9:00 this morning... a moment of panic... my dough didn't seem to have changed much during its 15 hours in the fridge...
I thought about it a bit, and realized that the fridge is where sourdough goes when you want it to be in a dormant state. So why did it need to live there for 15 hours, when it seemed to me like it should have been somewhere warmer, rising at that point in its life? Oh, well. I got over it, dumped out the dough, and formed two oval loaves (rather than the making two baguettes from each batch like the recipe suggested):
They may not have looked perfect, but they looked a lot like the artisan bread we buy at the grocery store, which was what I was envisioning. Since it's so cool here today, I turned on the oven for just a few seconds, and turned on the interior light. Then I put the loaves in to rise for about 6 hours...
Having flashbacks to a certain Sir Mix-a-Lot video, circa 1989?
Go ahead. Laugh. I know you want to. I did when I took the picture. The dough obviously did double in size, but it also spread out a lot, and rose more "out" than "up."
I preheated the oven to 450, misted the risen dough, put it in the oven, and spritzed it (again) and the oven (taking care not to spray the light bulb in the oven -- a lesson I learned the hard way the first time I attempted sourdough bread!). In there it stayed for just about half an hour, until it looked like this:
Yes, I cut a piece off before I remembered to take a picture. =) I ended up with something much more like ciabatta than a freeform, oval loaf. It's about 1 1/2" thick... maybe closer to 2" right in the center. The crust is a little darker than I usually like, but it's crispy and crackly, just like real artisan bread! The texture, fortunately, is far from that of a doorstop. Yay!!!
It's holey and chewy and tangy. I declare it to be a success.
The dough definitely needs more flour than the recipe calls for. I think that will help it retain its shape better once loaves are formed. Next time, I will watch it more closely as it mixes and not be afraid to add more flour than I did this time. I'm sure it depends a lot on how thick or thin the sponge is, too... it's all so complicated! But I am happy. I certianly learned a few things to watch for next time, and I ended up with some pretty damn good bread!
Did you happen to notice this on the left side of the screen?
It's COLD here! And raining! And COLD!!! Which, of course, makes me want to (all together now) bake something! Plus, running the oven all afternoon might make the apartment a bit warmer. I refuse to turn on the heat before October! I have several things planned for the day, which will make for some good posting over the next few days.
My first project will be the dish I had planned to make last Sunday, until I got invited to go sailing. I still don't regret my choice that day! =)
Last, and certainly not least, the sourdough will finally be baked tonight! I'm nervous -- I've found mention of it on two other food blogs this week. People are watching! And I must extend my thanks to Barrett of Too Many Chefs for naming my sourdough project as one of his favorite "posts of the week."
Mmm... frothy! I know, it didn't look too frothy in that picture, but trust me -- it was. So, on to steps 2, 3, and half of 4 from the Berkeley sourdough recipe. Sort of. I, of course, used my bread machine instead of a food processor or mixing by hand. I put 3/4 cup of the "sponge," 3/4 cup water, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 cups AP flour, and 1 cup whole-wheat flour into the machine and let it mix and knead for about 15 minutes. The dough came out a bit sticky, and a little softer than I think it should be...
That's one relaxed lump of dough!
See how flat it looks? It spread out in the bowl as soon as I dumped it out of the machine. I had a lot more of the "sponge" than I needed for one batch, so I decided to throw together some more dough. I put a couple extra tablespoons of flour in it, and it came out a little more solid:
That's more like it!
This batch held its shape a bit better. Both dough balls are in oiled bowls, covered with plastic wrap, in the fridge for the night. I don't think the softer, stickier batch will be too much different once all is said and done, but it will be interesting to see just what happens. They get to hang out in the fridge until about 9 tomorrow (Saturday) morning, then they'll sit out at room temp for a couple of hours. Then it'll be time to shape them, let them rise 6-7 more hours, and bake them! This is getting exciting...! =)
I hope you didn't miss my sourdough too much on Day 7! It had a pretty uneventful day. It spent the day out at room temp, I deemed it "fully risen," and then I put it in the fridge before I went to bed.
I checked the "Berkeley sourdough" recipe today, and if my calculations are accurate, I could be eating bread by Saturday evening (it's about freaking time!)!
I took the starter out of the fridge this afternoon. It seemed a bit cold to work with, so I left it out for about an hour. I scooped out a clump about the size of a tangerine, and proceeded with step 1 of the "Berkeley sourdough" recipe, which goes as follows: "Break up the starter, dilute it in the water (2 cups warm water), and mix in the flour (2 cups organic, unbleached white or all-purpose flour). Cover this mixture loosely and set it aside in a warm spot for 18–24 hours or until it is quite bubbly." The starter is sticky! I tore it into little pieces, added them to the water, and mixed it all up with my hands. It actually dissolved almost completely, to my surprise. I really had no idea what to expect.
Starter diluted in water:
Are you jealous of my spoon? I'm quite fond of it.
Then I added my 2 cups of flour. It may surprise you to find that I do not buy organic versions of "basic" flours -- AP, whole wheat, bread, etc. I usually buy it in bulk at the health food store and trust that they quality is decent, or (if I'm feeling too lazy to drive all the way out to the health food store!) I buy King Arthur ("never bleached, never bromated") flour at the grocery store. I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of bread flour, mostly because it's my usual M.O. to use "half-and-half" in recipes that call for all white flour, but also because I barely had a cup of AP flour on hand! Shocking.
Here's how it looks at this point. I covered it with one of those Saran Wrap elasticized covers I so affectionately call "shower caps" (God, I love those things!) and set it on the counter. I hope it doesn't get too excited and over-ferment all over my counter while I'm at work tomorrow...
I had quite a lot of starter left over. I put it into a clean, smaller bowl, and stuck it in the fridge to live in dormancy for a while:
So here's my sourdough itinerary for the next couple of days: the sponge I made this afternoon will ferment away on my counter until tomorrow afternoon. I will then mix it with more flour, some salt, and some water, until it becomes actual bread dough (yay!). That will rise in the fridge overnight tomorrow (Friday). Saturday morning, the dough will come out of the fridge and sit at room temp for a couple hours. Then I will shape it, let it rise for most of the day (6 - 7 hours), and then finally bake it!
At 4:00 this morning, according to step 7, I peeled off the "crust" and found this damp, sticky, sour-smelling substance...
As directed, I added a cup of flour. I found that I had to add quite a bit of water, too, to make it all come together into this:
At which point I put it back in its spot near the chimney "for another 8 - 12 hours." It's now about 14 hours later, and here's how it looks:
Does this "appear fully risen" to you? it doesn't quite seem to be so to me, and when I "make a small indententation" with my finger, it springs back a bit. I'm going to leave it in its warm, happy spot overnight, and then probably move it to the fridge in the morning until I can get to the "used in virtually any sourdough recipe" stage. Kev's home for a couple of days, so the starter will just have to wait until he goes back to Boston before it gets too much more attention. But maybe I'll actually get to bake bread by this weekend!!!
