Category: cooking and baking

My best loaf yet…I hope

On By vikkihaffendenIn bread baking, cooking, cooking and baking, food, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve called this post ‘my best loaf yet… I hope’, because I haven’t sliced this sourdough loaf yet.

Sprinkled with a little stardust… Specially for the ‘ear’

Typically this was rather thrown together on a hot day day.and baked in a hurry, straight from the fridge, before I went out this morning. I used the same Sourly recipe as my last loaf, with 50g of the bread flour swapped for 50g Spelt. As I suspected I was allowing my shaped dough you over-prove, I put it straight in the fridge after shaping – without leaving it out for the 80 minutes that is suggested. I think in the winter it will probably need this, but the temperatures at the moment here in the UK are in the 30s so it works best without.

The starter is still my original one made from raisin-water yeast that I started in January 2020. I feed it with plain flour and occasionally with spelt or rye – just to give it a bit of a different flavour. I feed the starter with 100 g of flour and 100g of water to 100g of starter so I think this makes it 100% hydrated? Not sure.

As with my own recipe the bread dough comes out as about 70 – 72% hydrated after mixing. The main difference between the recipes is that Sourly’s uses 130g starter, and I was using 94g. I prefer using 130g as there is less starter to discard each time. Then it’s just a matter of less flour and less water to manorial the ‘baker’s percentage’. You can read more about the ‘baker’s perecentage’ in my post here.

Update – crumb is as good as the crust!

Open crumb loaf sourced open

Possibly my first sourdough ‘ear’

On By vikkihaffendenIn bread baking, cooking and baking, foodLeave a comment

This is the first time I’ve got an ear on my sourdough loaf!

Flap of dough lifted up on a cooked sourdough loaf. Black sesame seed topping

The loaf was prepared using Sourly’s recipe which only really varies for my own in that it’s got honey in it but otherwise is about 70% hydration I think. This has always seemed to work normally ok for me.

I made a double quantity and a round and rectangular shape but was a bit disappointed in the round loaf. The dough just spread out and made out of blob not a nice boule shape. I’m sure it will taste nice it just looks a bit burnt to be honest. The boule was scored and then baked open on a baking stone – with steam – in the oven.

The rectangular was open cooked for 5 minutes, scored then covered in the cloche with a good water spray.

Sourdough boule with flax seed topping

I think my oven temperature is probably too high – it’s so hot today day maybe I could have done with the lower temperature?

I’ve come to the conclusion that my problem is that I over prove the dough. So although I retarded this in the fridge overnight I followed Sally’s suggestion to sit outside for 80 minutes before putting in the fridge. I think it was this in the hot weather that has caused yet another over- proof.

To be honest I used to get much nicer looking loads with a lower hydration somewhere between 60 and 65% but a nicer, holey crumb with the 72%. So more experimentation still needed on one day I might get it right.

Sourdough bread-baking update

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I’ve purchased some new tools for my bread making. The first was a bread cloche (well my version of this). More recently I indulged in a bannetton basket with liner and a plasterer’s spatula. These are not only useful, but fun to use and experiment with. I’ve written a bit more about using these, and how they have aided my sourdough baking in my page Getting a Great Crust on Sourdough Bread.

If purchasing a plasterer’s spatula, make sure it has a stainless steel blade.

Still practising scoring…

Sourdough bake-fest

On By vikkihaffendenIn bread baking, cooking and baking, foodLeave a comment

I’m going to a small garden-gathering, and taking some food along. Sourdough bread was the obvious choice, so I checked out some new recipes as I wanted to make baguettes and a rustic style Rye loaf.

I chose the baguette and Rye recipes from baking sense.com. These use a ‘levain’ to start the dough which I like to do if I have time

Sourdough Rye Bread

Years ago I bought 4 baguette trays at great expense, so these were going to come in useful. After discovering I’d run out of Rye flour, a quick dash to the local shop was needed. Breathless but successful I started to prep my starters.

