Post by Granny Smith on Mar 2, 2008 16:15:49 GMT -5
This was originally posted on August 6th:
I was watching a show that was touring an artisan bread bakery. They were showing how they make the dough, when I saw the baker do something curious - after he made the dough, he put a hunk of it into the flour canister, to be added to the next day's bread dough.
Being the curious sort, I had to try it. I made a batch of very plain bread dough (water, yeast, flour, salt, oil, and sugar). After I kneaded it, but before I let it rise, I tore off a hunk, about the size of a baseball, and buried it in the flour canister (I filled a separate canister from the one I usually use in case things didn't work out).
Several hours later, as I was putting the bread away, I saw some flour on the counter. As I started to clean it up, I noticed that one of the kids had knocked the lid off the flour canister, so I went to put it back on. It wouldn't go back on because the kids didn't do it, the hunk of dough did. It had puffed up so big it blew the top off the canister. I took it out, kneaded it a bit, took some of the flour out of the canister (about half, in fact) then reburied the dough. It was ok then.
The next day, I took the dough out. It had some hard places on it and seemed kind of dead. I used it anyway. I put it into some warm water, added some sugar, and let it soak for about 15 minutes. Then, I added salt, oil, and flour and beat it well. I added enough flour to make a dough and turned it out to knead. It was a lovely, soft dough! Once I finished kneading it, I tore off a hunk and buried it in the flour, then put the rest into an oiled bowl to rise, keeping my fingers crossed. It rose beautifully!
I punched it down and made 4 pizza crusts out of it. It wasn't terribly stretchy, but it worked ok. The pizzas were good and the crust was crunchy. I think this dough would make excellent French bread, bagels, pretzels, and cinnamon rolls. It might make good loaf bread, too. I will try that next.
The dough has been buried in the flour since Friday (the third of August). I will try using it again tomorrow to see if it's still viable or if it needs to be used every day. I'll update when I see what happens next.
Posted on August 9th~
Well, I finally got around to trying the bread today. The dough in the flour was all dried out and crumbly, after all it's been in there 6 days, but I tried it anyway. I crumbled it into a bowl, poured 4 cups of water over it, sprinkled in some sugar, then left it to soak for a few minutes.
I got involved in laundry and making beds and forgot about it for about half an hour until I saw it sitting on the table. I added some salt, oil, and flour and made a dough. I kneaded it and put a hunk back in the flour canister in case it wasn't as dead as I thought it was. Then I put it into a greased bowl, covered it with a towel, and sat it on the dehydrator to rise (well, hopefully, anyway)
I forgot about it again. Several hours later, I checked it and it was doubled in size! I will tell you, I was shocked!
I punched it down, shaped it into 4 loaves, and set it to rise on the stove-top, where I was less likely to forget about it. It took about 3 hours to rise, but it did. I baked it and we had a loaf for supper. It was splendid! Now I'm glad I had enough faith to save another hunk.
Do you realize what this means? Now I won't have to worry about having enough yeast stored! I can start with only 1 or 2 tablespoons and have bread from now on. This is soooo much easier than regular sourdough! Unbelievably easy, in fact! No need to make bread everyday and no need to feed the starter. The bread was moist, dense, and tasty, with a nice crisp crust.
I was watching a show that was touring an artisan bread bakery. They were showing how they make the dough, when I saw the baker do something curious - after he made the dough, he put a hunk of it into the flour canister, to be added to the next day's bread dough.
Being the curious sort, I had to try it. I made a batch of very plain bread dough (water, yeast, flour, salt, oil, and sugar). After I kneaded it, but before I let it rise, I tore off a hunk, about the size of a baseball, and buried it in the flour canister (I filled a separate canister from the one I usually use in case things didn't work out).
Several hours later, as I was putting the bread away, I saw some flour on the counter. As I started to clean it up, I noticed that one of the kids had knocked the lid off the flour canister, so I went to put it back on. It wouldn't go back on because the kids didn't do it, the hunk of dough did. It had puffed up so big it blew the top off the canister. I took it out, kneaded it a bit, took some of the flour out of the canister (about half, in fact) then reburied the dough. It was ok then.
The next day, I took the dough out. It had some hard places on it and seemed kind of dead. I used it anyway. I put it into some warm water, added some sugar, and let it soak for about 15 minutes. Then, I added salt, oil, and flour and beat it well. I added enough flour to make a dough and turned it out to knead. It was a lovely, soft dough! Once I finished kneading it, I tore off a hunk and buried it in the flour, then put the rest into an oiled bowl to rise, keeping my fingers crossed. It rose beautifully!
I punched it down and made 4 pizza crusts out of it. It wasn't terribly stretchy, but it worked ok. The pizzas were good and the crust was crunchy. I think this dough would make excellent French bread, bagels, pretzels, and cinnamon rolls. It might make good loaf bread, too. I will try that next.
The dough has been buried in the flour since Friday (the third of August). I will try using it again tomorrow to see if it's still viable or if it needs to be used every day. I'll update when I see what happens next.
Posted on August 9th~
Well, I finally got around to trying the bread today. The dough in the flour was all dried out and crumbly, after all it's been in there 6 days, but I tried it anyway. I crumbled it into a bowl, poured 4 cups of water over it, sprinkled in some sugar, then left it to soak for a few minutes.
I got involved in laundry and making beds and forgot about it for about half an hour until I saw it sitting on the table. I added some salt, oil, and flour and made a dough. I kneaded it and put a hunk back in the flour canister in case it wasn't as dead as I thought it was. Then I put it into a greased bowl, covered it with a towel, and sat it on the dehydrator to rise (well, hopefully, anyway)
I forgot about it again. Several hours later, I checked it and it was doubled in size! I will tell you, I was shocked!
I punched it down, shaped it into 4 loaves, and set it to rise on the stove-top, where I was less likely to forget about it. It took about 3 hours to rise, but it did. I baked it and we had a loaf for supper. It was splendid! Now I'm glad I had enough faith to save another hunk.
Do you realize what this means? Now I won't have to worry about having enough yeast stored! I can start with only 1 or 2 tablespoons and have bread from now on. This is soooo much easier than regular sourdough! Unbelievably easy, in fact! No need to make bread everyday and no need to feed the starter. The bread was moist, dense, and tasty, with a nice crisp crust.