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How I make sourdough bread

3/15/2015

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This is a recipe in pictures. Well, really, it's a method. I create bread in a way that is time- and labor-saving for me and also pleases my family. Sourdough has wonderful health benefits. I have been making sourdough bread from this starter since May of last year. I bought the San Francisco style starter from Cultures for Health.

It is rainy and cold here today. So, I was planning to let the dough that I prepared yesterday rise for two days. Sourdough is very slow to rise, and even slower when it's cool. By letting it ferment for two days, it also becomes more sour, which is nice. But, my 13-yr-old son was standing in the kitchen hollering, "Bread, bread, bread, bread...." So, I relented.

Here is the dough I made yesterday in its happy home--an Anchor Hocking batter bowl that I bought at Walmart for $7.
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I am going to cook the bread on my Chicago baguette tray, so I pull hunks of dough out of the bowl in thirds. I usually, just form the dough into a long loaf-like hunk in the air. Today, I rolled the thirds on the counter in some flour. My son was not pleased when he ate it because he got white stuff on his hands. He just tears pieces off like the French do. The loaves come out looking the same whether I form them in my hands or on the counter.

After I get the loaves on the pan, I use a sharp knife to create slits in the top. I usually go down the entire length in the middle once. I've found this works the best with my recipe as the loaf will not split anywhere but the slit. You can also slit diagonally, as is traditional. When the loaf rises some more in the oven, it needs a bit of room to grow.
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I preheat my oven to 475 degrees. While that is heating up, I prepare the dough for the next day.

You can also make the bread in a Lodge 3 Qt. Combo Cooker. I just take the dough out of my mixer and let it rise in the Lodge pot with the lid on (instead of putting it in the batter bowl). It's so easy because you just place it in the preheated oven the next day. Here is a picture of what is left of the bread I made the other day in it. My family calls it "bread pie" because of its shape and how we cut it into wedges.


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Here are my sourdough-making tools. I am so happy with all of them. First, there is the refurbished Kitchenaid Artisan mixer. It's gone up in price since I bought it, but it's still a great deal. You don't get the pouring shied, but that didn't bother me--one less thing to wash. I kneaded my bread by hand until November, when I couldn't deal with it any longer. I have a lot of pain in my elbows, and that was impeding my ability to get bread baked on a regular basis.

I'm using a couple of measuring cups (1 cup and 1/2 cup) and a measuring spoon (1 tsp) that are great. It's OK to use stainless when creating the dough. But, be careful when using it when feeding or storing your starter. Metal does not make your sourdough happy. The salt cellar by Miles Kimball is one of my favorite things. Oh, the flour is from Walmart. You can buy much better flour. But, this is affordable. We go through a lot of flour baking as much bread as I do. I like the re-closeable packaging on it too.
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So, let's get started. Scoop 3 Cups of flour (scant) loosely and dump into your mixing bowl.

Add 3 tsp of Diamond Crystal kosher salt. (The recipe comes out better with Diamond Crystal brand than with Morton.)

Add 1 Cup of purified water. Now, the water you use is important. We had to switch from well water to city tap water this past October (not our choice). So, I bought a Propur G2.0 Big to filter out the chlorine and flouride--both of which can kill off your starter (not especially good for humans either!). Later, I ordered the stand, which is a really nice item to have. Be nice to your starter; use pure water.
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Now, add 1/2 C of fresh sourdough starter. "Fresh" means that you have fed it in the last day or two. Take a look at it; see the little bubbles? That's happy starter. I love the Kitchenaid measuring cups because I can see the measurements on the inside of the cup. That means, I only need to use one measuring cup for making my dough--flour, water, and sourdough all get measured in it. This sourdough is so happy, it's even bubbling in the measuring cup.
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Oh, my oven is ready. Time to stick the baguette pan inside. I place a pan with just a bit of water on the shelf below to help hydrate the bread. I don't need to do this when using the Lodge Combo Cooker because the lid helps keep bread moist. If using the cast-iron cooker, take off the lid the last 5 to 10 minutes to brown the top. I usually go for 20 to 25 minutes with the cast-iron pot. But, for the baguette pan, I cook the bread for 15 to 16 minutes, depending on how brown I want the tops.
Cook bread for 15 to 16 minutes at 475 degrees.

Now that I have the bread in the oven, I will turn on my mixer to the #2 setting for dough with the dough hook.
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I don't really pay attention to how long I mix the dough. I turn off the mixer after I'm finished feeding the sourdough starter. So, that's just a few minutes.

Here's how to feed the starter:
I keep the starter in a quart-sized Mason jar. Every few days, change out to a clean jar because starter will stick the to side when you pour it and turn to an icky flour cement.

