I definitely find it easier to do staged bread now I'm working at home, but even when i was out of the house for 12 hours a day it was manageable provided I knew I could manage to be home in time to take it out of the fridge for an evening bake. However I do not have small children in the vicinity, and even scheduling bread around dog walking can become a huge pain, so I can see how it could rapidly turn into something that's not worth the effort.
In other news I made a loaf of yeast Pullman today and it was so quick and easy that I'm officially retiring fr sourdough.
Sourdough is good, unquestionably. But it takes like 10 hours to make a loaf of bread, and with yeast it takes two. It's good, but it's not five times as good.
In that 10 hours though it's just like 30 minutes of work. It's more a space issue than a time issue.
It's a "this is my whole day" issue. It's that I can't really leave the house while it's happening. And it's also the fact that I won't have bread for ten hours.
Yeah... I dont think I'm ever going to try and do sourdough. Yeast, sure. I can spend an afternoon and knead up a nice loaf. Or, you know, just grab the baking powder and be done in <30m. Banana bread and such is still delicious.
It's really not that bad.
I mean, it actually is. I like making sourdough, but the past couple of weekends I’ve taken my starter out to make the levian and just end up with a massive pile of starter and no bread because life gets in the way. It’s not like exhausting or anything, but there are a bunch of tasks and it stops me from, going to see friends, going to the shops, walking the dog, or letting the wife have a nap because I have to watch the baby.
My favourite quote about sourdough is brad’s “why doesn’t sourdough cost like, thirty dollars” because while it isn’t a massive amount of active time, it’s a massive time of where you have to be home doing shit.
Eh, feed the levain - once/twice a day. Takes 2-3 minutes.
Mix primary dough - 5 minutes for mix. Have to be in the area for the next 45 for the autolyse to complete and mix in the salt/initial. Then you just have to be kinda nearby for at least 2-3 of the next 6 hours for at least 3 folds. If you did your stuff mid-day, you can now just spend 10-15 mins shaping and toss it in the fridge overnight. Then an hour or so early morning baking it (which again, is only a few minutes here and there of active work).
It's inconvenient, but not that bad if you line it up with a workday or something (since many of us are still WFH).
That’s cool for you. I’m not and have a bunch of other responsibilities.
Due to continuing difficulties with purchasing fresh yeast I've given in and started a starter, first loaf looks like bread but we'll have to see what it tastes like before declaring success.
In other news I made a loaf of yeast Pullman today and it was so quick and easy that I'm officially retiring fr sourdough.
Sourdough is good, unquestionably. But it takes like 10 hours to make a loaf of bread, and with yeast it takes two. It's good, but it's not five times as good.
In that 10 hours though it's just like 30 minutes of work. It's more a space issue than a time issue.
It's a "this is my whole day" issue. It's that I can't really leave the house while it's happening. And it's also the fact that I won't have bread for ten hours.
Yeah... I dont think I'm ever going to try and do sourdough. Yeast, sure. I can spend an afternoon and knead up a nice loaf. Or, you know, just grab the baking powder and be done in <30m. Banana bread and such is still delicious.
It's really not that bad.
I mean, it actually is. I like making sourdough, but the past couple of weekends I’ve taken my starter out to make the levian and just end up with a massive pile of starter and no bread because life gets in the way. It’s not like exhausting or anything, but there are a bunch of tasks and it stops me from, going to see friends, going to the shops, walking the dog, or letting the wife have a nap because I have to watch the baby.
My favourite quote about sourdough is brad’s “why doesn’t sourdough cost like, thirty dollars” because while it isn’t a massive amount of active time, it’s a massive time of where you have to be home doing shit.
Eh, feed the levain - once/twice a day. Takes 2-3 minutes.
Mix primary dough - 5 minutes for mix. Have to be in the area for the next 45 for the autolyse to complete and mix in the salt/initial. Then you just have to be kinda nearby for at least 2-3 of the next 6 hours for at least 3 folds. If you did your stuff mid-day, you can now just spend 10-15 mins shaping and toss it in the fridge overnight. Then an hour or so early morning baking it (which again, is only a few minutes here and there of active work).
It's inconvenient, but not that bad if you line it up with a workday or something (since many of us are still WFH).
That’s cool for you. I’m not and have a bunch of other responsibilities.
