Bread Thread

Today's loaves are 20% Ryman Rye from Barton Springs.
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It does not have a very aggressive rye flavor, a little sweet and malty without a lot of spice that some ryes have. Danko Rye from Barton Spring is the opposite, bold funky, spicy, fermented fruit qualities.
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Crumb is nice and bouncy, slightly sticky, super moist. Pretty good bread. The wife likes more subtle flavors and she really likes this loaf. I like bigger flavors, so I'm a touch underwhelmed.
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So I neglected my starter for a while and was going to start a new one or get one from a friend, but got one today!

This morning I went to a diner in Bellevue and had sourdough pancakes, delicious! I asked about thier starter and got some starter from them. Not sure how old it is, but the restaurant has been around for 67 years so its probably very old. Tangy and delicious!

I'll start a loaf later today or tomorrow!

Plus if anyone's interested King Arthur flour is on sale at QFC for $4.99, great price so I bought a few...

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A new one for me, leeks, lemon zest, and fresh dill. It tastes amazing and my house smells intoxicating.
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The shaping didn't go super well due to how I added the inclusions. I added them during the last set of stretch and folds which created layers of dough and leek mixture. During shaping the layers prevented me from getting much tension as usual. Next time I'll add them earlier which should more evenly distribute the inclusions and allow a higher amount gluten tension and this better shape and oven spring. I also think it should have baked a little bit longer.
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I used to make bread by hand (+-1980) but stopped. For 20 years or so I’ve been using a bread machine and have a couple favorites, mainly honey wheat. I love the simplicity. I recently bought some starter (& setup) and tried some sourdough recipes. I’ve learned that bread machines don’t do sourdough well, limiting the fermentation process. At this point my starter has died, so back to buying sd bread ;-(. We’re all cutting down on carbs anyway (theoretically:).
More power to you Gary. Clearly you’re enjoying the process.
 
Dloy said:
I used to make bread by hand (+-1980) but stopped. For 20 years or so I’ve been using a bread machine and have a couple favorites, mainly honey wheat. I love the simplicity. I recently bought some starter (& setup) and tried some sourdough recipes. I’ve learned that bread machines don’t do sourdough well, limiting the fermentation process. At this point my starter has died, so back to buying sd bread ;-(. We’re all cutting down on carbs anyway (theoretically:).
More power to you Gary. Clearly you’re enjoying the process.
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I really do. I find it fun and I really enjoy the results. There is a lot of subtlety and nuance on the process which took a while for me to fully grasp, but once I got it I found I could make better bread than I could buy. I toast 2 slices and top with lebneh and everything bagel seasoning for breakfast M-F. I find that it tides me over until lunch, is tasty, and helps me meet my calorie goals.

I'm playing around with adding different things to loaves right now. Many of the common inclusions (e.g. olives, cheeses) increase calories substantially, so I'm looking for alternatives. Next week I think I'm going to use a spice mix inspired by finocchiono salame.
 
Going to try my new bread lam and shaping bowl. I bought them a while ago, but made a loaf today that I'll bake tomorrow morning. I'll put it ik my Dutch oven and use ice cubes or a spray bottle to make it tasty and hopefully look amazingly! I'll post the results when I bake it tomorrow morning. I used the King Arthur Rustic Sourdough recipe. Wish me luck! Recipe attached too.20260121_201058.jpg20260121_224053.jpg
 
Gary Knowels said:
Nice loaves!

I do order them online and pay for shipping. For me the fun I have is worth the marginal increase in per loaf costs. My last order was $88 for a total of 20 lbs of flour (5 lbs x 4 varieties).

I only use 80 g per loaf, which means ~120 loaves of bread, or $0.67/loaf
The glacier peak is $65 for a 50 lb bag provided I go pick it up in Burlington. That's about $1.15/loaf.

Excluding water, time, energy, and tools, I'm still under $2 per loaf so I see it as negligible. Sure, I could probably get the cost down to $1.10 or so by making different flour choices, but I'm not stressing about the $8 per month difference.
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You sure that math is correct?

My standard boules and loaves are about 500g flour - your 80g would be about 1 slice of bread.
 
BlakeHerrington said:
You sure that math is correct?

My standard boules and loaves are about 500g flour - your 80g would be about 1 slice of bread.
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You only get ~6 slice of bread from a boule?

Yes, my math is correct. You missed some context. I was referring to just the whole grain component of flour when I said 80g. I make batards with 400g of flour, 80g whole grain that I order from Barton springs plus 320g of glacier peak bread flour from cairnspring.
 
Tasty, but looks like a UFO and the crust is hard. I think I may be letting it rise too much.

I used a Dutch oven to cook it, lid on to start, took it off after 20 minutes or so. It was lined with parchment paper.

I did have my pizza stone in the oven. That may have affected it too.

When I initially put it in the oven, I threw some ice cubes in to add some humidity in the oven.

Any suggestions? I'll make another on Sunday most likely, and it is fun to figure it out. To a point..20260123_174413.jpg

TIA!!

GO HAWKS!!
 
flybill said:
Tasty, but looks like a UFO and the crust is hard. I think I may be letting it rise too much.

I used a Dutch oven to cook it, lid on to start, took it off after 20 minutes or so. It was lined with parchment paper.

I did have my pizza stone in the oven. That may have affected it too.

When I initially put it in the oven, I threw some ice cubes in to add some humidity in the oven.

Any suggestions? I'll make another on Sunday most likely, and it is fun to figure it out. To a point..View attachment 177116

TIA!!

GO HAWKS!!
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You used the rustic sourdough recipe? That calls for instant yeast, yeah?

I can't tell from the picture what's going on. The surface texture looks weird to me, almost like the flour wasn't fully incorporated or hydrated.

Looking back at your previous post with the dough in the banneton, I see A LOT of dry flour and some parts that look like the surface dried out and created a leathery skin. Both of those are going to negatively impact the finished product.

I find with sourdough, there are many subtle differences that can all lead to success in the right combinations. I suggest following my recipe and procedure as closely as possible several times to see if you can get it to work for you.
Gary Knowels

Post in thread 'Bread Thread'

I've been thinking about doing this for a bit, but just hadn't. With the nerdy bread talk @albula and I have been having I figured I might as well do it now. Below is a fairly in depth explanation of my process for making sourdough, including photos and timing. I've landed on this method because it suits my schedule most weekends. All bread flour is Cairnspring Glacier Peak. All rest/proofing steps happen at room temp, which is 65-68 degrees in my kitchen most of the year.

9 pm Friday:
Take my starter out of the fridge, remove all but ~15 g of the contents. I save the discard in...
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