Hi Jon!
Well, first of all, I live in Texas. Been here for quite a while.
I wonder if the bread you had was from a true sourdough? Some people use both
yeast and sourdough to achieve the results they want. My mom used to make
these sourdough biscuits and her starter was buttermilk, sugar, mashed potatoes
water and yeast. Not a true sourdough I guess but wow they were good biscuits.
I am sure the dry starter would survive a trip to Vegas.
Have you tried capturing your own yeast? I've not had good luck with that
although I know many people who say it is possible. I've seen people make
yogurt then use some of the freshly made yogurt with whole wheat flour to get
the starter going. Also pineapple juice and whole wheat flour. I hear that
using freshly ground wheat can make a difference as well.
King Arthur Flour also sells a fresh starter that they will send you in a small
jar. I know several who use that with success as well.
I'd be happy to send you some of my dry starter. It always does well for me.
takes off and bubbles very soon after I rehydrate it.
The bread that you liked from the ranch, was it rolls or bread and was it wheat
or white? Could it have had buttermilk or other things added like butter or
maybe citric acid to give it a more tangy flavor? was the texture fine or
porous?
If you have access to bookshare I'd definitely recommend the ed wood classic
sourdough book. He talks about how to achieve various results with your
recipes.
Also think that the more you bake in your kitchen with yeasts and sourdough the
more active your bread can become.
I'll be curious to hear your thoughts on all this.
Jim
On Aug 21, 2015, at 7:52 AM, Jon Rawlings <twosocks76@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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
