Greetings from SFO!
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You can just boil your tap water and cool it and then use it. Keep container in the fridge. Most tap water has chlorine added. Even if you can’t smell it. And wtg said her tap water works, so maybe yours won’t have enough to matter and will too. I’ve just always let it dissipate out of mine because that’s what was suggested.
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I've never tried drying starter. If you get desperate, I can dry some of mine and send it to you. King Arthur has instructions for the whole process, from drying it, storing it, and reviving it:
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2015/05/01/putting-sourdough-starter-hold
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First attempt at sourdough challah in the oven. Meant to take a pic before it went in, and when I remembered, didn't want to open the oven and drop the temp.
Recipe was not good. The dough was more of a batter after I got to the end of the mixing stage. Had to add a ton more flour to get anything resembling the proper consistency. Rose modestly overnight and after I cut it into pieces and braided it into a loaf.
We'll see how it turns out, but I think I'll go with the King Arthur recipe for my next loaf.
I didn't need another baking utensil, but I bought a pullman loaf pan. That's the next bread experiment, probably next week.
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Looks great!
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Now to the point where the rye one doubles in size in 24 hours The wheat one gets fluffy but doesn’t change size much.
The rye one is much easier to work with than the wheat one. The wheat version sets up like concrete on whatever it touches while the rye one stays softer even if it sits on a counter or something.
Both seem to require more water than the 1:1 ratio everyone recommends. 1:1 gives a consistency something like peanut butter so I’ve been adding water until the surface of the starter will level out in the jar. The only reason I do this is to make it look like the pictures on line. Your thoughts?
I see people slowly switching their rye starter over to wheat before baking with it. Is this necessary?
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I think my starter is more like peanut butter; I follow the 1:1 ratio.
Not sure what to say about the rye starter conversion. From what @Jodi said, seems like the rye may be better for getting the starter rolling. Your observations of your two starters seem to bear that out. I only recently started experimenting with rye, but I fed a wheat starter some rye, so I'm doing kind of the reverse conversion. The bread I made with the rye-fed starter was good but I'm not sure it's worth the effort to keep multiple starters going. I think if I want to do a rye bread, I'll just use some rye in the loaf I'm making. I find the rye flour makes the bread much sticker and harder to work with, so I only do it occasionally. Lazy bum!
This first week of getting the starter going is kind of like having a newborn or a puppy in the house, isn't it? They all need constant attention! I promise it'll get easier....
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A pumpkin-shaped sourdough loaf. How cool!
https://www.mydailysourdoughbread.com/pumpkin-shaped-sourdough/
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So. Much. Carving!
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Today's experiment: Honey Oat Pain de Mie
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/honey-oat-pain-de-mie-recipe
Not a sourdough recipe. Super easy to throw together and the dough was lovely to work with.
All risen, ready to form into a loaf:
I formed the loaf and put it in the pan. You're supposed to let it rise to within an inch of the top, but I got distracted and when I went to check it I found it was all the way up to the top. I sort of gently pulled the dough from the edges of the pan and gently patted it down till I got it to the right height. Of course I could have baked it without the lid, but hey! The pullman loaf pan was the whole idea here!
End of baking:
Cooling on the rack. Still haven't tasted it. Can't wait!
We're thinking egg salad sandwiches for dinner...
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It certainly makes a nice loaf!
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I gradually put a good wheat flour in my starter. Now I just feed it with the wheat flour (the same one I bake with. I think once I took too much starter out - back when I had it in a much smaller jar - so I added back in rye flour to make sure it stayed zippy. Frankly you could probably mix your two starters together.
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Threw out the wheat starter made from the dehydrated mix. It never did anything. Keeping the rye starter.
The rye one didn’t die but it hasn’t done much either. No mold, nice smell, fluffy with bubbles but never changes size. Using bottled drinking water, 1:1:1 ratio, 95F. Now I’m intrigued. People have been doing this for 1000s of years. It’s not supposed to be this hard.
Next up - proofing box. Playmate cooler, jar of hot tap water. I can refill the jar with water when it cools off. Right now it’s sitting at 76F. Temp in house is 69F so it should never go below that.
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Thoughts on the Pullman loaf pan.
My sister spent some years as a professional baker. CIA, Etc. she always told me that cookies and such all must be made small and perfect - that only amateurs made big shaggy cookies like I did. Her breads are like your Pullman loaf, her cinnamon rolls are perfect little rounds. Very nice, very professional.
But I’m not convinced that is what I want. I’m attracted to the crusty, gnarly loaves I see on the internet. Boudin loaves were somewhere in between, but the Tartine loaf was particularly rustic.
If I ever get to the bread making stage I think I’ll start there.
