Linda, the bread maker is a great mixing tool, I can't live without it!

try making the Basic Sourdough Bread from
the Bread Bible. Use refrigerated stuff starter, yes: your own. the bread is never sour, and the reef
refrigerator stuff starter not as scary looking as liquid or room temperature one.

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I love baking bread, although I do not have a lot of time. Most of the time I use my breadmaker, and when it's cool enough, I finish baking it in the oven.

My question is, I love sourdough bread, but I cannot take the strong smell of the starter. I have tried making starter, but it just turns me off making the bread. Would using a Sponge be as effective as you suggest in some of your bread recipes?

Thanks.

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Hi Rose,
A while back you had a post for a recommendation for the best cookie cutters you have ever used. They come in many shapes and can be decorated in great detail. I can't remember the name of the company and I am interested in purchasing at this time. Can you help me with this?

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Angela, happy baking! I would use shortening instead of butter and flour, to coat the pans. A baking spray with flour such as Bakers Joy is my preference.

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I baked four yellow butter cake recipes from the cake bible last night. I baked two ten inch cakes and two twelve inch cakes all separately. I baked them in the middle rack on 350 fah (oven temperature was steady) The cakes came out good, I used the rose factor formula and magic strips to line the pan and parchment paper as well. I used butter and flour to coat the pan. The only problem I get each time is that when I unmold the cake from the pan, some of the edges crack off. Some of the sides of the cake fall off. I followed every advice from the cake bible, I let the cake rest in the pan (10-20minutes depending on the cake size) and use a spatula to release the edges of the cake from the pan, but I still get some edges falling off. The cake rose fine and the texture is good. I practiced on 4 cakes. The only thing I can think of is that I buttered and floured the pans. I'm wondering if its the butter I used to coat the pan that is the problem. I'm going to try again tonight using crisco to coat the pan and flour. I will be baking a 14 inch cake tonight. This is my last tier I need to make for my sisters wedding cake. I'm still going to use the other cakes and try to coat it with extra buttercream but I don't like those cracked edges each time I bake. Please help. Thanks, Angela

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Sourdough Inquiry

Why must one discard 1/2 of sourdough and then replenish that which remains?

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Sourdough Inquiry

Why must one discard 1/2 of sourdough and then replenish that which remains?

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I'm in the beginning stages of hopefully starting a cupcake business. I've developed some really good recipes, but I'm experiencing a very annoying problem with the cupcake liners. What can be done to prevent the cake from pulling away from the liner (or the liner pulling away from the cake)? It doesn’t happen all the time – but it’s SO frustrating when it does. The cupcakes look awful when this happens. What’s even more frustrating, I can’t pinpoint the problem. I’ve tried different liners, different recipes, adjusting the baking time, cooling cupcakes IN the pans and OUT of the pans – there doesn’t seem to be one common denominator. Help!

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Heidi, be sure the clarified butter is warm and first mix it with 1 cup of batter

http://myyellowkitchen.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/genoise-04-rose-page-169-–-eggs-quadruple-and-folding-mysteries/

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My daughter now needs to be on a gluten-free diet. I don't have The Bread Bible. Does it have gluten-free bread recipes?

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I made nancy sivertons bread starter, but over the course of 1 year it lost its sour taste in the finished product, I live in Palm Springs Ca, very hot and dry , could that be the problem, or is it me. And how do I get it back? Jon

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Thank you so much for your quick reply. I tried your suggestion to bake in a friend's kitchen. My genoise turned out beautifully so it must be my oven, even though a thermometer seems to indicate the right temperature. Maybe I'm not getting even heat from top and bottom. I'm checking out new ovens now. I did a second test cake that unfortunately deflated a lot as I mixed the butter in. It baked perfectly even too with no sagging in the middle but. it was less than an inch high. I used it as the bottom layer and just soaked it all the more with rum syrup for a cake recipe I was trying for the first time called Maple Mousse with Almond Maple Praline Topping. Nobody knew the difference but me.

I never seem to have consistent results with genoise. I have more consistent results with biscuit. With genoise it's very hit and miss. I get great volume and then it deflates with the butter addition. I watched your You Tube video and spent about an hour reading all the threads relating to genoise on your site. I see that I'm not alone in this. I will keep practicing and address further questions to that section.

Heidi

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Oops...sorry. I'm new to this "posting a comment stuff"...I just realized I seem to have posted it under the wrong section since my question has nothing to do with Sourdough Starter.

