Sourdough Breads

I did some experimenting with several sourdough breads.  Before starting this group, I was afraid of starters.  My fears have subsided considerably.  Starters can help bring out the flavor of the grain even better.  The taste is more complex, and the taste of any yeast fades into the background.


"Clay's Multigrain Sourdough Sandwich Bread"

I started off with a King Arthur Recipe for a multigrain bread.  You can find the recipe on their website.

I have a lot of gluten free flours from our group's trials with gluten free baking.  I thought this would be great for using up some of the flours:

 The dough was mixed in my mixer. 

Those black spots are the poppy seeds.   I realize now that I forgot to take a picture of the finished loaf.  This made a nice 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf.  I mixed up my own flour mix, so I don't know how their Harvest Grain mixture worked.  I used poppy seed and sunflower seeds for that. 

 

Soudough Rye Breads

Although I love our AB5 Deli Rye Bread, I wanted to give a NY Deli type starter rye bread a try. I have been looking a several recipes and finally gave one a try.

The picture shown had a cross-hatch design, so I tried that with my razor.

We just loved this bread!  It was hearty.  The taste seemed to improve over the next few days.  My hubby kept asking for more bread to go with his soup or dinner.  Although the loaves were large for 2 people, ours went quickly.  The other one was given to a friend, who said she would enjoy with a group.

100% Rye Sourdough

A health-oriented customer asked me to make him a rye bread with rye starter.  It didn't contain any yeast, just rye flour.  This sounded like an interesting bread, without much extra work. 

The starter took 3 days to form fully.    It didn't need feeding.

It was dissappointing, however, to see how loose the dough was:

Therefore, instead of making free form loaves, I made breads in loaf pans.

Truly rustic!!!  The customer liked them, although he said that it was a bit gummy in the center.  I can't figure that out, because the bread measured 200 degrees when I took them out.  Maybe I'll use some yeast next time, so they won't be so dense.

Thanks for all the help of the wonderful HBin5 group, especially Michelle.  I have truly grown as a baker, and I thank all of you for your support!

Judy