Talk to me about sourdough - The Fermentation Club!

[Cosmopolitan]

Definitely pictures.

My kefir is very nice, first time I have made it and I made it with cashew nut milk. Coconut milk next time I think.

My kimchee is very tasty. Not reached the funky stage yet however.

[Arrietty]

This is Bernard after three days out of the freezer. He looks pretty relaxed about things!

[Arrietty]

The cooked version - smells delicious and I am really looking forward to pate and toast for lunch tomorrow!

[Arrietty]

He has bulged a bit to one side, which indicates something that I need to rectify before the next loaf goes in. I just need to remember what it is!

[Mountain Goat]

Oh god, that looks so good.

[Shoe]

I love this thread, I might make myself a starter as a pet substitute.

[Shoe]

Bernard's baby! I'd eat that.

[Cosmopolitan]

That looks brilliant! Did you slash the top enough? I get bulges when the steam hasn't got room to escape.

[overthehill]

I am in awe, Arrietty! That looks bloody wonderful. I can almost smell it.

I think might have to start again. Everything seemed to be going ok. The starter bubbled satisfyingly each time I fed it, but I've been quite busy over the last couple of weeks and hadn't got my head around trying to use it, so I put it in the fridge for a few days. I took it out on Monday, intending to feed and reactivate it and try some in a pizza base on Tuesday. But, having come back to room temperature, I did the float test and my starter sank like a stone. I've done a bit of research and realise there could be many reasons for this. It could just be that it hadn't fully reactivated, but I also realise that I should have been throwing half of the starter out, before feeding it each time. AND I've been covering the bowl with cling film, which will have starved it of air ... OR I read somewhere that if there was a watery layer on top of the starter, it may have started to separate, which means it could be past its peak.

Anyway, I tipped out half of the bowl, fed as normal and left it out in the kitchen. Now, I've just fed it and I can see it bubbling away. It looks healthy, but it still sinks when I try the float test. Or maybe I should have done the float test before feeding it? Is there something wrong, or am I just being impatient?

starter_22feb.jpg

[Cosmopolitan]

What's the float test? I've never done that. Your starter looks perfectly healthy and I would be tempted to try a loaf now.

[Arrietty]

I think sometimes it floats less well/sinks like a stone if the mixture is a bit too wet, so I'd try adding a bit more flour.

I think I need a sharper knife to make the cuts in the top, as that is definitely what happened to Bernard's Baby. He was a bit soggy in the middle, but he toasted up well for my lunch.

[Mountain Goat]

I've just got a copy of Matt Stone's book, the Natural Cook, after watching an old episode of Masterchef Oz where he was cooking in an immunity challenge and I just really liked his approach. It has tonnes of fermentation stuff in it (less helpfully, it also has a chapter on insects) including things that I have never thought of, like fermented rice. Fermented pear sauce with pork. Also lots of pickles and stuff like making buttermilk/butter/ricotta etc, dehydrated powders: it's a bit Bar Tartine but not so pleased with itself.

[Cosmopolitan]

That sounds very exciting. What are you going to make first?

[Mountain Goat]

I have no idea. I literally just opened it and got excited. I'm going to have a good sit down with it tonight and find something relatively quick and that I have an idea how I can use to start with. I just opened it at a simple recipe for brined vegetables (to serve as a salad) which I could work into tomorrow's dinner, so maybe that, and also some other things.

[overthehill]

Yay! I finally took the plunge and baked my first sourdough loaf. It lacks the aesthetic of Arrietty's, but R really wanted something to replace bought loaves. It was good!

firstsourdough1.jpg

firstsourdough2.jpg

I needed hand-holding for this first bake, so I bought Emmanuel Hadjiandreou's Sourdough recipe book, which I would thoroughly recommend. The instructions for the basic loaf are accompanied by really good, step-by-step photos. I only made one slip up, in that I didn't see I was meant to cover the dough with a bowl during the rising process, which resulted in a dry skin forming on the dough, overnight. It didn't matter too much. I just folded it back in during the knocking-back and, although you could see it in the finished loaf, it didn't seem to affect the bake. I also should have made deeper slashes in the top, as the finished loaf is a little lop-sided.

I bought a few other bits and pieces, which I didn't use this time. The banneton basket came with a lining and glaze brush, and a funny little fork thing. Does anyone know what the fork is for?

hadjiandreoubook.jpg

[Mountain Goat]

That looks fabulous! Nice holes.

I've fermented some brown rice. At least I think I have, I don't know how you tell whether it's worked. I will spare you a photo because it just looks like...brown rice. Obviously is going to be AMAZING however.

[overthehill]

I've fermented some brown rice. At least I think I have, I don't know how you tell whether it's worked. I will spare you a photo because it just looks like...brown rice. Obviously is going to be AMAZING however.

I can foresee R getting quite annoyed with me, the day he opens the fridge and finds a whole load of mysterious jars bubbling away. I think I'll keep going with the sourdough for now - but do let us know about the brown rice. That sounds very tasty.

[Mountain Goat]

My fridge is often full of mysterious pickled things (I've got into the habit of pickling odds and ends of things rather than them going to waste) and there's the bucket of slowly rotting miso outside the back door as well as the fermenting stuff on the counter. Mr G has just given up.

[overthehill]

Mr G has just given up.

[Edith Bacon]

Bumping this because I'm going to have a bash at making sourdough starter and I have questions...

Is a 1kg container big enough? And does the shape matter? I'm planning to use a spare Easiyo container but am wondering if the minimal surface area will be an issue?