Fermentation and bread take 3

Now that I felt I started to understand the system, I wanted to take a third and final attempt!

As usual, I started with my basic ingredients to make the sourdough starter...
Unbleached flour, and purified water.

By day 4, the sourdough starter needed to be fed again. More unbleached flour and water was added. And stirring and fermentation continued...

All the final ingredients for the bread was ready to be added! Waiting for then final fermentation, kneading, and more waiting was in action...








Now its time to bake the bread... But this time, I decided to add some roasted garlic to this mix!

More bread!

Those loaves were devoured too quickly, so I made another loaf with my sourdough starter!

 Bread #2, tasted just as great as the first batch!

Let's make some bread!

Now that we have finished our fermented sourdough starter, we are ready to make some bread!
Take 1 cup of the starter, 3/4 cup purified water, and 1 cup of unbleached organic flour and mix into a bowl.
But like before... we need to let this mixture ferment.
So let it sit for at least 2-4 hours...


After we let that ferment for a bit, we can add the rest of the ingredients.

Add 2 cups of whole wheat and rye blend (I chose to use just wheat), 3 cups of unbleached organic flour, 2 tablespoons raw honey, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 1/3 cups of water.

Mix all of the ingredients together.
And guess what... we let that ferment again!
Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and let it ferment for at least 6-8 hours preferably in a warm spot.




 

Next, get your muscles warmed up because it's time to knead the bread!

Add only a small amount of flour to your counter, and knead the dough for roughly 5 minutes.
Let it rest for 10 minutes, and then knead once more for about 5 minutes.







This recipe will make 2 decent size loafs, probably 25 ounces each. So you can split the dough into 2 halves.
Shape them into tight balls and put them in a proofing basket to rise (or any kind of bowl with a linen cloth will also work fine.)
Give the bread about 2-4 hours to rise.



After all of this tough waiting, its time to actually bake the bread!
Preheat the oven for 400 degrees and place the formed dough onto a baking stone (or on a cast iron skillet will work great too.)

Putting down some oats or a light flour dusting on the bottom of the pan will help prevent the dough from sticking.
If you like your bread to have a little bit more of a crunchy crust like I do, you can steam your oven by misting or adding in about a cup of water into the oven once its fully heated.

And then here's the best part....
actually enjoying your deliciously warm fermented sourdough bread! 

Serve with soup, fondue, for sandwiches, or just dig into it right out of the oven!

Fast Forward Fermentation!

Day 2:

 We begin to see the fermentation taking place.








By day 2 or 3, we should begin to see the mixture bubble. This is good!








Day 3: 
The mixture is bubbling, foaming, and rising.
This is the bacteria thriving on the flour and salts and producing carbon dioxide gas. 

Once your mixture has started to bubble and foam as mine has, it is time to feed the starter more!
Add 3/4 cup of purified water and 1 cup of unbleached organic flour and mix.
Continue to let this sit for a few more days while stirring it a couple times a day.


Day 4: 

Still stirring.... and waiting....



Day 5: 

On day 5, this mixture is foaming. If it has produced about an inch of foam, it is ready to go!




Just a few key notes here, if the mixture has not foamed, or has a bad smell, throw it out and start over.


At this point, it is time to take 1 cup of the started out to use to make the bread. First stir the mixture well and remove the 1 cup of starter.
Feed it 3/4 cups of water and 1 cup of flour to keep the bacteria satisfied!
Store the rest of this culture in the fridge for use.. but make sure that if you are not using it fast enough, add the 3/4 cups of water and 1 cup of flour or remove 1 cup each week.

Bring on the Bacteria!

First and most importantly, we need our sourdough starter. This starter can be something you can get from someone else who has already been making sourdough, but it is also supposed to be the fun fermenting aspect of the whole process! This sourdough starter (also known as "stalking the wild yeast," is the key fermentation aspect of this bread.
So this is how we begin:
Using either a glass or stainless steel bowl (or even a glass jar as I did), mix together 2 cups of unbleached organic flour and 1+1/2 cups of purified water.

Cover the bowel or jar with a cheese cloth and wait....
The waiting process is tough, but it takes about 4-5 days for this fermentation to really take place. So waiting is actually very important!
Also, make sure to stir this mixture a couple times a day.

Fermented Bread

When we were first assigned the "fermentation project," I was reluctant as to what I wanted to make. My initial thoughts were, "the only things I can think to ferment are sauerkraut, kimichi, beer, or kombucha (all of which I do love). I initially thought that I had some great options but not a whole ton. Until I later realized that fermentation is way more common than I give it credit! I have options! Although there are so many great fermented options I could choose from, I had to go with one I wish I baked more of... Bread! Nothing tastes better than fresh bread right out of the oven! I thought id give credit where credit was deserved... to fermented sourdough bread!  

Supplies and Ingredients needed for the sourdough starter:
--> All purpose flour (organic preferably)
--> Water (preferably filtered)
--> 2 quart glass container
--> scale or measuring cup
--> mixing spoon
--> plastic wrap or lid
------> about 4 days times

Later, to make the bread, we will also need:
--> 2 cups of whole wheat flour
--> 3 cups unbleached organic flour
--> 2 tablespoons raw honey
--> 2 teaspoons salt
--> 12 ounces of water (~1+1/3 cups)
------> and about 12 plus hours for fermentation, re-fermentation, and all that fun stuff