In article ,
(Bob) wrote:

On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 10:06:43 -0400, EJM wrote:

I believe that you mentioned you had only ever made one recipe - the KA
recipe "Breads From The Hearth: Baguettes and Ciabatta with Sue Gray &
P.J. Hamel". It is not a sourdough recipe even if you call it one.

Just to show you how writers confuse things here is an excerpt from an
Internet article someone recommended earlier:

+++++
http://www.baking911.com/bread_starters101howto.htm

HOW TO MAKE A SOURDOUGH STARTER: Although rewarding, working with a
starter requires patience and practice. Sometimes starters fail or
don't produce the type of bread that is desired from a variety of
reasons. So how does one make a starter?

A sponge starter is started by mixing the yeast, flour and water in a
bowl, covering with plastic wrap and set in warm place to ferment for
less than an hour or more. When it ferments (gets bubbly and smells
sour and yeasty), it can be used.
+++++

If you read that carefully you will see that it says that a sourdough
starter has yeast in its recipe. There is no other way to read it.

I rest my case.


You are resting prematurely. Does the starter dough that you are using
for your KA baguettes smell "sour and yeasty"? In my opinion, it
shouldn't after such a short time of fermentation. It should smell nutty
and maybe have a hint of a yeast smell.

Also, if you read carefully just a little further on that page, you will
see that there is a definition of a *sourdough* starter - which does not
call for commercial yeast.

.................................................. .....
: A sourdough starter is a living culture that needs food, water and
: oxygen to cultivate, ferment and multiply and takes a minimum of a
: couple of days or so to get started and months to become stabile.
: Before there was packaged yeast, all bread was leavened by a
: sourdough starter. Although using a sourdough starter in baking
: is more unpredictable than using packaged yeast, the vibrant and
: sour flavor as well as unique texture that results, just can't
: be made in any other way. It's because you are cultivating and
: fermenting wild yeast (often Candida milleri) and bacteria
: (Lactobacillus) that feed on the sugars from the hydrated flour's
: starches and live and multiply in the batter. A portion is used
: to leaven and flavor bread and other recipes.
:
:..above excerpt from www.baking911.com/bread_starters101howto.htm ....

I would think that the several voices in r.f.s. and a.b.r. repeatedly
telling you that sourdough does not use in fact use commercial yeast and
that the KA baguette recipe you are using is NOT sourdough should be
enough to convince you that perhaps you should rethink your position.
Could it be that you are the one wearing the blinkers?

Take a good look at the KA recipe "Breads From The Hearth: Baguettes and
Ciabatta with Sue Gray & P.J. Hamel" you have cited, Bob. Where does it
say anything about sourdough?

The KA site does have sourdough recipes. One is for making 'Grape
Sourdough Starter'. It begins:
......................................
: If you have ever had a yen to create a sourdough starter of
: your own, Fall is the time of year to do it. There is a lot
: of wild yeast flying about in the late summer and early fall
:
:...above excerpt from www.kingarthurflour.com ..................

The whole 'Grape Sourdough Starter' recipe is in the school section of
the KA site:

http://ww2.kingarthurflour.com/cgibi...42870273493460

The KA site also has recipes for "French Sourdough Bread", "Ultimate
Sourdough Baguettes" calling for 'sourdough starters' rather than
'sponge starters'.



--
ejmorris aka llizard

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

If you are e-mailing and hit the reply button, add an "e" to "idirct"