Bread

Tried the aforementioned pikelets today. Except I topped up my starter intentionally, as I never really need to throw any away.

Added some self raising flour, sugar and salt, loosened the mix with a bit of milk, fried in butter et voila.
Somewhere between crumpet and pancake, will deffo cook them for longer on a low heat next time. The ones pictured were great.

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Loaf is improving me thinks

Did similar yesterday - more pikelety fluffy pancakey though, adding a yolk, bicarb & whisked white to sourdough starter discard & all purpose flour. Eaten with pancetta, poached eggs & maple syrup.

In other news, sourdough starters can just fuck off. I'm done with them.

Cool I’m baking another loaf today and will give that a go tomorrow or Wednesday.
Already filled a big jar with discard so should have plenty of batter for them.

sourdough starters can just fuck off. I'm done with them.

Lol, I swear I must just be lucky - mine has been an absolute piece of piss to make, use and maintain.

Picture of the previously mentioned dud. Just look at the lack of life in that thing. Quite a good crust though, nice bubbles from the caramelisation but that's where the positives ends

Thanks for the help.
Apple cider vinegar - read somewhere this can drop the ph a bit and kick start it, could be BS though!
Don't have any bottled water, but have taken to using boiled water as hopefully has some of the same de-chlorination (was already using water that had been left open air for a few days anyway)
The jar has the lid left ajar/tilted so there is an air gap. My worry with the kitchen is that it is too cold - a lot of places say 23c+, and ours is probably more like 17-19c. Alternatively, i think perhaps the temperature fluctuation in the cupboard it is in might not help...I could pop the hive thermostat in there for 24 hours and then check that out

Starting to feel this, giving it until the end of the week...
on the plus side, discard cookies and pancakes are nice! also had a nice loaf from discard which was surprisingly good and not too dense/flat

Fluctuations shouldn't matter unless it's going from like 10-30c. If you're worried about the kitchen being cold - use slightly warmer water. You could also insulate your container a bit to hold the water temp a bit better. But 17-19 should be totally fine, pretty sure that's what my kitchen is like.

Am doing another flour run this week for those that want.

16kg bag and gimme a shout, can supply big bags of yeast too.

Missus brought a couple of online recipe books from bread ahead, I see cookies and doughnuts in my future baking plans..

I tried the Russian Rye bread which uses discarded starter. It is quite close to german rye bread you can get in the supermarket in consistency, with a sweetness from the treacle but quite sour from discard. Very good with butter and I imagine cured meat and pickles (but we have none).

Fresh doughnuts rolled in sugar and cinnamon are amazing

Looks good, did you follow a recipe?

Anyone got a tried and tested sourdough rye recipe?

Nah, just notes from here. Wodge of starter, about 1/3 of that again in self raising flour, pinch of salt, dollop of sugar, add milk to sufficiently loosen.
Fry in butter. I’d recommend frying slowly on a lower heat as they take a while to cook through - especially if you want more of a crumpety texture.

Starters are gonna be pretty variable so I imagine it’ll be trial and error for most people.

Fried is the best.

Whoever said to use a bowl of boiled water in the bottom of the oven to make it into a proving drawer - chapeau! Works a bloody treat.

I often have to fridge the dough at the end of its bulk so it takes ages to get the loaves to prove once shaped as they’re usually pretty cold. Makes timing things a lot easier.

A dough journey. My scoring game is still weak.

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Will bear that in mind when I get round to making them..

My scoring game is still weak.

The humble brag is strong when you have such oven spring.

^ was gonna say

72 hour baguettes, 24 hour fermentation, with a wee 100g of rye sourdough starter added, all done in the fridge bar an hour’s proof in the airing cupboard.

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Loaf number 3 looking good.
Swapped out the white flour and wholemeal and rye flour I’ve been using for strong white bread and my missus 8 grain wholemeal flour.
Was a bit dry when all the water was absorbed so added more water and then flour as it had turned into a sloppy mess.
Heartened when it firmed up whilst kneading.
Can’t wait to slice it..
Pre and post baking.

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@i_am_lono @cornelius_blackfoot both looking excellent!

Second attempt at sourdough tonight. Pretty happy with them. Been using a BBC recipe that’s nice and simple. On the first attempt I had weird bulbous things because I shaped too vigorously and didn’t score deep enough before baking. Not this time. 50/50 strong white flour/malted brown flour. Will invest in a couple of bannetons I think.

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