SC - bread
Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net
Wed Sep 29 21:16:18 PDT 1999
And it came to pass on 29 Sep 99,, that Decker, Terry D. wrote:
> Your Carl's starter sounds like it has been boosted, although I have been
> able to get fast rises out of scratch starter on a couple of occasions.
I don't know what you mean by "boosted". The starter I have is from a
kind gentleman named Carl Griffiths, formerly a regular poster on
rec.food.sourdough. He has a starter that has been in his family for a
long time, which he makes available to anyone who sends him a SASE.
(See http://www.nyx.net/~dgreenw/sourdoughfaqs.html for details) As
far as I know, there is no dried yeast in the starter. I suppose it is
possible that the starter I have has somehow been contaminated by
dried yeast, since I do both kinds of bread-baking in my kitchen.
> IIRC, Sourdough International is Ed Woods. His recipes usually call for a
> first proof of 8 hours. The second rise is usually about 2 hours.
Yes, Ed Woods is the guy. I recently bought his book. Sometimes I
proof the starter beforehand, but not always. I have been known to
make bread with starter straight out of the fridge. It rises a bit slower
then, but it rises.
> In any case, commercial sourdough starters are hard to come by in
> Oklahoma, so I produce mine by the traditional method of mixing flour and
> water to make a bigga or levain.
You might consider trying Carl's starter. It's moderately sour, and I have
found it to be very reliable.
> > I usually do two rises. My recollection from a recent thread on
> > rec.food.sourdough is that a single rise will give you a more "holey"
> > texture.
> >
> > Brighid
> >
> The aeration is more ragged in single rise breads, but not objectionable
> so. This is usually true whether you are doing sourdough or yeast breads.
Some people find the open texture preferable. My bread is usually
destined for sandwiches or toast, so I prefer a fine, even crumb.
> The fact that you do two rises and I do two rises does not eliminate the
> possibility that Platina's bakers used a single rise.
True. Which would be less likely to produce a sour flavor? Platina
regards that as undesirable.
> Just as the recipes
> do not eliminate the possibility that professional bakers in period may
> have used a double rise, as they were obviously not written by
> professional bakers and may not accurately reflect professional practices.
>
> Bear
Brighid
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net
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