Bake your first sourdough 🤤

[JFB]

I made a sourdough loaf using the trub left over from fermentation as a starter.

To be precise, it was a dry hopped extract amber ale, racked to a new carboy after fermentation of about 7 days, then left to clear some for another 7 to 10 days before bottling, after bottling I used the sludge as a starter.

Mixed about half cup of sludge with some water and a full cup of bread flour, left covered in cupboard and fed it every day for about a week until I had a healthy starter going, then proceed with normal sourdough recipe/technique.

It was pretty spectacular bread - it had an amazing hoppy taste and was excellent with cheese.
You could really taste the beer!

Possibly not to everyone's tastes but I loved it and so did my wife who doesn't drink much beer.

Not strictly a sour dough as the left over trub I assume has commercial yeast in it.
Sourdough uses naturally accruing latobacillus and yeasts.
Sounds epic though

 

[matt76]

I've been a bit quiet lately on this front. Sven seems to have settled down a bit and doesn't smell quite so bad now - he now lives in the fridge and hopefully I'll remember to feed him now and then...

Along the way I've had a few fried Sven's with a poached egg - very tasty .....

First actual loaf didn't work out so well, not really sure what went wrong. For sure I've never managed to get on with 70% hydration, the dough just seems to splodge everywhere and won't hold its shape. In the end faffing around with a makeshift banneton and dutch oven just wasn't working for me and was just a massive palava but I make yeasted bread all the time so I just threw it into my usual loaf tin and hoped for the best:

The result was OK - it was edible but very dense, not really risen, very sour tasting and a bit burned I should have known better than to trust recommended temperatures as my oven always seems super aggressive.....

Anyway, not to be deterred I figured try again, but go back to basics a bit. Bread is bread, I make it all the time - the only difference with sourdough is it's something different to yeast to make it rise. So I more or less did my normal thing, mixed my ingredients in my bread machine, let it prove a little bit, turned it out, put it in a tin and left it to rise. And really the only difference was it needed 4-6 hours to rise rather than 1. I set the oven a little hotter than my usual (heated it to 225, then turned it down to 180degC when I put the loaf in), and also used a pan of water below to make it more crusty. It took about 30mins to cook. As for the results I am very, very pleased:

Really tasty sourdough sandwich loaf - needs a bit of fine tuning, a wee bit more salt and perhaps a minute or two longer in the oven next time. But overall very pleased with this

 

[JFB]

I've been a bit quiet lately on this front. Sven seems to have settled down a bit and doesn't smell quite so bad now - he now lives in the fridge and hopefully I'll remember to feed him now and then...

Along the way I've had a few fried Sven's with a poached egg - very tasty .....
View attachment 40032

First actual loaf didn't work out so well, not really sure what went wrong. For sure I've never managed to get on with 70% hydration, the dough just seems to splodge everywhere and won't hold its shape. In the end faffing around with a makeshift banneton and dutch oven just wasn't working for me and was just a massive palava but I make yeasted bread all the time so I just threw it into my usual loaf tin and hoped for the best:
View attachment 40034
The result was OK - it was edible but very dense, not really risen, very sour tasting and a bit burned I should have known better than to trust recommended temperatures as my oven always seems super aggressive.....

Anyway, not to be deterred I figured try again, but go back to basics a bit. Bread is bread, I make it all the time - the only difference with sourdough is it's something different to yeast to make it rise. So I more or less did my normal thing, mixed my ingredients in my bread machine, let it prove a little bit, turned it out, put it in a tin and left it to rise. And really the only difference was it needed 4-6 hours to rise rather than 1. I set the oven a little hotter than my usual (heated it to 225, then turned it down to 180degC when I put the loaf in), and also used a pan of water below to make it more crusty. It took about 30mins to cook. As for the results I am very, very pleased:
View attachment 40038
View attachment 40039
Really tasty sourdough sandwich loaf - needs a bit of fine tuning, a wee bit more salt and perhaps a minute or two longer in the oven next time. But overall very pleased with this

That last loaf looks brilliant! I've tried a sandwich loaf once with not great results.
I'll have to try again after see this. As the Waitrose one is four quid
Making sourdough fruit loaf over the next couple of days

 

[Skippi]

Second bake, this time with 20% wholemeal flour and 75g of starter. Happy with the results and very tasty.