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Help! I am of European background so in 34 years I've made MANY tortes that use either biscuit or genoise and they have always turned out beautifully. Recently however things have changed. After 6 attempts I am now completely frustrated and confused as to why all of a sudden they are not turning out anymore. I tried changing flour, from my usual Monarch Cake&Pastry flour, to Robin Hood Cake&Pastry flour and when that flopped I tried Swans Down Cake&Pastry flour. The same thing happens with each cake. The batter seems perfect when I put it in the pan and it bakes beautifully for about 10-15 minutes and then slowly the center begins to sink. I end up with the sides at the height they should be and the center about an inch thick. They also seem to have a very coarse texture as opposed to the fine texture they had before. I've tested the oven temperature with a thermometer and it registers correctly. My other cakes (pound cake, chocolate cake, muffins etc) all turn out fine. I am totally baffled. What could be causing this?

I have had the Cake Bible for years and just recently got the Heavenly Cakes book. I look forward to trying the new recipes. Thank you for such inspiring books.

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Rose - I have our wonderful cookbook "Rose's Heavenly Cakes" and want to amek the Orange-Glow Chiffon Layer Cake. However, I have a question about the flour nail. This is the first I have heard of such a thing. I am wondering, if I cannot locate one of these, can I use a same sized regular nail?

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Such wonderful breads, bravo, Luca!

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here is some bread the LUCA just made, it is still his adaptation of Rose's Basic Heart Bread with Bread Bible's adaptation with sourdough starter. Luca has been reducing the amount of water until achieving the perfect chewy feather texture and never spongy. Flour of choice: Gold Meda's Better for Bread.

http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/BasicHeartBreadSourdoughFlyingSaucer.html

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Thanks so much for your help! Will try making rolls soon.

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Dear S, if u enjoy the texture and flavor of the basic sourdough bread plus all its health and digestive benefits, you can shape it in any form. I have done loaf pans, braids, breadsticks, pizza crust, and 3D bees!

As with most bread doughs, shape your bread (final shape) after the last rise (actually the rise prior to shaping so indeed is the next to last rise as the last rise is when your shaped bread rise once more prior to baking).

Yes, do the bussiness turns as usual. Be aware that dinner rolls also contain softening agents like honey, sugar, butter, milk, etc, your could compare recipes and experiment.

Watch Rose's dvd on bread on utube, she demonstrates how to shape rolls.

The crust will be crunchy, I would make the dinner rolls during lunch and reheat for dinner. The crust softens as the bread is left cooling. Another way is to bake the day before and store the bread airtight, the crust will be completelly soften.

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Good morning, Hector...Have you ever made dinner rolls with the basic sourdough bread recipe? I'm wondering if the steps would all be the same...baking temp...business letter turns...at what point would I divide the dough into rolls...and how much would each roll weight? I wouldn't want them to be so crusty that they would be hard to chew...maybe a little softer than the regular loaf.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

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must be just how the bread dough was handled during final shaping. just a sourdough air bubble.

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This was a tunnel...couldn't tell anything was wrong until it was cut. The crust wasn't slashed before baking. It was a beautiful loaf, but the crust looked like it had just pulled away right down the middle. The bread was shaped into a long loaf.

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a tunnel or a surface crack?

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I wonder what would cause a tunnel all the way through the bread, just under the crust....was very tasty, though!

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I wonder what would cause a tunnel all the way through the bread, just under the crust....was very tasty, though!

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happy new year sherry!

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You're right...this bread is very good! It wasn't very tall, though, so next time I'll try it in a smaller loaf pan. Thank you.

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it is 6 am and just started one for NY eve! starter neds to be active which means left at room temp from freshly fed until it starts to rise (about 4 hours), or on the 3rd or so day from fed and stored on the fridge. Read the feeding schedule on Bread Bible and when and for how long to leave it at room temp and refrigerated according to when you want to make bread.

But I tell you that it does not matter, you can use freshly fed right away or up to 1 week old, your 16 hour bread rise will be longer or shorter accordingly.

The key is to let bread rise for near 3 times its volume. No stone, no ice, there will be minimum oven spring and the crust is unremarkable. But you make bread! painlessly and truly great tasting.

Again, just checked my notes: 10 gr salt, 214 water, 428 fluor, 50 starter.

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Good morning, Hector...just read your post and am anxious to try this. But, I do have some questions. Does the starter need to be at room temperature? Should I refresh it today and put it in the fridge for a few days? Is it considered active without refreshing it?...I haven't fed it for over a week. Start in a COLD oven? On a stone? Any ice? Thanks!

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that is great sherry, now try this for a simplied sourdough bread baked on a loaf pan and perfect for slicing.