So do I. The rhythm can work if you make it, but I understand why people would choose not to. I'm just trying to say it's most definitely not impossible.
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Blake TDo you have enemies then?Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered Userregular
No you aren’t. You aren’t, you literally said, “it’s not that bad” I pointed out that people often have to leave the house and you said it’s “not that much” as if you are deciding how I should spend my day.
Shockingly, making bread has gotten popular during iso, because people have large amounts of tune. I don’t. I have lessons to plan, classes to teach, assignments to mark, reports to write, a baby to take care, a house to clean, shopping to do, washing to do, things to fix in the house, a wife to spend some time with and a dog to walk. So yeah saying adding a multi stage bread making endeavour isn’t something I just bang out every weekend and it’s completely understandable if people just want to do bakers yeast.
I'm finally going to try making a starter. The instructions I found say to use filtered water. Can I just use boiled and cooled water instead?
Is your water treated? The big thing is you don't want to use treated city water. I have no idea if boiling breaks down fluoride and whatever other additives there may be.
i am a lax baker and have never bothered doing starters with filtered water. At best I'll boil it.
They're usually lively enough so I don't think the fluoride is doing much harm?
Fwiw I've been using UK tap water (you are UK based right or am I geting muddled?) and my starter has been bumbling along quite happily. South East UK for reference as I know it varies a bit.
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JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
Straight tap water works fine in most places. Quite a few towns have enough chlorine in the water to slow down or kill your yeast, and boiling or leaving the water in a measuring cup overnight will evaporate out most of the chlorine and make it starter-friendly.
If your municipality uses chloramine as a disinfectant instead, boiling won't help but neither will most filters.
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
edited September 2020
Lying in bed just now I realised I hadn't fed my starter today. Got up, worrying it might be dead, to find it had erupted, engulfed its jar and solidified into concrete. I just had to soak it in the sink and chisel at it for ages to get it open.
I guess it's not dead.
Brovid Hasselsmof on
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
Lying in bed just now I realised I hadn't fed my starter today. Got up, worrying it might be dead, to find it had erupted, engulfed its jar and solidified into concrete. I just had to soak it in the sink and chisel at it for ages to get it open.
Lying in bed just now I realised I hadn't fed my starter today. Got up, worrying it might be dead, to find it had erupted, engulfed its jar and solidified into concrete. I just had to soak it in the sink and chisel at it for ages to get it open.
I guess it's not dead.
feed the starter regularly
or at night, it comes
But whatever you do, don't feed it after midnight!
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JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
Lying in bed just now I realised I hadn't fed my starter today. Got up, worrying it might be dead, to find it had erupted, engulfed its jar and solidified into concrete. I just had to soak it in the sink and chisel at it for ages to get it open.
I guess it's not dead.
feed the starter regularly
or at night, it comes
Wait, is that...? Ugh, I thought that was just like yeast bubbles or something. I need to go thoroughly wash a jar.
Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
I have no idea if my starter is... starting? Ever since The Incident I've opted to keep it in the kitchen instead of the airing cupboard and I don't know if it's too cool there. Every time I check on it there are some tiny bubbles but it never looks very lively. I drew a line on the jar last time I filled it so I could see if it rose/sank but it doesn't seem to have done anything except sit there and mildly bubble. Today the surface looked quite watery so I fed it, and I've moved it to my room so it might be slightly warmer (it's sitting next to my sloe gin jar and that shelf is starting to look like a apothecary's store).
It doesn't smell or look rotten so I guess as long as it shows any bubbles I'll keep doing what I'm doing?
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
If you keep it in a cool but not cold place it will stay alive, it just won't go HAM reproducing and making lots of bubbles for crazy rise.
If you're planning to use it it's often because to do one or two feeding cycles in a warm part of the house/kitchen to get some pep into your bugfriends.
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
edited September 2020
Now that it's in a place I see it regularly, instead of shut in a cupboard where I forget about it for days at a time, I'm not worried about it any more
I took that photo this morning and right now it's almost level with the shoulders of the jar
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
How do I know when my starter's ready for using?
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
Generally if you feed it in a warm place, when it's more than doubled in size but isn't yet falling down is the ideal time to get a levain going.
