60+ year old thread.

Good Morning Porch Pals & Sue! No 'Easter is headed for Texas, but we won't be 90* again today. Maybe 60*. We've been on a roller coaster of temps, and I thought March would try to punish us for emptying the greenhouse before this week. Lows near 40* predicted, so it's trying. Keep on pulling the Decked today, but quit earlier so I can take the wife to birthday dinner!

 

I make a sourdough bread.
Nothing like the smell of it coming out of the oven.

 

Let's hope this will not be leading to what had happened to Viet Nam, everyone's wealth changed to equal amount of 200 new money units after a night of curfew!

 

We got a homemade bread maker.
We had to get rid of it..
Bread was to good..

 

ROTFLMAO @Tacoma Mike, you got me.

 

We have a bread maker. But we can't make sourdough! So, once a year, it makes something!

Nearly got this removal thing wrapped up!

 

I've been wondering about that; sourdough is definitely a different process and on more than one occasion I've wondered if I could use a bread maker to streamline the work.

All in all, I doubt I spend more than an hour total per loaf, but it can be tedious at times, five minutes here, fifteen there..., that plus the fact sourdough does things on its own schedule, it tells you when to kneed and when to bake, not the other way around.

 

I'm gonna say operator error. Both the bread and the machine have to have a lot of very specific interactions, and you have to have great starter!

 

My wife has one. So far she is keeping me.

 

Can't say either way, I've never tried a machine, regardless of the leavening agent. As for my starter, it allegedly traces its lineage back to the 1849 Gold Rush; it is very robust, delightfully sour, and can hang out in the refrigerator for upwards of 6-months without being fed (however, the longest I've gone between feedings is a couple of weeks).

 

I haven't found a decent loaf of sourdough for decades. A lot get the texture right, but the "sour" is never right. You're very lucky to have a proper sour.

 

I started my own starter about 9 or 10 years ago(?).
My sourdough bread starts the day before. Sets in refrigerator overnight. And rises most of the next day, baking about 3 to 5 pm for an hour.

 

As I've heard it told (I'm still learning and am far from an expert), a good test for the robustness of a starter is how well it works with dark rye flour; here are two loaves, the lighter is a 50/50 mix with wheat, the darker is 100% dark rye flour. Both loaves have a very healthy measure of caraway seeds, and the darker also has whole rye berries.


One final note, the dark rye bread was darkened the German way relying on the "Maillard" process/reaction instead of the American way which is to add cocoa and/or molasses to the bread dough as darkening agents.

 

Anybody make Challah?



My dad started a bakery supply company when he was 17, and became a millionaire during the depression. When he was twenty he was demonstrating the first dry cake mixes to flour company reps in the lab he kept at his business location. He eventually sold out to the people that developed Spudnuts, and later worked for them as their manager of research and development.

His trick to great Challah was using carrot juice to get color and a touch of sweet. He never could make a good sourdough.

 

I know one that was Vioxx, it worked very good for me, but was taken off the market because some people developed heart problems while taking it.

 

Looks delicious!

On the "C" day when I was there, 70-71, you were reimbursed dollar for dollar for what you had on you. Lots of locals waving MPC at you from the fence around the compound. I still have some MPC around here somewhere.

Good morning, everyone. Slep in late and now off to the gym a little bit later than usual. Going to continue plugging away at small projects around the house later on today.

 

Morning 60+
Just got the first pass with snowblower done . Barely moved it ,wet and heavy .still coming down

 

Makes my back hurt just looking at those

 

Morning Porch Folks

Be careful Bill. The wet, heavy stuff is half on the body. Watch your back .

 

I remember those days fondly. Which is one big reason I moved!

Good Morning Porch Pals & Sue! Rattler family spotted down the street, so spray the fences with peppermint oil spray, because it's what I have. Then remove Larry the Polaris from the pool - he is now retired. Birthday present (for both of us) cleaning robot arrives today! That and finish sorting parts drawers should keep me busy.