Add 1/2 Cup of flour to the jar of starter. I use a canning funnel for the small-mouthed jars so I don't end up with flour all over my counter.
Now, add 1/2 Cup of purified water to the jar.
Stir with a non-metal utensil. This is pretty important as the starter is alive and sensitive to metal objects. I use a plastic knife. Oh, and when you are done with the utensil (or anything else that touches the starter, like your measuring cup in the dough section), immediately rinse it off. You will not be happy when it is time to wash your dishes if you let starter sit on anything because it turns to flour cement. When stirring, try to incorporate plenty of air into the starter. The starter seems to like that.
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Now, cover your jar of starter with a coffee filter and secure with a rubber band. I reuse the coffee filter while it still looks clean. We are all about reusing items at our house. The filter lets air in but keeps everything else out. Believe it or not, you actually have some wild yeast in your home. Some of that yeast will get through the coffee filter to your starter. (By the way, this is also a good reason to keep your kombucha and kefir on the other side of the kitchen.) So, each starter has a slightly different taste, even when beginning with the same package of starter culture. Set your starter in a calm place out of the way and not in direct sunlight. I place mine over in the corner of my kitchen counter. My starter is fed and put to bed.
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It's time to turn off the mixer. I spray the inside of the batter bowl lightly with olive oil. Now, I take the dough out of the mixer and pull the top off the dough around to the back to form a gluten cloak. I place the dough into the batter bowl top down to smear a bit of oil on it. Then, I turn it right-side up and cover with the plastic lid.
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I'll be back tomorrow or the next day to do this all again. I am grateful to be able to provide fresh, healthy bread for my family.

My method developed over a period of about five months. It is not fancy. I am confident you could create a prettier loaf. But, here's my situation: I do farm chores in the morning; I teach homeschool until 5 pm; then, I make dinner and do the dishes; After dinner, I do more farm chores and then go to work. I copyedit books for Elsevier until midnight or later. One last check on the animals, and it's time for me to read my Bible and get some shut eye. Rinse and repeat 7 days a week. The only break I get is that I don't have to teach school on the weekends. Freelancing and farm chores don't take a day off though. So, I read all kinds of recipes and such until I had gathered the kind of information I needed to come up with my own way of doing things that fit into my busy schedule. And, here are the results:
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San Francisco sourdough baguettes cooked at 475 degrees for 15 minutes.
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Blythmoor kids are 5 weeks old

3/15/2015

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Coffee Bean (left) and PayDay (right)
Blythmoor PayDay and Blythmoor Coffee Bean are 5 weeks old today. I am so happy with them. They got their CDT boosters just now. And, I snapped this picture. The only way I can get a picture of them is to take it through their gate because they jump all over me when I go into their pen. The other day, Coffee Bean tried to jump into my arms as I was sitting down on a pallet in their pen. She nailed me with her forehead right between the eyes. I'm glad that I did not see stars and that my glasses did not break. These are some very enthusiastic babies!

PayDay weighs in a 12 pounds today. Coffee Bean is a bit over 11 pounds. They are small tanks, very solidly built.

I am listening to them over the barn intercom as I type. When I am not present, PayDay runs about pretending he's a big buck--lolling and grunting at Coffee Bean. The reality is that he sounds like he's been sucking on a helium balloon. I love bucklings.

Thanks again Margie Dyskstra for the beautiful kids.
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My version of Kratky non-circulating hydroponics

3/8/2015

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I learned about Kratky's research from Mike Adams (The Health Ranger). Mike has created a stir with his new website teaching people how to grow food in plastic bins. I really appreciated Mike's videos showing how to build his system. I love his passion and his transparency. That said, I do have a critique: He is touting his plans for a float that you can 3D print out of a special filament that he helped to design. That's fine, but one of the selling points of his campaign is that we all will be building his new grow boxes after an EMP. Um, how are we going to fire up the 3D printers after an EMP?

So, I thought about how he's building his Food Rising Mini-Farm Grow Box. And, I decided to put something similar together with the items I have around the house or could easily (and affordably) acquire in town.  A year ago, I bought a couple planters on legs from Rite Aid for $25 each. They are very nice actually. I'm not sure how well they would hold up outside because they are brittle plastic. But, they do well inside in my dining nook. I had two 10-gallon fish tanks hooked up (one to each planter) for aquaponics. The aquaponics did nicely for a while. But, with time, the plants faded in vigor. I believe they needed more nutrition than the fish can provide. So, I chose to disconnect one of the planters to use in this test of the Kratky non-circulating hydroponics.
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Here's the planter. Don't peek at the other thing yet <wink>. The black cylinder in the middle is part of the drain that I purchased last year off Amazon. It's a Botanicare Ebb and Flow fitting that I love. With two extensions, it is the perfect height to both keep the water full in the planter and also support the center of the foam top that I will install. I don't have the media filter attached (as I'm not actually using the drain most of the time for this type of system. I expect I'll only need it when I flush the planter as needed to keep the salts down.)

