Another recipe review from Peter Reinhart's newest bread baking book.
I've made another attempt at sourdough bread- this time using the recipe for San Francisco sourdough bread. Actually since I added whole wheat flour, it is more of a pain au levain style bread. I replaced 2 1/2 cups of the white flour with whole wheat, added 3 T vital gluten and increased the water by 1/4 cup.
Since my sourdough failures, I was scared to use only the wild yeast. I followed the directions for the mixed method which used instant yeast combined with sourdough.
The result was wonderful. The flavor was complex, rich and deep. The bread raised beautifully. I didn't bake the bread quite long enough and the round loaf was not quite done in the middle. We enjoyed it anyway, but next time I'll know to bake the round loaf longer.
And there will be a next time, as this bread won big at our house!
Gina, you do a lot of baking. Perhaps you could answer a question for me and one of my readers...
ReplyDeleteAny ideas for storing sandwich bread without using plastic of some kind? I've heard of a tea towel and possible a bread drawer as well as a cloth bag inside a tin of some kind. Any suggestions?
Gina, if you want to try out a different sourdough yeast, stop by my web site oldsourdoughstarter.com. I love the stuff and give the yeast out to anyone who asks. (one of my favorite things to do is give away a loaf of still warm sourdough bread! ). Keep up the good work and post some pictures of the your next loaves.
ReplyDeleteOS
Amy
ReplyDeleteI use plastic bags personally so don't have any good suggestions.
You probably know that artisan breads, like sourdough with a good crispy crust are better when NOT put in plastic. But for soft sandwich bread or dinner rolls, especially when freezing, I don't know of a good alternative. I always figured our grandparents just had dry bread - and is the reason why they had so many recipes for bread puddings and such. And why baking day was such a special event!
I'd love to hear any other alternatives you find!
Gina
Old Sourdough-
ReplyDeleteThanks for the offer! Maybe that would be the answer to my sourdough problems!
Gina