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
I made bread with it for the first time. It didn't really work right. Tasted kind of sour but not very. Got a good crust. But was very dense and had almost no bubbles.
Last loaf I made also came out really dense. Both were since moving into this house, I dunno if something about the new kitchen is messing things up. Different tap water? Different work surface? The dough never really gets to the smooth, shapeable stage no matter how much I knead it. Stays really elastic and gooey.
Hmm.
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
How long are your rests between stretch and fold steps and your proofs? Are you starting with a levain?
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Brovid Hasselsmof[Growling historic on the fury road]Registered Userregular
I don't know what a levain is. I mixed it, let it sit while I had breakfast, then kneaded it and left it for 4 hours, until it had nearly doubled in size. Shaped it and left it for 2 hours then baked it. Shaping it was difficult, it was so gooey I couldn't roll it up like usual I kind of just formed it into a sausage and splopped it into a tin. I thought if I just tried to bake it on a tray it would pancake.
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
A levain is a small portion of your flour and all the starter you're going to use, no salt. It's basically just a jump start for the starter.
You might want to try doing a stretch and fold method and an overnight ferment in the fridge before building - those tend to build structure better.
When I make sourdough I just crib off JKLA's 'no knead' bread recipe but I sub in 50% of the total weight with starter. It comes out fine, not as sour as I'd prefer but I prefer that method because I am tremendously lazy.
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However I do not have small children in the vicinity, and even scheduling bread around dog walking can become a huge pain, so I can see how it could rapidly turn into something that's not worth the effort.
Need some stuff designed or printed? I can help with that.
Need some stuff designed or printed? I can help with that.
Went to go mix in my levain.
totally forgot to make the levain.
welp. guess we're making 3 day bread then
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That’s cool for you. I’m not and have a bunch of other responsibilities.
Satans..... hints.....
Due to continuing difficulties with purchasing fresh yeast I've given in and started a starter, first loaf looks like bread but we'll have to see what it tastes like before declaring success.
So do I. The rhythm can work if you make it, but I understand why people would choose not to. I'm just trying to say it's most definitely not impossible.
Shockingly, making bread has gotten popular during iso, because people have large amounts of tune. I don’t. I have lessons to plan, classes to teach, assignments to mark, reports to write, a baby to take care, a house to clean, shopping to do, washing to do, things to fix in the house, a wife to spend some time with and a dog to walk. So yeah saying adding a multi stage bread making endeavour isn’t something I just bang out every weekend and it’s completely understandable if people just want to do bakers yeast.
Satans..... hints.....
I made a focaccia.
and so I'm attempting to make my own burger buns using the KAF recipe that was posted in the Cook Club thread.
My house smells very very good right now as they're baking.
Edit: including link to recipe
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/beautiful-burger-buns-recipe
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Our grocery pickup isn't until 2pm tomorrow so I won't be able to put a nice fat smear of cream cheese on my breakfast tomorrow :bigfrown:
I'm finally going to try making a starter. The instructions I found say to use filtered water. Can I just use boiled and cooled water instead?
Is your water treated? The big thing is you don't want to use treated city water. I have no idea if boiling breaks down fluoride and whatever other additives there may be.
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They're usually lively enough so I don't think the fluoride is doing much harm?
If your municipality uses chloramine as a disinfectant instead, boiling won't help but neither will most filters.
I guess it's not dead.
feed the starter regularly
or at night, it comes
But whatever you do, don't feed it after midnight!
Wait, is that...? Ugh, I thought that was just like yeast bubbles or something. I need to go thoroughly wash a jar.
Ah well, it's still tasty so not exactly a failure.
good, toothy bread
It doesn't smell or look rotten so I guess as long as it shows any bubbles I'll keep doing what I'm doing?
If you're planning to use it it's often because to do one or two feeding cycles in a warm part of the house/kitchen to get some pep into your bugfriends.
I took that photo this morning and right now it's almost level with the shoulders of the jar
Last loaf I made also came out really dense. Both were since moving into this house, I dunno if something about the new kitchen is messing things up. Different tap water? Different work surface? The dough never really gets to the smooth, shapeable stage no matter how much I knead it. Stays really elastic and gooey.
Hmm.
You might want to try doing a stretch and fold method and an overnight ferment in the fridge before building - those tend to build structure better.