Saturday 28 October 2017

THE BEST BAKING


SOURDOUGH  BREAD

My family knows that I love baking, from scones, pies, bread to sponges, we like sweets as well as savouries.  Today is one of my daughters birthdays, I decided to bake sourdough bread, and it's the best baking I ever did, I am sure she would love to taste it, but she lives so far away.  The sourdough bread baked on the 25th of October was the best, and it 's almost perfect.  Happy Birthday, Jane, and thank you for the blessing.
They were round rolls and a long roll with lovely shapes. The look maybe not totally traditional, but I enjoyed shaping it and scoring with patterns that I like.  I used it as a canvas for my art.
I don't have a recipe for it, but I can show what I did.
The sourdough starter and the bread ingredients.  I made a new sourdough starter which took for five days to be ready, and it looked good, it grew and bubbling beautifully.  Yes, it's living.  I was confident that I will have a good sourdough bread with it.
The bread ingredients I used: plain flour, sourdough starter, water, salt and sugar the equal amount of the salt.  I could tell you that I used too much sourdough starter as the first proofing was almost doubled in bulk which is out of character from the sourdough making.  But overall, the bread was good.
Here are the pictures of the preparation and the baking of the bread.

 The Sourdough Starter
A lot of Bubbles
Thick and Strong and alive































The Dough
The Dough, ready for the First Proofing

After a few hours of proofing, it's doubled.
Dividing the Dough
Resting for 25 minutes
The dough in the portion before the shaping

The Shaping
Resting the dough onto floured cloth
Proof for two hours

The floured cloth for the dough to rest or to proof


The Baking
(I think the dough was over prooved based on the look after scoring)
The dough slashed/scored before baking.
Place a baking stone in the oven to heat up before placing the dough to bake and put a container with water in the bottom of the oven to make the steams.  Place the bread onto the hot stone and bake for 26-29 minutes.
Transfer and rest the bread immediately after baked, to the cooling tray.
Freshly Baked Sourdough Bread
The long bread

The Bread 
When it was cooled enough, about two hours later, the bread was ready to cut, and the crumb was good, soft and chewy, and the outer was crisp.
The crumb looked good, and the taste was good

The Baking Process was very enjoyable, with a high expectation of a great result.  Indeed it's the best baking sourdough bread ever.  It could be better, but it's almost to perfection.

The smell of the kitchen is always so homely while the bread is being baked, it is a beautiful place to be expecting such delicious food.  A good day a friendly time.

I don't have the recipe to share regarding this baking, but you have nothing to lose not following a recipe, as it is only a guide.  Sound judgment and the right ingredients and accurate application are the keys to success.  The weather on the day is playing a big part too.


I read an expert says a recipe in itself does not guarantee a good loaf.  They are so many variables that affect a good sourdough bread, from the kind of flour to the amount it is handled, to the weather on the day. ( These are things that a recipe cannot be accountable).
Baking a beautiful loaf is about more than just the practical external factors.  To make a really great sourdough, you need the ability to judge the dough; to know it, understand it, feel it and instinctively correct or modify your technique on any given day.


Personally, I agree with what the expert suggests and says. Once you understand the technique and the right reasons to make sourdough bread, then you will always bake a great loaf.


A basket of sourdough bread of the beautiful baking.
Beautiful Sourdough Bread the Good Loaf

I do think  I understand what sourdough is all about, but I will keep on learning and improve.  I am very passionate about baking sourdough bread the excellent loaf.


Last but not least I have to say that it freezes well, it was a reasonable effort and a great reward.



Until Next Post
Susy

1 comment:

  1. Have fresh leeks at hands it is the best for cooking the Creme Vichyssoise to have with the sourdough bread. And it is delicious to serve the soup hot, instead of cold (traditionally)

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