 

[SamBrewster]

Attempt number two

Now that's better, use of a dirtier child

 

[JFB]

Sourdough fruit loaf for breakfast toast..

 

[trummy]

2nd attempt - Since I only had a morsel from the 1st bake I came up with a cunning plan! Split the dough mix into two. One loaf for ME the other for the wife. See the results. Made with 'Cotswold crunch strong flour mix' 50% and plain bread flour 50% Very tasty, took ages for the mix to get going and probably did not rise quite as well as I hoped but very very nice.

No I really need a larger Dutch oven hence using two ovens -(Hmm think I will have a bit of bread and jam for supper!)

 

[JFB]

2nd attempt - Since I only had a morsel from the 1st bake I came up with a cunning plan! Split the dough mix into two. One loaf for ME the other for the wife. See the results. Made with 'Cotswold crunch strong flour mix' 50% and plain bread flour 50% Very tasty, took ages for the mix to get going and probably did not rise quite as well as I hoped but very very nice.

No I really need a larger Dutch oven hence using two ovens -(Hmm think I will have a bit of bread and jam for supper!)View attachment 40282

Maybe we need to start a jam and marmalade thread also

 

[Pezza24]

With regards to your reccomended recipe I found that my bread came out with a little bit too close a texture if that makes any sense. I was looking for more big open holes in the bread as I expect from some of the fancy stuff my dad buys but both I've done have been more like sandwich loaves. Anything I can do? I tried Paul Hollywood's recipe the second time with more starter and loads of kneading.

 

[RichardM]

Maybe we need to start a jam and marmalade thread also

Now, there's a thought. I had my annual marmalade making session on Sunday.

 

[JFB]

With regards to your reccomended recipe I found that my bread came out with a little bit too close a texture if that makes any sense. I was looking for more big open holes in the bread as I expect from some of the fancy stuff my dad buys but both I've done have been more like sandwich loaves. Anything I can do? I tried Paul Hollywood's recipe the second time with more starter and loads of kneading.

How long did you ferment your dough for?
Quite often I'm 36hrs from mixing to baking.
Over night dough, then overnight in the basket refrigerated.
Slow and steady is key

 

[JFB]

Now, there's a thought. I had my annual marmalade making session on Sunday.

Now your talking! We made our first batch this weekend. 18 jars!!

 

[Pezza24]

How long did you ferment your dough for?
Quite often I'm 36hrs from mixing to baking.
Over night dough, then overnight in the basket refrigerated.
Slow and steady is key

I think that may be my problem then. I proved overnight then baked the following night and the bread was really nice but I wanted more bubbles. I'll get him out the fridge in the morning after work and see what happens. Thanks.

 

[trummy]

Maybe we need to start a jam and marmalade thread also

Got a head start there - presently available - Apple butter, Blackcurrant jam , Blackcurrant jelly, Red Currant jelly, Crab apple jelly, Raspberry jelly, , Jostaberry jam, Raspberry jam, Damson jelly. Rhubarb and Ginger jam. I didn't grow the ginger and apart from a couple of the jelly's the wife has been the productive one. Anyone mention chutney's and pickles?

 

[trummy]

From the Mail for what it is worth re starter
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/science...starters-understand-science-perfect-loaf.html

 

[trummy]

Is it possible to freeze the dough? It would help in the summer when we have a lot of commitments to work around.

 

[JFB]

Is it possible to freeze the dough? It would help in the summer when we have a lot of commitments to work around.

I freeze mine all the time.
I slice it first so then take slices out for toast.

 

[trummy]

Do you mean you freeze the sliced cooked loaf JFB? I was thinking about freezing balls of dough that can be then baked.

 

[johncrobinson]

i think its better to freeze the actual finished loaves

frozen douge Uge
Frozen bread yum yum

 

[bobukbrewer]

put 100 gm sourdough starter in a clingfilmed bowl in the fridge - if not used within a week discard half, add 50 gm water 50 gm of flour mix well and return to fridge.....