My latest experiment, which seems to work, is to wrap her up in a towel after feeding her equal parts unbleached Bakers flour and water before putting her in a Woolies insulated bag with a water bottle. Then I zip up the bag and leave her to adjust to the change in temperature. So far so good!
I am in a bit of a routine and make two sandwich loaves twice a week which are sliced and put in the freezer to use in the sandwich maker at lunchtime most days. The basic recipe I use is from Celia's Fig Jam and Lime Cordial which I have mentioned before and I have adjusted the amounts and added ingredients to see what I am happy with in the end.
I have experimented with using the whole amount of starter after it is fed a couple of times and that doesn't seem to be a problem but I am only a beginner so more experienced sourdough bakers are probably sighing when they read that so if I shouldn't do that for any reason do let me know in the comments or use the contact form if you can't leave a comment as some people don't seem to be able to for a reason unbeknown to me as I am not all that techy.
I have tried slashing loaves down the centre...
...not slashing them at all....
...and slashing them across to see how they turn out.
In the recipe I have been using I usually mix up a couple of flours such as Atta flour, wholemeal spelt or rye flour with the 00 flour to get the required amount and that has usually turned out well except for the last loaves when I just used spelt and rye flour and forgot the 00 flour and I wasn't all that happy with the dry crust on those. I like this recipe as there aren't the big holes in the finished loaf that there are in some of the other sourdough loaves which is great for sandwiches.
Here is my version of Celia's Sourdough White Sandwich Loaf recipe. I have used one and a half times the ingredients of the original to fill the new tins I picked up recently at the Op Shop.
300g sourdough starter or however much I have after feeding Gertrude
525g Bakers flour
525g 00 flour (I mix other flours with the 00 flour to make up 525g)
563g water
22g Olive Oil oil
14g sea salt
1/4c linseeds
1/4c sunflower seeds
1/4c pepitas
The recipe includes brown sugar but I have left this out the last couple of times to see if it makes a difference and I can't notice any.
I then follow Celia's instructions in the Basic Sourdough Tutorial. I am not sure the proportions are correct by using one and a half times the ingredients but I am sure someone who is more experienced can let me know if you shouldn't do that.
I have been reading Yoki Mardewi's Wild Sourdough ...By Hand which I bought a few months back and she has a recipe for a sandwich loaf which uses milk so I want to give that a try soon. There are some recipes on her website if you are interested in trying any out. I would also like to learn more about baking with sprouted flours which sounds very interesting. Have you ever done that if you make sourdough loaves?
Have a great weekend everyone. It is supposed to rain here but none has arrived as yet but there has been some in the North West of Queensland which is always a good thing and the water never goes astray up there. The Camellia Show and Garden Expo starts here tomorrow so hopefully it won't be a washout. I am hoping to go if it isn't too wet.
Those loaves look so good Chel, especially on a cold, wet, winter's day like today.
ReplyDeleteSherri, I love the sourdough with soup on a cold day.
DeleteAt our previous house the kitchen faced due East and I used to leave the sourdough starter on the window sill to catch the morning sun - I could not stop it from flourishing. In this new house however the kitchen has lovely shade from the verandah and I am having all sorts of issues keeping my sourdough starter happy.
ReplyDeleteMr.HM the problem is when it is overcast all day. When the sun is out I put Gertrude on the back verandah and she is fine.
DeleteLooks good! I can't eat wheat at the moment, but I really miss bread!
ReplyDeleteThat's no good, Liz. I would hate to have to give up my sourdough.
DeleteThe loaves look great Chel xxx
ReplyDeleteThanks Meg. Another learning curve for me.
DeleteHi Chel, thank you for visiting my blog and for leaving your kind, understanding comment on the post about letting go when my daughter got married last year.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I got to your page and read that it was cold and that summer would be arriving soon, I knew you had to be a southern Hemisphere gal. A look at your about me page confirmed that. I would love to one day visit your little corner of the world. Not sure that will ever happen, but it remains a dream.
The loaves look fantastic! We would scarf them up in a minute here at my house.
My husband has had a starter going for a couple years now. It's his baby, and I don't mess with it. Currently, it's in the frig. I will have to tell him about Gertrude, especially the name, because my husband is a "G," as our both our kids and our dog. I always joked with him that he would dump me for someone named Gertrude or Gretchen. He told me I could change my name to Gertrude anytime, said he would call me Gertie. So, he would get a huge kick out of naming his beloved starter Gertrude.
Blessings to you,
Patti @ Embracing Home
Good idea, Patti. Now there will be two sourdough starters called Gertrude on both sides of the world and my Gertrude has a girl called 'Gertie' as well. LOL!
DeleteThose loaves look very inviting Chel, and what a good idea about the insulated bag. I gave making sourdough away for winter because of the cold, but this might tempt me back. I will need to get a hot water bottle though! :)
ReplyDeleteGive it another try, Barb. I can give you more starter if you need any.
DeleteHi Chel, my little Gertie was feeling the cold so I put her on top of the cordless electric jug ( flat top from Aldi) in my pantry cupboard with the doors shut. I only put 2 cups of water in the jug so it just makes a gentle heat and reboil it every hour or so.This is just to help the raising, she seems to cope ok with the overnight feed and activation on the kitchen bench.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, that sounds like it is doing the trick. It isn't too bad when the sun is out but we have had so many overcast days this winter due to our wet winter and Gertrude isn't fond of that kind of weather.
DeleteI have a friend who work a lot with sourdough - I will ask her about sprouted grains. i may have to try it again, my last effort just smelled bad!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathy. I would be interested in finding out more about how to do that.
Delete