I had already halved my 100% hydrated starter and increased my normal feeding schedule to make a starter that would allow 250g for the baguettes, and 100g left to carry on with. I used Rye to feed the other half to a total of 300g.

The baguette starter was ready before the Rye one, so I kneaded the dough but then left it in the fridge for 2 days. The Rye starter was ready the next day, but was ‘held’ in the fridge so that I could work the two doughs concurrently. On the third day – which was very warm, I made the Rye dough early in the morning, and left it to prove until the late afternoon. Meanwhile I removed the baguette dough from the fridge and let it warm to room temperature.

The four baguettes were shaped first, and set to prove whilst I shaped the Rye into two rustic cobs with caraway seeds on top.

The baguettes were ready to bake at 10pm and the Rye went into the oven directly after.

We ate one baguette because the smell was irresistible and it is deliciously tasty with a great chewy texture.

The the remaining baguettes and a Rye cob loaf

Water kefir experiment

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Having found I had excess milk kefir grains I thought I’d see if they would convert to water grains. After a bit of reading up I decided to give it a try.

I put the excess grains (2 tbsp?) In a jar and added about 1.5 cups of tap water and 1/8 cup Demerara sugar, oh and a tiny pinch of salt. That seemed about right based on my reading.

I left them, with occasional swirls, for 4 days on the worktop. Then I drained the grains, re made the sugar solution and did it again, but for 3 days. And so it went on until it was down to 24 hours.

I started a second batch the day after, as the first ones went a weird brown colour. Both seem OK though.

The first, smaller jar had started to go cloudy, so I think I need a bigger jar and more solution.

I started the second, bigger jar of as flavoured ‘pop’. I strained the liquid from larger jar and put the same amount of cold ginger and lemon tea into a Grolsch bottle. It’s sitting fermenting right now. Hope it works. I tasted it before sealing the bottle and it was good but not bubbly.

Let’s hope it tastes good in a day or so!

Amazing raisin yeast – still active

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The raisin yeast that I started off at the beginning of the UK lockdown in March is still bubbling! It has sat on the fridge with very sporadic periodic teaspoons of sugar added when I remember.

Today I used some commercial yeast to seed my Stollen dough starter, but it’s pretty un-bubbly. Maybe I am used to my active sourdough starter, but I’m unimpressed. So I am going to add some of the raisin yeast to give it some welly. Let’s see what happens!

Still bubbling after 9 months of mostly fridge-life

Well that was a success

On By vikkihaffendenIn bread baking, cooking and baking, foodLeave a comment

Following on from yesterday’s post. The dough rose well, and I knocked out back and shaped it at about 11pm. For the first time with this sourdough I shaped it onto buns in a round silicone cake tray. Then it went, under a wet cloth and plastic, into the fridge overnight.

This morning the buns hadn’t proved quite enough, so I put the tray on too of the heating oven for 30 minutes to encourage the rise.

After baking the bin round looked amazing.

Once cooled I planned to make the tools up for a picnic, and splitting the round revealed a scrumptious centre.

The picnic rolls had pastrami and salad inside, but I opted for raspberry jam on mine!

The family say, “you can make this bread again!”, and I agree.

Making it seedy…

On By vikkihaffendenIn bread baking, cooking and bakingLeave a comment

Today’s bread has seeds in it. As a family we love seeded bread, and I’ve made it with commercial yeast, but not with my sourdough starter yet.

It’s kitchen cupboards yield a variety of seeds; I like to toast them for topping salads and cooked dishes. After a quick glance at a recipe on The Perfect Loaf, over confidence got the better of me. After a quick calculation I opted for 4% flax, 4% sesame and 5% sunflower seeds to add to my normal dough weight. I soaked the flax for about 30 minutes and toasted both sesame and sunflower seeds. After draining the flax I added both to the dough before kneading.

