Not technically baking, but I made crumpets from my starter this afternoon. I used too much butter on the first few, but learned my mistake and the last one was perfect. The starter still doesn’t double in volume between feedings, but it at least has a pretty healthy growth rate.
So, something I don’t think has been covered yet.
Is there a difference between Bleached and unbleached flour. I subconsciously knew there were two different things. But My grandma always bought unbleached AP flour, and bread flour. So that I what I have bought and fuddled my recipes around. And when Bread flour disappeared from the region, I switched to all AP and left the mixer on longer( hehe they laughed at me when I found the 6 quart up/down bowl mixer on sale, they said what does a single guy need with 600+watts)
But now. I only found bleached flour. Does that make a difference when feebly trying to get sourdough to be a consistent bake?
I could seriously make a documentary on failing to create any consistency in sourdoughing.
I mean from long before Covid. I love sourdough, It is a bitch to find normally and impossible now. And my cute experiments in changing flavor toward good sourdough are now pissing my off. So please let me know, from anyone knowledgeable about baking, will bleached vs unbleached put anything more annoying in my failure to find a formula?
So, something I don’t think has been covered yet.
Is there a difference between Bleached and unbleached flour. I subconsciously knew there were two different things. But My grandma always bought unbleached AP flour, and bread flour. So that I what I have bought and fuddled my recipes around. And when Bread flour disappeared from the region, I switched to all AP and left the mixer on longer( hehe they laughed at me when I found the 6 quart up/down bowl mixer on sale, they said what does a single guy need with 600+watts)
But now. I only found bleached flour. Does that make a difference when feebly trying to get sourdough to be a consistent bake?
I could seriously make a documentary on failing to create any consistency in sourdoughing.
I mean from long before Covid. I love sourdough, It is a bitch to find normally and impossible now. And my cute experiments in changing flavor toward good sourdough are now pissing my off. So please let me know, from anyone knowledgeable about baking, will bleached vs unbleached put anything more annoying in my failure to find a formula?
I doubt most people are going to notice a difference between bread loaves made with bleached vs. unbleached flour (I’m sure there are some gourmands out there who can detect it, because there always are).
For bread, I would do anything differently.
Now, if you were making fine pastries or something of the sort it might become an important factor, but not for something like sourdough bread.
This article covers the difference between bleached and unbleached flour. Basically, bleached flour has chemicals in it that make it seem like it’s aged flour. Unbleached flour generally is denser. Some people can apparently notice the difference in the finished product, some cant.
Now, as to how to make good sourdough, King Arthur Flour’s site recommends using pumpernickel or whole wheat flour to start the starter, and says that feeding them to a starter started on all-purpose flour will change it and the yeasts/bacteria it hosts. I’ve also seen more than one explanation that says “you’re going to get your local yeasts and bacteria, and that’s the flavor your area has.” I’m not certain about that, because I’ve had sourdoughs made locally that have a different tangy flavor than mine. I started mine on all purpose flour, and have been feeding it whole wheat since I could get my hands on some. It does taste stronger now.
Made pretzels again today, this time I used a baked baking soda bath to get the outside to brown up correctly. According to my wife, they came out perfect. I tend to agree with her, and pigged out on three of them.
Friends of Carl sourdough is the BOMB. A couple of days of feeding it, and I’ve got my first loaf. And it rises about 3x that of my home caught sourdough (which is history). All it costs is a self addressed stamped envelope
Crane, you need to check out no-knead bread. Here’s the original that started it all: No-Knead Bread Recipe (with Video) - NYT Cooking. The dutch oven baking technique is awesome. And here is his sourdough version that I’ve been doing the past few weeks: [Fast Sourdough Recipe by ‘No-Knead Bread’ Maker Jim Lahey](Fast Sourdough Recipe by ‘No-Knead Bread’ Maker Jim Lahey)
Then you can combine no-knead with “artisan bread in 5 minutes a day.” You don’t need to buy their book or join the master class. TL : DR, you combine all your bread ingredients, let it rise until doubled, then put it in the fridge for days and up to about 2 weeks. When you want to bake, take out a loafs worth, shape it, let it rise, then bake it. The dutch oven baking is pretty awesome for this as well. Here’s a link to Mother Earth News that tells you all you knead: https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/five-minutes-a-day-for-fresh-baked-bread-zmaz08djzgoe