Hmm...no ear could be indicative of a few things including over-proofing, issues with gluten development or oven spring. Hope this helps. Did you bake in a dutch oven?
When the sourdough thing happened in the pandemic, I was already on a bread baking journey. IMO, the absolute BEST use for sourdough discard/starter is pizza dough. And COLD proof it in the fridge for about 2 days.. trust me, bro.
I have been slowly studying how to begin the process of making sourdough—I hope I can do it! It seems that I will need a good name for the starter before this all gets going. Thanks for posting so that we newbies feel energized to just do it!
Getting a sour dough starter going is on my retirement to do list. Right after decluttering to make room for the sour dough starter. So maybe next year. Looks delicious!
I offer this exceptional recipe. I’m 2 years into making sourdough & this is my favorite. Best advice; use Organic whole Rye flour as your starter food. You use less & it has great resiliency. My starter travels all over the world so it’s had 100’s of different climates, altitudes, & water sources!
That looks wonderful! I tried multiple times to make it and failed miserably. I resorted to making the NYT no knead bread because my grandkids love it. They call it “crusty bread”.
Looks good, but try it a bit darker next time. That darkness is flavor. If you are using a Dutch oven, take the lid off and bake another five minutes and it will add a ton
OK. It's been 42 minutes! Have you cut it yet???? I just pulled a dish of brownies out of the oven 2 seconds ago & am already cutting them. How is the bread???😂😂😂
Oh yes, I was supposed to try bread, baking during the pandemic and never pulled it off. I guess there might be time now when we’re getting wheat from the farmer down the street after the food system collapses. 🤣
Sourdough is fantastic. I grew a starter during Covid and used a little bit of yeast until it was really strong from many feedings. Now I'm 100% starter and I bake every week. It's the only bread we eat in the house. Google Nancy Silverton's starter recipe.
I watched a few YouTube vids on making a starter..daunting. I really need to try, because it's my Granddaughter's favorite. I have almost "mastered" pretzels.
This starter looks like a mess when you're making it but you just have to trust that it will become something. Her bread book, Breads From The La Brea Bakery, is amazing. A worthwhile investment.
Recipes will tell you how much to use, and weight is more accurate than volume (use a scale if you can). I feed the starter before I use it (which is just adding flour and water). Any book on sourdough will tell you quantities.
Once you have built up a starter for the first time, you save some for future use (I use a mason jar in the fridge). Feed it every so often, lasts forever. I use appx 2 cups of frothy starter to 8 cups flour to make 4 loaves.
Comments
I'll be over in ten minutes!
Smell-O-Vision for this!
My hubs, @lynndemarest.bsky.social, made us a pizza tonight using sourdough. There's been a lot of bread baking around here lately. 🥖🐷
I bet it tasted even better
Thank 🥰 you
Enjoy with plenty butter and hot tea.
I can smell it from here.
I am calling your first attempt a resounding success.💙