On Jul 28, 4:29*am, Mike Romain > wrote:
> rob norman wrote:
> > *I am curious, I've come across recipes that identify a basic SD
> > starter as just about a 1:1 ratio of flour (unbleached) and water, but
> > have also seen recipes calling for 1:1 flour to milk. ?? Any insight
> > on which provides for a stronger "sour"?
>
> I find 'both' work well. *I make SD English muffins that call for an
> overnight ferment of starter and milk and flour as well as I use milk in
> lots of loaves of bread, depending on what texture I am aiming for. *The
> muffins turned out beautiful and we had eggs Benedict for supper last
> night.
>
> I find the best 'sour' taste comes from a long ferment. *I can get half
> decent 'sour' from a long ferment overnight of the starter, but not near
> as nice as a long last rise.
>
> I just pulled a loaf out of the oven now at 10:15 AM that I started
> growing at 9:30 PM last night. *I took a tbsp of my active sponge and
> added 500 ml water with enough flour stirred in to ball up and a tsp of
> salt. *I then kneaded the dough and let it rest in a ball covered on the
> counter until about 11:30, then loafed it and let it rise until 9:30 AM
> this morning when I baked it. *I might have let it rise more, except it
> 'escaped' the pyrex dish it was in and was starting to spread over the
> cookie sheet I had the dish on. *It 'mushroomed' big time. *LOL. *Turned
> out really nice with a crispy sour crust.
>
> I loosely base my 'sour' loaves on Dick's 'Billowly' SD loaf. *His
> method of using one small amount of starter with lots of food for
> growing works very well for me.
>
> Mike

Mike,
I totally know that mushroom loaf feeling from the time as a loaf of
non-SD bread was baking and it had already risen a bit too high; still
came out great though and the crust was delicious! Your posts have
been very informative and I appreciate your info. I will take pics
this next time, I just actually need to make the time...seems in short
supply these days )
Dicky, thank you as well...I like the bounce back and forth between
your and Mike's input. It's very fun to watch a bit of friendly
competition.

All in all, as a beginner of this food...I made it pretty clear how I
am trying to achieve the sour flavor of the bread as well as a sour
crust. It seems to me the pessimistic view came from the one input
about "dismissing an opinion" and "bigotry"...it's cooking. Lighten up
and have some fun with it...the minute you take it as seriously as you
are, there's no fun left in it.
But Mike, Dicky and Kenneth; thank you for your inputs and I look
forward to showing you my next attempt...hopefully with tastier
results! Show ya soon, take care all!