50 to 100 grams of active stiff starter, 400 grams better for bread flour, 200 grams water, 10 grams salt. dissolve salt in water, knead in fluor, add starter and knead. shape the dough and place on a standard non stick loaf pan. rise, covered for near 16 hours until tripled in volume and prior dome receading. bake at 400 to 475oF, NOT prehated oven till done! can't get any easier than this ad the taste is there!

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Thank you again for your help, Hector. My breads all turned out great. The only difference I noticed was that they didn't rise quite as high. You're right...it is always delicious!

Happy New Year to you!

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sherry, my recommendation is to just go for it either way you can. don't let the bread slave you. two things could happen: you get a dense bread or you get a wet spongy one. you can make wet bread slices into the most delicious grilled or toasted bread! for dense there is the most wonderful bread crumbs.

for sourdough bread baking, you are the boss and with short experimentation you will write your own recipe that best suits your taste and you schedule.

it is a very personal and natural bread because the starter is unique depending onwhere it lives, but always delicious.

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Oh, one more question...I wasn't able to finish two loaves of my sourdough bread. The two batches that are left are at the end of step 2 stage. They will have exceeded their 20 hrs. of refrigeration by the time I get to them in the morning. Should I start over with refreshing them or can I go ahead and continue to mix and bake?
Thanks again.

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I wonder how my sourdough bread would turn out if I skipped the business letter turns. I am on step 4 and just put the dough in to rise...it's almost 11:00 p.m. and, I'm tired! I'll probably set my alarm since I can't see getting an answer in the next half hour, but would like to know for future reference.
Thanks.

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Dear Rose: Thank you for answer me about the discard dough, its a great idea to make the pizza, I will do that. No more dough in the garbage!!!!! and I will try the boiling little balls for soup. I just hated to throw it away. My sourdough's name is blanquita because it was always white and clean, but not strong enough yet... Im on it though. Thanks again, Lucky

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in general, think in volume rather than hours. When the starter has just reached double volume then it is on the most active state, the prefered state for bread dough making.

doubling happens usually in 6 hours, or as long as 24 hours, depending how active the starter was when started!

doubling can take up to 1 week if it is in the refrigerator!

I have starter everywhere and at various point of activity. Some refrigerated, some frozen, some at friends houses, some at work, some on my office desk. Some across half the pacific, across the americas, and all the atlantic.

I don't discard any starter, it makes great pizza crust, flat bread, or even great when boiled in little balls and part of a soup or pasta dish! it is also great as glue for paper, repair nativity clay or paper mache pieces, etc!

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Thank you!

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Good Morning, Rose...Thanks for your advice on the Low-Risk Bread. I have made the Basic Sourdough many times and love it and the only reason I was trying the other was because something happened to my stiff sourdough starter. I think I might have fed it too much at one time to try and make several loaves at once and it didn't raise very well and was practically odorless, so I threw it all out. My liquid starter is from a friend and my stiff starter was one I had made from San Francisco starter ordered online. I do want to try and get that one going again. I have been freezing little pieces of it for other breads so I took 50 gr. of frozen...let it thaw, and fed it 50 gr. flour and 25 water as usual. It had not doubled in 6 hrs. so I left it out all night and this morning it has doubled. I'm looking at your instructions on reviving a neglected starter on pg. 438. Do I continue to leave it at room temp. for 24 hrs. and feed it again?...or should I refrigerate it and take it out again when the 24 hrs. are past and repeat that until it can double in 6-8 hrs.?

Thanks again!

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Hello,

I'm hoping to bake sourdough bread with my liquid starter and am looking at the Low-Risk sourdough bread recipe. It calls for Pain de Campagne starter, which I don't have. Can I use my liquid starter and do I still add the yeast to the dough? I refreshed my starter at mid-day yesterday...poured half out and fed again at 9:00 p.m. and let it set in the dark oven overnight. This morning it was bubbly, but was still at the same level as when I started last night. I fed it again four hrs. ago with 2 1/2 c. water and 3 c. bread flour and it is rising and smells nice. I noticed the recipe calls for cold starter if using the mixer method. Can I use it at room temperature or will it get too hot? Is it better to use the starter at its peak or does it matter as long as it is well fed?

Thanks!

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From Luca:

so.... the basic sourdough bread is superior to my basic heart bread converted into sourdough.

It's softer, and milder. It's airy and fluffy, with a nice crispy crust.
It's also way more complicated! I ended up using a home-made banneton (colander, lined with tea towel).

