I love bread. A meal feels incomplete to me without some form of bread, be it leavened or unleavened, sweet or sour, or at the very least some grain. I can wax poetic about the centrality of bread within Christian life, but for the moment, I simply want to delight in a very basic loaf of bread. An incredible union of flour, water, salt, and naturally occuring yeast. Breadmaking is an ancient art, yet one that all too few people today have the chance to enjoy. With nothing more than flour and water (or a more foolproof method of OJ and flour for the first few days), you too can have a sourdough starter, also known as levain, with which to produce amazingly tasty bread.
This weekend I produced my first passable boule from my new sourdough starter. (For those not obsessed with artisan bread, as I am, a boule simply means a round loaf of bread.) Unlike my first abysmally collapsed loaf, this one actually has a decent crumb, a toothsome, chewy texture, and a mildly sour flavor.
Things I think helped improve loaf 2 over loaf 1: cooler weather (70's rather than 80's), and therefore condo, for a slower rise; not using water on the crust which reduced the loaf's adhesion to my ad hoc baker's peel (the back of a cookie sheet); a hotter oven, 475 rather than 425.
There's still LOTS of room to grow and improve, but this is still a yummy loaf which we've been enjoying along the Pacific Northwest coast.
This weekend I produced my first passable boule from my new sourdough starter. (For those not obsessed with artisan bread, as I am, a boule simply means a round loaf of bread.) Unlike my first abysmally collapsed loaf, this one actually has a decent crumb, a toothsome, chewy texture, and a mildly sour flavor.
Things I think helped improve loaf 2 over loaf 1: cooler weather (70's rather than 80's), and therefore condo, for a slower rise; not using water on the crust which reduced the loaf's adhesion to my ad hoc baker's peel (the back of a cookie sheet); a hotter oven, 475 rather than 425.
There's still LOTS of room to grow and improve, but this is still a yummy loaf which we've been enjoying along the Pacific Northwest coast.
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