Yesterday I decided to experiment with the sourdough and use part spelt and part all purpose flour. It was going to be an experiment but my brain just didn’t seem to be engaged.
I ground the spelt, and ended up with 300 grams of spelt so I used 200 grams of all purpose flour. So far . . so good.
When I feed the starter before making bread, I always do it in a jar, then scoop out what I need for the recipe, weigh it, then put it in the bowl I’m using to mix the bread dough. Yesterday, I decided to just feed the starter in the bowl. I dumped 100 grams of starter into the bowl, added the flour and water, let it sit for about 4 hours til it was nice and bubbly.
Mistake #1:
At this point, I should have used 50 grams of starter and put the rest back in the fridge. Nope . . I used it ALL. Just dumped the flour, water and salt in, stirred it all up. Thought . . this is making a really big loaf! Yes because I had three times as much starter in there! I didn’t even realize I had done something wrong til much later.
Mistake #2:
There are several “pulls and folds” to be done, then the dough is left in the bowl on the counter overnight. Except, after the pulls and folds, I stuck it in the banneton and put it in the fridge! I got up with Rita during the night and the first thing I thought about was . . that dough is not supposed to be in the fridge yet! I wasn’t sure if taking it out at 4 a.m. was the right thing to do so I just left it in the fridge til I was ready to bake it. I wasn’t sure if I should toss it or go ahead and bake it.
When I was ready to bake it, I scored it with a knife because . . well, you know why I did that . . I can’t find my lame and a new one won’t be here til . . who knows when!
It did rise up and looks good. Once it cools completely and we cut it, I’ll know how the crumb looks and the real test . . how it will taste.
If it’s not great, I can make it into croutons for salads and soup. If it’s awful, the chickens will get it and they’ll think I baked them a special treat. No one has to know it was a major screw up.
Susan Nixon says
No one but your 1000 best friends you told here. =) I’m sure it will be tasty.
carolyn says
It looks awfully good! Mine was pretty good, but not very sour. I used the same starter as my son and his was very sour. His was in the fridge about 8 hours longer than mine, so that might be it. It was good no matter what! I’ll post pics later…
Judy Laquidara says
That’s kinda weird that theirs had the sour taste and yours didn’t. Maybe on the fridge thing. Who knows?