So I am probably going to try and make that for a while, but:
1- I am going to double the recipe to make a larger bread
2- I am going to make it on a loaf pan, and not free form it

I am very surprised by the fact that it's a lot milder than my bread.
This obviously comes from the fact that it uses 25 grams of started. My recipe used 240 grams!!!

The timing is very complicated. It's like this:
1- 25 grams expanded to 75grams, wait 6 hours
2- discard, keep 50, expand to 50, wait 6 hours
3- mix dough, wait 20 minutes, add starter, wait 1 hour, deflate/fold, wait 1 hour, deflate/fold, wait 5 hours
4- shape, wait 4 hours
5- bake
So.. it's a 23 hours, but without a 12 hours period in the middle where you can sleep!

The only possibility is that you can refrigerate after phase 2, up to 20 hours So here is the possible schedule:
Day1: wake up, do step 1, go to work
Day1: come home for lunch, do step 2, go to work
Day1: come back from work, put starter in the fridge at 6pm Day2:go home for early lunch! at 11. Do phase 3. Will take until 1.30pm
Day2: come home do phase 4.. wait until 10pm
Day2: bake.. and go to bed.
!!!

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Hector...thanks for your reply. I already had the bread in the oven by the time I read your reply, but it turned out great. The hole on top just looked like a wide open mouth singing the "cooling song". :-) I used a 4.75 qt. d.o. since it was a large loaf of bread. I set it in the pot with the parchment still around it...seemed easier that way, but would sure rather leave it off since it's so expensive. I had read another idea about putting brown paper in the bottom of the pot so I did that and it helped with the overbrowning. It was a little too brown on the top...maybe I baked it too long? I preheated oven to 475 deg. and after five minutes turned it down to 450...left the lid on for 20 min. then baked 20 min. more with lid off. I used Gold Medal bread flour.

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i get bubbles all the time, no worries, just tells you things are active. aren't they beautiful?

use a small 2 qt d.o. so pot sides helps bread rise up. it is nature of sourdough to spread sideways.

parchment is great and perfect, but what expensive. if your d.o. is seasoned cast iron non enamel then use no parchment... if it sticks a little let baked bread cool in the pot and it will sweat and detach magically.

if using parchment, final rise is done on it. i like to line a bowl with parchment so it helps dough spread upwards.

what flour are you using? some give you a wet/spongy bread but this is perfect for toasts and paninis.

oh, yes you can reshape and rerise again and actually many many times or for ever! add 1/3 or so of fresh flour-water-salt at same proportions of recipe each time starter has been exhausted which is when it has doubled 2 or 3 times since the last time you added fresh flour mix or when the last rise got so slow.

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Help! I'm making a double recipe of basic sourdough. I put the shaped loaf in the fridge last night and when I took it out this morning there is a hole in the top. It is just the outer skin that is open and is about an inch deep. Should I re-shape it? Right now I have it in a bread basket hoping it will rise up and not out. I want to bake it in my dutch oven. Do I put it in upside down or just set it in...parchment and all? Thanks for anyone's help.

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Danielle, lesson learned, never let anyone touch such precious item, live with it, travel with it, sleep with it.

But I would do, is keep feeding it, it can recover.

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I have had a sourdough starter for the past 2 years, recently another person feed it and from what i can come up with they used extremly hot water! The starter has developed a pinkish orange skin on the top and is developing a different odor. Is my starter done for or is there a way I could save it???

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I have had a sourdough starter for the past 2 years, recently another person feed it and from what i can come up with they used extremly hot water! The starter has developed a pinkish orange skin on the top and is developing a different odor. Is my starter done for or is there a way I could save it???

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Jen, beautiful photos and even more beautiful bread and kitchen!

I need to report that I have just switched to Gold Medal unbl Bread Flour (aka King Harvest Better for Bread). Luca is been getting great results.

Normally available in 10 lb bags or most commonly in 5 lb bags at grocery stores. If you bake bread once a week, a 10 lb bag is ideal and goes quickly.

You can find 4 pack 10 lb bags at restaurant supply stores, get them! Double or triple wrap each bag with stretch-tite to keep them airtight, bug free, and as fresh as possible w/o taking freezer space! The flour bag that I am using, I store in the refrigerator or freezer in airtight containers, or just in my pantry if I use the flour within 1 or 2 months. Always wait until the flour has reached room temperature before opening a refrigerated/frozen flour, this avoids humidity rushing in.

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Hi Rose, I've recently discovered you and your amazing book. I just wanted to share a post I did on your book:

http://freshcrackedpepper.com/2008/05/18/journey-through-the-book-of-bread-i/

Thanks so much for your great work!

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