Tuesday 7 December 2010

Cheat's Sourdough.

One of my challenges this month has an option to use a mature sourdough starter.
Well, we tried a sourdough starter once before and ended up throwing it out as it was a bit TOO sour or otherwise known as rancid.  And I don't really have time this month to faff about trying something that I'm not terribly confident will work.
So, I went and ordered ready-made sourdough starter from the kitchen of THE Richard Bertinet.
And when you see the price, you'll think I've gone off my rocker.  Yes, I feel guilty about it.

But, today I made the first loaves of bread I have made in years!  And they are a success.  I made wholemeal but I'll maybe do a more traditional white one for my next loaf.  They are soft and chewy with a crispy crust and they have a distinctive sour tang.  Much more tasty than shop-bought with our soup at lunchtime.


6 comments:

  1. Richard Bertinet's book Dough taught me how to make bread so I'd trust the man to make a decent starter. His bread technique never ever fails for me. I've even had people disbelieve me when I revealed I made the bread myself. Your loaf looks so soft and lovely.

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  2. I'm so glad it worked out for you with the starter. I'd love to learn to get bread just right, but it's so difficult and I never have the time to experiment. Glad to see there's a bit of a shortcut!

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  3. I did a starter earlier this year and the bread was good, but not good enough for me to continue to faff around with the starter on a daily basis. I sort of regret not keeping it going now. Your loaf looks delicious.

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  4. Not cheap!!

    Never heard of Richard Bertinet before - looking forward to having a good look through the website.

    Oh the bread looks wonderful.

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  5. I have yet to try making a sour dough. You're turned out pretty great (=

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  6. Well, i think I might be coming to the same conclusion as Kath. I like home made bread but I don't think I like the sour dough enough to keep faffing with the starter and worrying about it. I think I'll stick it in the freezer and forget about it for a while.

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