So far, so good. I’m now waiting to see how it proves.

Update on raisin yeast sourdough starter

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The sourdough starter I made from raisin yeast liquid is still going strong. I started the yeast off at the start of lockdown, so mid March-ish and then made the starter in April.I keep the starter in a large clip-top Kilner jar and have not cleaned it out yet; it smells wonderful when you open it. Many loaves later it is bubbling away madly still. The raisin yeast liquid is now in the fridge and has been used twice to add some zing to the starter. I refresh it with sugar and warm water and a day or two on the worktop as a reward.I make bread about every 5-6 days and keep the starter in the fridge in between times. I’ve also (somewhat unsuccessfully) made apple sourdough cake. It was a bit stodgy, but tasty.Over the weeks I have established a couple of methods that are pretty foolproof for me. One is long, slow and satisfying one is fast, easy and satisfying.Long and slow:I take the starter out of the fridge in the morning, and feed it with 50g plain flour and 50g warm water and leave it on the work top for an hour or so – or until I remember, and this can be 3pm sometimes. 30 minutes before I want to knead the bread I mix 400g of white bread flour (or 100g whole meal and 300g white) with 180g water. This can is lumpy and not pretty, but is called ‘autolysing’ the dough, and I find it helps with the process.Covering the bowl with a damp tea towel prevents crusty flour forming.When its time to knead, I give the starter a light stir and tip 200g into the bowl of flour and water and mix it all together. Feed the starter again and pop it back in the fridge for next timeI hand knead it on a floured worktop for 10-15 minutes which is incredibly therapeutic for arthritic hands, and also for edgy tempers. After about 10 minutes I sprinkle 10g of salt on the dough and knead that in. If there is a lot of wholemeal flour in the dough I might also add a 1/2 tsp of vitamin C powder to help it rise.Once its smooth and soft I return the dough to the (floured) bowl, and cover it with a wet cloth and a plastic shower cap, then put it on the worktop (or somewhere warm if the weather is chilly), and forget about it for hours on end.Sometime later, in today’s case 8pm, I knocked back the dough, shaped it into two loaves and popped them into the Lekue bread moulds I use. The wet cloth and shower cap go back over the loaves and I tonight I ended up baking the bread at 10:30pm. On other nights I might put the shaped loaves in the fridge (wet cloth and shower cap in place), and cook the loaves the next morning.Quite fast and easy:Feed the starter, leave it for an hour to bubble up. Put 400g bread flour, or a combination as described above, into a Kenwood chef, (or similar mixer), add 180 g warm water and pour in 200g of starter.Feed starter again and return to fridge.Mix with the dough hook for 10 minutes, adding 10g salt half way through. Remove the hook and put the bowl (covered with wet cloth and shower cap) somewhere warm to rise. Once doubled in size, knock back and shape, leave to rise again for 30-40 minutes and then bake. I use the Lekue moulds for this as well – always covering with wet cloth and shower cap as before.Easy- Peasy using a bread machine:Feed the starter, leave it for an hour to bubble up. Put 400g bread flour, or a combination as described above, into a bread machine pan, add 180 g warm water and pour in 200g of starter. Set machine to the longest dough programme (this is wholemeal on my Panasonic machine). Add 10g salt towards the end of the first knead (I set a timer to remind me otherwise I forget and have to reset the machine for an extra knead to incorporate this).Feed starter again and return to fridge.Once the machine finishes the dough programme, tip out the dough and shape, leave to rise again for 30-40 minutes and then bake, or put the shaped loaves in the fridge overnight and bake in the morning. I use the Lekue moulds for these loaves as well – always covering with wet cloth and shower cap as before.The Lekue silicone loaf moulds are great, they hold the shape of the loaf well, making a nice rustic looking loaf, and keep the dough moist during risking and baking.I’ve even made this loaf with only one rise and shaping into the moulds with an overnight rise, not quite as light bread, but very edible.