"Ophelia" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Julia Altshuler said:Is it possible that the supermarket bread lists yeast because it was
made with conventional yeast? I'm going with your suspicions that it
is neither true California nor true sourdough. It may have some other
ingredient to give it a bit of sour taste, but it lists yeast as an
ingredient because that's what's in there.
--Lia
Hi Lia🙂 You can get a starter free from rec.food.sourdough if you wanted
to make your own.
What is going on in this discussion??? There is naturally occurring yeast
in flour, and in the air around us. You don't need to obtain any magical
ingredients from anyone in order to make sourdough bread. An alternative is
to make a "biga" using a little commercial yeast, as described in this
method from "In Nonna's Kitchen", by Carol Field.
Biga (bread starter)
¼ teaspoon active dry yeast or 1/10 small cake fresh yeast
¼ cup warm water
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons water, room temperature
2-1/2 cups (about 11 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
To make the biga: Stir the yeast into the warm water and let stand until
creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining water and then the flour, 1
cup at a time. If you are making the biga by hand, mix with a wooden spoon
for about 4 minutes. If you are using a heavy-duty electric mixer, mix with
the paddle at the lowest speed for about 2 minutes.
Rising: Place the sticky biga in a large lightly oiled bowl, cover with
plastic wrap, and let rise at cool room temperature for 24 to 48 hours. The
starter will triple in volume, then fall back upon itself. It ill still be
wet and sticky when you use it, so moisten your hands when you scoop some
out to measure it. Cover and refrigerate after 48 hours. You may keep the
biga refrigerated for up to 5 days.
REMAINDER OF RECIPE:
To make the dough by hand: Stir the yeast into the warm water in a large
mixing bowl; let it stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Add the room
temperature water and the biga. Squeeze the biga through your fingers to
break it up and then stir it vigorously with a wooden spoon until the water
is chalky white and the starter is well shredded. Begin stirring the flour
mixed with the salt, 2 cups at a time, into the yeast mixture. Beat well
with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together into a shaggy moist mass.
Flour your work surface and your dough scraper and keep a mound of flour
nearby for your hands. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface and,
with the help of the dough scraper and as little flour as possible, turn and
knead the dough until it gradually loses its stickiness, although it will
remain wet.
By heavy-duty electric mixer: Stir the yeast into the warm water in a large
mixing bowl; let it stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Add the room
temperature water and the biga. Squeeze the biga through your fingers to
break it up and then stir it vigorously with a wooden spoon until the water
is chalky white and the starter is well shredded. Add the flour and salt
and with the paddle attachment mix until the dough comes together. You may
need to add up to 4 tablespoons more flour, but the dough will never come
away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. Change to the dough hook and
knead for 4 to 5 minutes at medium speed. You may finish kneading the
sticky wet dough by hand on a well-floured surface, sprinkling the top with
up to 4 tablespoons more flour.
First Rise: Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. If you have a
straight-sided translucent plastic container, please use it so that you can
mark exactly where the dough starts and measure its progress until it has
tripled. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until tripled and
full of air bubbles, about 3 hours.
Shaping and second rise: Turn the sticky dough out onto a well-floured work
surface. Flour a dough scraper and have a mound of flour nearby for your
hands. Pour the dough out of the bowl but do not punch it down. Lightly
flour the top and cut into 3 equal pieces. You can moisten your hands in
water if the dough seems very sticky; wet hands do not stick to wet dough.
Flatten each piece and roll it up lengthwise, using your thumbs as a guide
for how tight the rolls should be. Turn the dough 90 degrees, gently pat it
flat, and roll it up again, still using your thumbs as a guide. Shape each
piece into a ball by rolling the dough between your cupped hands, using the
surface of your work table to generate tension and create a taut skin on the
surface of the dough. Place the loaves on floured parchment paper or waxed
paper, set them on baking sheets or pizza peels, cover with a heavy cloth,
and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
At least 30 minutes before you plan to bake, heat the oven(s) to 450 degrees
with baking stones inside.
Baking: Just before baking, sprinkle the stones with cornmeal. Gently
invert the loaves onto the stones—you may leave whatever parchment paper has
stuck to the wet dough for 15 minutes or so and remove it once the dough has
set. You may prefer to slide the loaves onto the baking stones without
turning them over; you may also leave them on the baking sheets and set them
directly on the stones. The break will look deflated when you initially put
it in, but will puff up like a pillow in no time. Bake until golden brown
and crusty, about 35 minutes, or until a tap on the bottom produces a hollow
sound that indicates the loaf is baked. Cool on racks.
Variation: Use 1 scant cup (5 ounces) whole wheat flour, preferably
stone-ground and 4-3/4 cups (1-1/3 pounds) unbleached all-purpose flour.
