Teresa's Sourdoughs

I've been following Teresa Greenways course on Udemy, "Bake real Artisan Sourdough Bread" and very good it is too.

She has put up a recipe for 100% hydration Wholemeal Sourdough and I fancy a go at that. I need 500g of starter so I need to build it up, starting this morning with 50g made to 150. Tonight I will half it to 75g then build it to 225g. In the morning I will make the 225g  into 600g and use it at lunchtime. The spare will go to make some scones. 

I hope that's not too complicated, it's all about maintaining a 100% hydration starter, so the flour and water are equal. It caused me a lot of grief at first but once it clicks it's logical. For every gram of starter, you need to feed with one of flour and one of water and that's it.

So as not to waste the oven time, I'm doing her Alaskan Sourdough as well.

I mixed both and left them for 2 hours,

100% Wholemeal

Alaska

then I folded them both, the White was quite stiff and the Wholemeal a bit runny but they both folded reasonably well. I left them another hour and did it again.

Wholemeal

Alaska

 As you can see, they are getting smoother and the Wholemeal is developing a strength in its structure. Next time I looked the Alaska passed a windowpane test so I will shape it in another hour. They can prove in the kitchen for 3 hours then go in the fridge overnight.

Alaska

Wholemeal

You can see the bubbles in the dough, I degassed them a bit but I want some aeration. 

Next morning (well this morning actually) they went straight from the fridge to a 250°C oven, on baking stones.

and after 35 minutes looked pretty good, 

maybe not much spring on the Wholemeal but it still looks nice.

I let them cool for an hour and sliced to check the crumb out.

They look alright, and the taste is up to standard.

3 Seed and Chickpea, Thanks Mike.

I found a recipe for a 3 seed and Chickpea loaf on Facebook. Its from Mike Batho at Breadstead, Yvonne and I are both fans of seeds in bread so I had to have a go. Its got Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower seeds and Linseed as well as the Chickpeas. He put the recipe up at this link,

http://www.breadstead.co.uk/3-seed-chickpea-bread/

or this one,

https://www.facebook.com/download/1430398667281399/3%20Seed%20Chickpea.pdf

And I followed the instructions, starting the soaker just before the F.A. Cup Final started.

The next morning I carried on, the dough mixed really well, I thought that there wasn't enough liquid but I was wrong, it made a superb dough. (Thinking about it, the chickpeas had water in them)

Before Proving

After one hour in a steam-filled oven.

I knocked back and shaped into tins,

while the oven warmed up.

An hour later they were ready to go, the oven was at 240°C and full of steam.

And after the oven phase,

next we moved on to the crumb, of course I had to wait a while for that.

Sourdough Onion Rings

I had some Onion Rings in a restaurant recently, and they were fantastic, it got me thinking, surely I could do the same? And given my love of sourdough, surely I could incorporate the two. And maybe if I part cooked them I could freeze them for re-heating in the oven later. It was time to experiment. There were no pictures of the original, they disappeared too quickly and anyhow, Yvonne complains if I stop eating to take pictures during a meal.

I cut a large onion and made some rings, which I marinaded overnight in Red Wine vinegar. (home-made) to boost the flavour.

I also made up a sourdough leaven from 50 g starter with 50 g each of flour and water, mixed to a paste. This will ferment overnight.

Next morning I prepared to cook. I will drain the rings and dust with white flour before I start,
then a dip in the batter, which is foaming nicely.

I've heated oil, and lowered the rings in for about 5 minutes,

 then turning for 3 more. The oil should not be too hot, definitely NOT smoking. About 170° C is good. Take the rings out as they start to brown and drain on paper.

Let the oil warm up a little before frying the next batch.

I'm freezing these as an experiment so I've let them cool and put them on a metal tray.

I covered the tray in a plastic bag and laid it on top in the freezer. After about 6 hours I can move the rings into a storage bag. The next part of the experiment will be to reheat them and see how they behave. I'll let you know.

Crackers!

