Starting Sourdough
- At October 09, 2023
- By Roxanne Snopek
- In Baking, Roxanne Writes On
- 0
Starting sourdough, yeah, it’s a challenge. But so worth it!
Making a sourdough starter isn’t hard. You mix equal parts flour (I used whole wheat) and water (bottled, so there’s no chlorine) in a bowl, cover it lightly with plastic wrap so nothing gets in it, but it can still “breathe” and then leave it. Stir it down once daily for three days and voila. You should end up with a yeasty, bubbling, warm mass of fermented grain that can be used in place of commercial yeast to make bread.
Why? You might ask. When you can buy perfectly good bread at the store?
If you like food (which I do) and you like the science of nutrition (ditto) and you’re a creative type up for a challenge, this is a fun one. I was looking for a fun challenge and I also get a little bent out of shape about how badly bread is maligned in current thinking. In fact, according to Michael Pollan, see earlier post, it’s not that bread is so bad for us. It’s that some bread as it’s made today is bad for us. Whole grain bread, made with minimal ingredients, and sourdough culture instead of fast-acting yeast, is a whole other ball game.
Grains have a natural protective shell that allow animals and birds to eat and then disperse still-viable seed that can then take root elsewhere, propagating the plant. Eating a bag of wheat won’t provide you with much bio-available nutrition.
Grind that wheat into flour and the nutrients become far more available. But still not great.
Enter the magic of fermentation. Introduce friendly bacteria in the form of sourdough starter to that mix of flour and water, give them time to work, and they break down that protective shell for us. The nutrients in the grain become far more digestible, providing a higher-quality food product.
Not to mention more delicious. Come back tomorrow to see what I baked.
Sourdough Baking Toys
- At October 09, 2023
- By Roxanne Snopek
- In Roxanne Writes On
- 0
Who knew there were such great sourdough baking toys! With any hobby, there’s gear, and when you fall into the sourdough bread rabbit hole, you can get lost for days. I’ve been in it for a few weeks now and I can tell you with complete certainty: there are worse places to get lost. There’s a whole community of foodies in there, people who will share recipes and success and failure and photos and encouragement and suggestions and more photos. One thing I quickly discovered is that this isn’t your grandma’s bread. And there are Toys.
Toys. Gadgets. Kitchen gadgets! Oh my!
The first thing I learned was that those gorgeous patterned crusts on artisan bread require a proofing basket, also called a banneton or brotform. Because the loaves aren’t baked in a loaf pan, but on a sheet (or in a Dutch oven, as discussed yesterday) the shape they are when you put them in the oven is the shape they’ll be when they come out. It seems counter-intuitive to put sticky dough into a wicker basket, but trust me, it works. Rising the dough in a well-floured proofing basket will impress a spiral shape into the top, which after scoring, gives the crust a gorgeous pattern.
So I ordered this one. It came with a little linen “hat” that you can use to cover the rising dough, or as a liner for the basket, if for some strange reason, you don’t want the pretty spiral pattern. It also came with a dough scraper, also called a “bench scraper.” You can get them in metal or plastic and they’re used to scrape dough out of the bowl or banneton, to divide dough, to clean the counter (which is called a bench in Australia and New Zealand, there’s your trivia for the day) or even to convert measurements.
Do you have favourite baking toys? Which gadgets are your absolute must-haves?
Date Walnut Sourdough
- At October 09, 2023
- By Roxanne Snopek
- In Roxanne Writes On
- 0
This date walnut sourdough loaf might be my favourite yet. I love the tangy-sour-salty flavour of sourdough bread of any kind. With my doctor on me about my cholesterol levels, I’ve given up a lot of my favorite things (Doritos, Miss Vickie’s potato chips, butter) but the flavor profile of this bread satisfies those exact cravings. I get protein, vitamins and minerals, fiber and complex carbohydrates, with almost no fat.
But when I want something with a hint of sweetness, maybe a bit of crunch, this is the loaf. The chopped dates melt into the crumb, with toasted walnuts for a bit of bite. A slice of this fresh from the oven needs nothing to dress it up. But I suppose, if you’re allowed, some butter would be fabulous. Try mixing softened butter with honey and cinnamon for an amazing treat.
Breakfast, anyone?