SC - Re: Bread making Platina style (long)

[BalthazarBlack@aol.com]

Hello everyone,
Hauviette here, non baker person.
I'm hoping some of our baking types out there can give me some pointers. 
First of all, I have read everything in the Florilegium on sourdough, bread 
recipes and flour (hah, beat'cha to it Stephan! ;) )

I started a sourdough starter last Thursday ( 2 cups unbleached flour, 1.5 
cups water (1 cup was realllly doughy so I added a little more water) and let 
it sit covered with gauze to keep out the critters. I opened it yesterday to 
make some bread and there was a fairly thick skin on it. I removed the skin 
and took 1.5 cups out to use in the bread recipe.It had looked like there 
were some bubbles in it, so me-thinks, hey, this is ready!

I made the bread using the recipe from the Miscellany based on Platina's 
description, which is 

On Bread (Milham translation)

Anyone, therefore who does baking should use flour [farina] which is 
well-ground from wheat, although farina is so-called from far, ground grain. 
>From this, he should searate the bran and the infrerior flour with a very 
fine flour sieve, then put the flour, with warm water and some salt, on a 
baker’s table closed in at the sides, as the peole at Ferrara Italy are 
accustomed to do. If you live in damp places and a bit of leaven is used, 
[the baker], with hel from his associated, kneads to that consistency at 
which bread can be make fairly easily. Let the baker be careful not to put in 
too much or too little leaven, for from the former, bread can acquire a sour 
taste, and, from the latter it can become too heavy to digest and too 
unhealthy, since it binds the bowels. Bread should be well-baked in an oven 
and not used the same day, nor is it especially nourishing when made from 
very fresh wheat and if it is digested slowly.

Bread Recipe from Cariadoc’s Miscellany 
1 1/2 c sourdough 
2 1/4 c warm water 
1 T salt 
1 c whole wheat flour 
5 3/4 c white flour*: 5 1/4 c at first, 1/2 c later 

*note; I (Hauviette) used unbleached flour to better simulate period flour 
which would not have been bleached IMO.

Put sourdough in a bowl. Add warm (not hot!) water and salt, mix. Add whole 
wheat flour, then white, 1 or 2 c at a time, first stirring in with a 
wooden spoon and then kneading it in. Cover with a wet towel, set aside. 
Let rise overnight (16-20 hours). Turn out on a floured board, shape into 
two or three round loaves, working in another 1/2 c or so of flour. Let 
rise again in a warm place for an hour. Bake at 350° about 50 minutes. 
Makes 2 loaves, about 8" across, 3"-4" thick, about 1.5 lb, or three 
smaller loaves. 
__________________
Okay, I followed the recipe and let it sit the 20 hours. The dough was 
covered with a damp cloth and placed in a nice warm spot in my cupboard. It 
rose maybe .25 more than the original( that was a baaaaaad sign). I then 
kneaded it and formed it into 3 loaves of bread. 2 were placed on a cookie 
sheet  to create a free form loaf one into a loaf pan.

Can we say BRICKS? Hard, colourless lumps of semi cooked dough? Not bad with 
a little butter....then again almost anything is not bad with a little butter!

Obviously I''m having problems with the starter. How long do I need to wait 
to get it to sour?
It sat 3.5 days in warm weather and was not ready. I don't want to resort to 
commercial yeast, I might as well just do a non-period bread. The bread I am 
attempting to do is based on the Platina reference I posted.

Any input here would be greatly appreciated.

I have added back to the original starter 1 cup flour and .5 cups water to 
continue the process, hoping that some time soon it will kick in. I bought 
some guiness in case that might help ( any comments on using the beer as a 
starter?)

Hauviette