I preorder the King Arthur "Big Book of Bread", and received it last week! After thumbing thru the pages for about a week/reading/dreaming, i decided to once again try my hand at the elusive sourdough bread loaf!
The REALLY neat thing about this beautiful, detailed book is it has those QR codes! One can take the phone/read the QR code and get a short video of hands performing the actual part of the technique one is interested in! I have been toying with sourdough on/off for a couple years...
Last time (coincidentally a couple weeks before my book arrived!) I had developed my own sourdough culture, and been baking bread/English muffins almost daily with the discard. So, my starter was robust/ready to go. I had also ordered a bulk rise container (see thru) so i could monitor the amount of rise a little closer! It was a big help!
Anyway - i started a sourdough batch a couple days ago, and finally got to the baking stage this morning - SO exciting! I didnt have proper proofing baskets/flour didnt stick to the only bowls i had that were suitable/ so i cut parchment paper/cut to the center, so it would conform to the bowl w no wrinkles/and chilled it overnight as instructions say. I had little faith the dough would rise, but this morning, the dough had reached the covers on the bowls! One by one i everted the loaves out onto fresh parchment and baked them singly in the only Dutch oven i had big enough to accommodate the larger loaves. The first one, baked nicely, but i had tried to score it w no success. But internally, it was fine/and it passed the hungry husband test! The 2nd loaf, i found a sharper blade and made a few awkward attempts at scoring. Much to my pleasant surprise - it turned out "almost" looking like a "real" sourdough loaf 😁😁😁
Although i have a long way to go to perfect some of the beautiful works of art i see in so many of the bread books, THIS was an epiphanal moment for me.
Today, i ordered another proper proofing basket, a lamé. With this new found confidence, i look forward to many more successful attempts, always edging towards that perfect loaf! Not withstanding, they have all tasted great -toasting it is exquisite!
So, never give up is the moral of the story. I love the King Arthur resources - in the end, it was THE BOOK that got my sourdough bread baking to the next level.
THANK you King Arthur!

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