December 21, 2003
Playing Nine [9]
Readers who remember way too much for their own good, might say “Hey, You’ve already used [number 9] before, it should be [10]“. Of course they don’t know that I never finished [9]. I didn’t make the bread. I fed the starter and made a web posting about good intentions for the next day. Then I forgot. I fell asleep before making the sponge and the heavily refreshed starter popped the lid off overnight resulting in a bit of cleanup the next morning. No sponge, no dough. Cleanup before the first cup of coffee does take the edge off the experiment. So it’s still [9] again (sounds like a country song - “it’s still nine again”).
It may be nine again, tomorrow. I have been reading though, now that I know a little more.
Sourdough Home has also tried to wend his way through the conflicting information and recipes. The end result being, I just have work this out on my own. There is no definitive source. No cookbook, no website, no master to learn from that doesn’t contradict one of the others. It’s just me, the starter, the flour, the oven and several thousand unknown variables.
[Dec 22, 2003]
I’m happy. I’m almost ecstatic. Those loaves look right! There’s a fullsize picture for those who want. The loaves are nearly the same size, the camera angle makes it look like the lower loaf look smaller. There are some nitpicks. The lower loaf was the first one I tried to roll to form and I didn’t do a good job of pinching and sealling which is that ripple look on the left.
The upper loaf suffered from what I think is called a “blow out” where the crust lifts off to make room for the gas inside. Doesn’t bother me a bit because that means there was gas inside, and that gives me a lot of hope that I’ve got that open texture I want. Hefting in my hand, I think it feels right too. I may have baked them too long; they’re a little too dark but it looks like artisan bread.
[Later]
It doesn’t have the wide open texture I was looking for but its got the chewiness, crust and the flavor. Seriously good eats. Better than what I could buy at the craft bakery. This one goes in the freezer if I don’t eat it all and I’m working on that.