[Scribbler]

Got the starter out of the fridge today, it was sealed in Kilner jar. Opened the top and the smell was mega-fruity, just like pear drops. Fantastic!

[Scribbler]

Bit of a disaster but I'm still hoping to get a loaf out of it...

Being the cautious type I halved the recipe as it said the dough would be sticky. As it turned out, the dough seemed a bit on the dry side when kneading, but I persevered and it finally did become springy and stretchy.

Rising time was 8 to 12 hours so I put in in the airing cupboard yesterday evening intending to leave it overnight and bake this morning. However by about 11 it had bubbled out of all proportion and overflowed the small loaf tin I had put it in. And it was completely stuck to the tin, inside and out.

Knocked it back, put it in the fridge and went to bed!!!

This morning I've taken it out of the loaf tin, given it a quick knead, put on a baking tray and put it back in the airing cupboard. I'll leave till lunchtime and bake then.

The good thing is that it had big bubbles in the dough, just like real bread. So the sourdough starter is definitely working well. After a night in the fridge it wasn't very happy and turned  bit leathery - unlike any dough I've produced so far.

If you don't see any further posts I will have either choked on it or died of food poisoning...    

[mumofstig]

Oh dear 

[Scribbler]

Trying to work and make bread at the same time is not a good idea...

Forgot to compensate for very fierce fan oven and smaller loaf size.

So burnt on the outside, not quite done in the middle.........

I'll try again tomorrow!

[Annen]

After a night in the fridge it wasn't very happy and turned  bit leathery - unlike any dough I've produced so far.
   

I think that's what it does in the fridge, it seems to separate and dry out on the top, but that is normal according the recipe I used. 
But mine worked again okay.  Yesterday I made a delicious olive and herb loaf.  Mmm, luckily nobody else in the house eats proper bread so its all for me.  So three-quarters have gone into the freezer for later.

[New shoot]

I use the River Cottage recipe which means making a sponge the night before, mixing the dough next morning, then I leave it all day and bake that evening.  All this is out of the fridge.  A sponge is just a sloppy mix of starter, flour and water.

How South Oxfordshire are you Scribbler?  I have a spelt wheat starter called Augustus who lives in my fridge I could let have some of if you are not too far away to collect.  He's strong enough to just come out to be fed once a week and I use the starter straight from the fridge for making the sponge  

[compostqueen]

I made a rushed spelt and walnut loaf today, paying scant attention to it as I was busy doing other things.  I was supposed to make two loaves but instead left it all in one lump and made a huge loaf   

I notice you say you're using the airing cupboard. Does it need to be that warm though?  I thought room temperature would be fine, or even the fridge for a longer well-flavoured result.

Mind you, using different methods to achieve a lovely loaf is an interesting journey

Did you all see the wonderful programme on telly tonight about bread?

[Scribbler]

New Shoot: the more you look on the internet, the more you realise there really isn't a hard and fast rule about sourdough. All the recipes and techniques seem to vary massively. I adopted what I thought was a lowest common denominator approach, taking all the bits that they all had roughly in common.

I'm in Henley BTW so we could perhaps do a swap sometime? I like the idea of doing a spelt loaf as it's a very early flour, and sourdough also goes back a long time historically. Haven't given my starter a name yet though! It's just a 50/50 rye flour and water mix.

CQ: Good point about the airing cupboard. It does get hot in there as the heating's on all day at the moment (the timer's not working and this is on my To Do list). And it did rise in a very bubbly fashion.

It was my monthly pub night last night so didn't see any telly. What channel was the bread programme on?

[New shoot]

The bread programme was on BBC 4 I think - they are running a series of food related programmes this week.

I'm only down the road in Reading Scribbler, so if you want some spelt starter, just pm me when you are ready 

[Annen]

I made some more sourdough bread today, a light rye recipe, and it turned out really well.  It looks like proper bread!  I let it rise overnight on the kitchen table instead of putting in the warm place as previously, and it was huge when I got up this morning!  I knocked it back and put into two loaf tins, put it to rise in a warm place and went out for a run.  By the time I came back it had risen beautifully.  In the oven while I showered and bread done in time for lunch with butternut squash soup. Logistics worked for once!
I'm so proud I took a picture!

[Scribbler]

Made some bread last week, but because the dough is so sticky, it tends to spread outwards when rising. Today's loaf is going to be in a well-buttered tin!

The 50/50 rye flour/water starter is a great success though.

[compostqueen]

That bread looks absolutely fantastic!   

Scribbler   It sounds as if you're enjoying your breadmaking.  It's addictive isn't it 

You will find some of these doughs are liquidy and take more coming together but that's fine. Better too wet than your bread being too hard.  You could treat yourself to a bread proving basket, which supports the loaf during proving process 

Get yourself a bag of spelt. You won't regret it 

[Scribbler]

I will get some later and try starting a 50/50 culture. I kind oif like the idea that there's some history attached to this flour.

[compostqueen]

It's thatchers wheat. The grains were not wanted for thatching so thatchers saved the food end for their bread. It almost died out when combine harvesters arrived. They could not cope with tall growing wheat so farmers began to breed shorter wheats to make life easier for the machines to cut.  It would have died out completely had it not been for thatchers keeping up the tradition and those diehards who loved its delicious flavour

It's easier to make bread with it as it doesn't take so much kneading and it comes together surprisingly quickly.  I have tried all the recipes on the back of the bags and quite a few off various websites that I've Googled for. My fave though is a recipe off the Doves bag and it's for walnut, fig and orange loaf. Great toasted with jam or marm but wonderful with Cheese 

[Scribbler]

I was thinking a bit further back - Bronze Age maybe....