Following on from my visit yesterday, I have an order for 1 kilo of Sourdough Crackers. The customer wants them as a vehicle for Sampling Pesto and Chutney at the Food Markets they have a stall at.

 Of course I'm happy to oblige and we have done a deal where I will also supply some bagged crackers with my name on for sale.

The recipe is dead easy, for around 500 g of crackers

Mix together 400g Wholemeal Sourdough Starter at 100% (200g flour and 200g water) with 200g wholemeal flour. Add 50 g water, 80 g Olive Oil and a pinch of salt.

Work together into a smooth dough. Rest for 30 minutes.

Break off a grapefruit sized piece and roll out thinly on lightly floured parchment. Cut into the desired size with a pizza wheel.

Lay the parchment on a silicon mesh mat like this,

Heat the oven to 175° C and put the silicone mats on the oven shelves. After 10 minutes you need to flip the crackers and remove the parchment. This is the fun bit and can involve crackers everywhere. I use a second silicone mat and two trays to do it. That and a quick flip with held breath!!

 After that, give them another 10 minutes in the oven and check for crispness. They burn really quickly and will crisp up a bit on cooling, the actual time depends on how thinly you have rolled them.

Once you are happy leave them to cool and crisp.

I bag mine up for sale at this point.

They will keep in an airtight container for several weeks.

200 Not out (And a new Flour)

This is my 200th post on the Well Bread! blog. If you've read them all; well done. If not, some of them are actually interesting!

This time, and in response to a request, I have tried a new type of Flour. Buckwheat rolls for a regular customer, one who is always asking me to push the boundaries a bit.

I made a 100% Buckwheat dough, actually its more like a thick batter, and divided it into rolls. It wouldn't stand on its own so I had to use moulds. Of course I didn't have 6 the same so used a mixture.

After letting them rise I baked them and none stuck.

They look OK but I'm not sure if they are really what is required, still its an experiment.

I've also caught myself out. I changed the way I made the Spelt loaves but didn't bother asking if anyone minded. So now I have to make two different Spelt recipes as some customers like one type and some the other. Talk about making work for myself.

I'm also taking some samples round tomorrow, to a local business that makes Chutneys and Pesto. They were using a well known brand of Crackers for tasting, I'm hoping to persuade them to use my Wholemeal Sourdough ones.

I'm also taking a Plain White Focaccia,

and a small Rye Loaf.

Not forgetting a Pesto roll made with one of their products. Just to show them what I can do.

And I made a Sweet Potato Sourdough as well, it was a bit runny but actually made nice rolls after I had folded a bit of strength into it. The recipe came from Carol Lee on Perfect Sourdough and can be found here.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/perfectsourdough/permalink/872961729440839/

I cut it a bit warm, hence the line at the bottom. Now we will have to see what the customers think.

Big Order.

I made 150 Rolls for Brixfest, started the day before baking with 7 kilo's of pre-ferment, which I left for 24 hours to develop flavour. I made it in batches after last year, when I had found it difficult to keep up with the rising dough as I shaped and baked the rolls.

This time I worked out that by the time I had finished mixing the last batch, the first would be ready to shape. And because the batches were smaller I could shape one in the same time as it had taken to mix, so each would be ready to shape when I had finished the last.

It all worked like a dream, I started mixing at 05215 and finished at 0630. I shaped continuously and with two oven had room for 60 rolls to bake at a time. So no bottleneck there either.

I finished at just before 9 and had them delivered by 10.

I had to check them out on sale and they seemed to be going well,

I saw several being eaten, always a good sign.

Naomi and Eamon came down for the weekend as well, I made Sourdough Croissants and tried a Pain au Chocolate as well. Instead of cutting Croissant shapes I scattered chocolate chips over the rolled dough and made sausage shapes.

They baked up on the same tray and came out really well, if slightly out of focus.

This week I'm experimenting with Buckwheat rolls and some Focaccia for a potential new customer, more of that later. Also I'm having a go at a Sweet Potato Bread, I've boiled and mashed the Potato already. More news later.