows for some enzyme activity and some long gluten to form.

Thanks Greg. I made pizzas last night following your advice. The best pizzas EVER. Yes, really. The dough had an amazing flavour and with big air bubbles in it.





.

[dad911]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

Wait just one gosh durned minute.

Are you saying that this is your first loaf? Really? Honestly?

My wife would hunt you down and gut you if that's the case, she took several months of experimenting and testing to get a loaf with a good ear, and you did it by accident???


There will be times when you have starter discard. Lots of it. Piles of it.

Discard pancakes, discard biscuits, discard CRACKERS. You can make Cheez-its with discard sourdough in about 30 minutes.

Freaking CRACKERS. Unlimited cheese and herb CRACKERS.

I'm not a sourdough fan, but my wife makes some tasty stuff from the discard. I like that better than the sourdough.

[berettafan]

Originally Posted by greglepore

2 secrets to pizza dough-the first and most important is cold fermentation. Instead of letting the dough rise, put it into a plastic container and ferment it in the fridge for 2-3 days.
The second is autolyze. Loosely mix your flour and water and let it sit for 30 min or up to an hour before you add your yeast/starter and knead. This allows for some enzyme activity and some long gluten to form. It really yields a dough that is easier to work with.
This site is a great rabbit hole of home pizza info- https://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm- they guy went from a home nerd to a full on pizzaiolo.

Loosely mix as in not fully integrated?

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Loosely mix as in not fully integrated?

You can fully integrate it, but you don't want to mix it so long as to "work" the dough. If using a mixer, I usually run it for 20-30 sec . Then let it rest for 20-30 min before you add the starter, salt and oil...