ZHi again Jim:
I live in Las Vegas, Nevada, and sadly, I've been here my whole life
with the exception of a couple years I spent in Tennessee and Arkansas. I
have been told you can get a good sourdough culture going pretty much
regardless where you live, and as I mentioned in my previous message, the
sourdough bread I had was made not all that far from here. Yes, I know a
sourdough in one part of the world is not the same as one made in another
part of the world. I think I have heard of Sourdough Jack, though it has
been many years. I once ordered a dried sourdough culture from King Arthur
Flour and was sorely disappointed in the results, so I am very reluctant to
ever try a dried culture again. I may, however, try some of your sample if
it can survive the shipment in tact. So now that you know where I live,
would you like to tell me where you live as well? Oh, and I definitely
weigh most of my ingredients when I bake, as well as when I shape the loaves
or whatever it is I'm making. I made a chocolate cake a couple days ago and
weighed almost everything in grams.
Jon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Gatteys" <jgatteys@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <blindcooks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2015 3:54 PM
Subject: [blindcooks] Re: Intro
Hi Jon!
What part of the world are you in? I think that might make some difference
in the flavor of the sourdough
My current starter is a sourdough jack starter which I first got about 20
years ago. I always keep some dehydrated and have had to restart it a
couple of times due to stupid mistakes or trials that I did and didn't work
well.
The finished loaf is pretty tangy. I maintain a whole wheat starter and a
white flour starter and use them both. Really think the key to a tangy
starter is to use it all the time, pancakes, biscuits, bread, chocolate
cake, anything you can do with it.
The sourdough jack cookbook is good and Bookshare has a couple of books by
Ed wood who is a pretty big name in sourdough. some of those people make it
too complicated and it takes the fun out of it for me.
I know if you look up Karl's sourdough starter on the net and send them a
self-addressed envelope they will send you some dry starter to use. I could
also send you some of this sourdough jack starter or on eBay I have seen
books with the packet of starter still attached.
There is a site with some good information at:
http://www.breadtopia.com
regarding sourdough and making your own starter with pretty good
instructions.
Also the site at
http://www.sourdoughhome.com
is a good place to read about the various methods and starters.
I measure my ingredients by weight rather than volume and I think this helps
to get a more accurate starter along the way.
I have not used yeast in years. Even do cinnamon rolls with the starter,
along with hamburger and hotdog buns. I do a long rise in the fridge so I
think it develops the flavor a little more along the way.
Also a higher temp for the final rise will make a more sour bread although
it probably won't rise as much.
I hope Ihaven't given you too much info. Let me know if I can answer any
other questions. I'm sure I'll have a lot of questions along the way. Glad
to know of other blind cooks.
Jim
On Aug 19, 2015, at 4:48 PM, Jon Rawlings <twosocks76@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Jim:
It is definitely OK for list members to forward messages to their friends...not that I could stop it from happening anyway, right? Your comments about sourdough have me very interested in your skills. Some 20 years ago, a leader in our local church congrigation took all us boys from 16 to 18 years old to a ranch about 250 miles north of here. It was a very fun and memorable trip for a number of reasons, but I'll never forget the sourdough bread. I was always the last one down from the table and could hardly stand up when there was no food left on my plate. Since leaving culinary school, I have tried twice to get a good sourdough culture going, but have not met my own expectations.. I just couldn't get any sour flavor to develop. The bread I had at the ranch had a very sharp tang and pleasant flavor that I would do anything to duplicate at home. If I had a way to go back up to that ranch just to get a sample of the starter, I'd do it in a heartbeat. From what my "Professional Baking" book says on the matter, the best sourdough cultures are started from dark rye flour. I make my own French-style and sandwich bread all the time, but I'm afraid of another failure if I tried a sourdough starter again. Even the sourdough I had while in San Francisco a couple years ago fell far short. I've recently seen recipes for sourdough bread with chopped rosemary in them; something I would love to both taste for myself and make at home. I know what you're talking about with regard to the feel of the dough. It definitely comes with practice, but any blind person, IMO, can learn to do it. How long has your sourdough culture been going, and how strong is the flavor in the finished bread? Tell me more.
Jon
