Hey all,
I’ve seen a lot of these posts pop up on my front page and it’s honestly made me want to try getting into the hobby, however I tend to jump into hobbies neck deep and drop them shortly after. Is there any way to test the waters without going down the rabbit hole? It seems like you need a lot of equipment and experience to get the best results.
Another thing is that I tend to dislike store bought sourdough as I’ve found most of it to be too tangy/sour. Do all sourdoughs taste like this, or would it be fairly easy to control when making your own bread?
Edit: sorry, I should clarify. I’m specifically talking about sourdough. I’ve baked bread before (though it’s been a long time) but most of the really good looking breads here have been sourdough.
Try with dehydrated yeast first. Then once you have a passable loaf start replacing the yeast with starter.
My go to recipe (whole wheat):
80% hydration 1.5% salt 8% fat “Some” yeast (maybe a tablespoon, I don’t measure).
For 600 grams of flour that is around (from memory):
480 grams water 8 grams salt 48 grams oil (usually olive oil but I ran out and was using avocado oil) 1 tbsp of yeast
Mix it (in a bread machine if you want). Put it in a floured bread form in a plastic bag in the fridge overnight
Next day, set the oven to 550 degrees for about an hour (if you have a pizza stone or steel, so it can warm up).
When you are ready to bake, turn the oven to 400 degrees.
Upturn the bread onto parchment paper
Score the top deeply.
Bake for 40 minutes, Tapping on the bottom should sound hollow and internal temperature should be around 195f.
After it is baked, put it in an air tight bag to cool down.
Don’t cut it until it is about room temperature.