I went to Home Depot and looked around until I found something I liked for the top. It's a piece of foam insulation with a reflective covering on one side. I especially liked that it said it won't mold. I cut the piece of foam with a camping knife by eyeballing the measurements. Hey, this is gardening, not architecture. I chose the reflective side for the top thinking that it would be a nice addition to help warm my plants and bounce the light back up. Maybe that will help promote bushier growth? That side also looks more water-resistant. I like to mist the plants.

Once I got it the size I liked for the top, I flipped it over to cut holes for the 2-inch net pots. I switched to my fishing knife as it's much better in those tight spaces. Basically, put the pot where you want it, outline it with a pencil mark, and then cut a little bit inside the pencil mark so that the lip of the pot will sit on top of the foam board.
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Flip the board back over and nestle your pot into the hole. The foam is very forgiving and also creates a snug fit for the pot.
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Repeat for as many pots as you would like to install in the foam top. I took a break here because I had forgotten to soak my coconut coir. Plenty of other things to do on the farm while I waited. Of course, one of my favorites (not necessarily what I "should" be doing) is to visit my goats.
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My 8-year-old herd matron, Limerick, (gold with blue eyes) with her yearling daughter, Rondeau. Poem, Limerick's 3-year-old granddaughter, is in the back.
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Here is yearling Chanson with her mom Mikado. Two-year-old Hailey is the chocolate buckskin on the right. I'm losing daylight here, so eyes are starting to glow.
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Here is Poem's yearling daughter, Virelai. She is so sweet! Virelai means an old song or poem. Do you see a pattern with last year's names? (Virelai, Rondeau, Chanson).

OK, back to our regularly scheduled programming....
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I've planted all the baby greens that I picked up at Valley Nursery in the net pots using coconut coir.
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After I took that plants out of their little plastic prisons, I gently rinsed the planting mix from the roots in a bucket of water. Then, I carefully unraveled the tap root and poked it through the bottom of the net pot. I hope this will help the plants to grow their root systems down into the nutrient-rich water. The idea with the Kratky method is that you allow the water to slowly evaporate, so a set of air roots develops near the lid of the enclosure, and the tap roots lengthen down as the water recedes.
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Next, I took the planter back into my dining nook. I filled it with water from the kitchen sink.
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Here, I am testing the ppm of my tap water in the City of Poulsbo. I bought this TDS meter from Amazon on the recommendation of Mike Adams in his video where he showed how to assemble one of his grow boxes.

By the way, all the indoor pictures are pretty yellow because I've got my Mini-Sunburst mounted above this planter. The other planter has a Hydrofarm Fluorowing above it, which I think I like better.

I had ordered a bunch of Ultraclean Super Plant Food from Mike Adam's Supply Source a couple weeks ago, but it hadn't arrived yet. So, I picked up a container of FoxFarm 3-2-6 plant food for hydroponics systems at Valley Nursery today.  I added a couple splashes to the water in the planter to get the ppm to around 900.
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Below the planter is the fish tank full of platies with a couple guppies, a couple corydoras catfish, and an algae eater. It used to be hooked up for aquaponics. Eh, but what is with the weird little fence? Pitiful attempt at quaint? Nah, our young cats that we adopted in September (after Teddy died) have decimated any kind of plant life that they find. I'm hoping this can be a temporary fix until they are trained to stop eating PEOPLE food!
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Here's another view of the setup. I just misted the plants.

Oh, and I added another lovely item: a screeching alarm that will trigger if one of our cats tries to put his little paws up on the edge of the planter.
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So, we shall see how this all works out. I am still learning. I am grateful for the insights I gathered from The Health Ranger. If anyone else has any advice, I'm all ears. Just comment on the blog post.

I'd especially like to learn why my plants don't continue to thrive on the aquaponics system after a few months. I am not sure how to increase the nutrition for the plants without causing issues for the tropical fish. My other tank will still be aquaponics (at least that's my opinion today). I have various tetra, a blue gourami, a red-tailed shark, and an algae eater in there.

I have some foam insulation left and lots of net pots and coconut coir. So, I hope to create some other small non-circulating hydroponic grow boxes that I will set out in the garden or the hoop house.

Update: I just got off the phone with a nice lady at Fox Farm Fertilizers. She said I can mix up a foliar spray with the Grow Big to use on the aquaponics plants. That won't bother the fish. Hooray!
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    Melinda Joy Wedgewood

    Freelance Copyeditor, Farmer, Homeschool Teacher, Retired GIS Analyst, Programmer, Cartographer, Structural Geologist.

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