Sourdough Chronicles: The First Bake(s)

Hello fork musketeers!

I've promised you to tell you about the very first time I baked with George. I'm still fiddling and feeding George regularly and ever on my quest to get the most sour of sourdoughs!

The First Bake

It was pretty exciting to finally use George. I'm kind of glad only two of us used it; even though I had about 2L of starter, we collectively use about 700g. So we cut the starter a little under half. I'm ok with that; I wasn't sure what I'd be doing with all of that starter!

So here's the first loaves I made.

... And here is the second attempt.

Both had a good texture; the second had a nicer crust. However they're still not sour enough! Just.... barely. I did try slightly different things with them.

The first attempt

The very, very attempt at sourdough. Neither of us had ever made it, so we just winged it. We made the recipe based on the idea that a preferment should replace a quarter to half of your flour. I also looked up a few basic sourdough recipes to get the general gist; then we went from there. We just used all-purpose flour to try it out.

The most interesting thing that happened was my using a loaf pan and her rolling it into a ball. Check it out:

The good news is they rose (hurray!). We put some additional water in the oven for better crusts. Despite using the same method, they are the exact same recipe that looks like two completely different breads. Strangely enough, mine was also very slightly more tangy. I think it's because I left mine covered under the heat of the sun. Maybe. I'm not sure.

Anyway, the first attempt was a WIP. I knew my starter was strong enough to make bread rise but the flavour wasn't there. Does this mean the flavour hasn't developed enough? I'll just have to keep feeding and trying.

The second attempt

Since I was unsatisfied with the results of the first, this time I thought I'd try something a little different. I've read that a longer rise time would yield a more sour sourdough so I let mine sit for 5 hours. My classmate used all-purpose as well as another flour. She made her's after 3 hours.

I also fudged my dough a little and made it a little too wet. Maybe combined with a wetter dough and the long fermentation time it didn't rise that much. It did, however, have a fairly nice crumb.

In retrospect it looks more like ciabatta. Hmm!

As I mentioned before, it wasn't very sour; whereas my classmate's bread was noticeably more sour. So perhaps, for whatever reason, adding a different kind of flour - so probably whole wheat and/or rye - can help it be more sour. I made some sourdough pancakes a few days ago and I added some whole wheat to try my theory out. It was totally more sour.

Also very delicious with overripe bananas.

I'm still going to experiment and keep trying out different things to get the most sour out of sourdough. I have a few ideas in mind... 

In addition to these, I decided to try making roti canai with George.

Roti canai or roti prata is a south-eastern flat bread. I've had this a few times when I went to Malaysia. It's always served with some curry as a dipping sauce. My classmate and I made a roti canai recipe with condensed milk; she omitted a preferment while I put some in.

The results? Her's came out a bit sweeter and more flat. Mine was not as sweet but it was fluffier; probably because of the yeast.

I'll be doing more experiments with George. I have a few ideas on my mind...