Hi Everybody,
I have recently discovered that I *like* sourdough bread (at least in
some of its incarnations) - don't know why I thought I didn't. Like
Heidi Wittenberg, I would be interested in seeing recipes that are a
little less sour than, say, a San Francisco style. But, anyway, here
is my question. I have a starter going, and it seems to be coming
along nicely. It is very young at this point, but is healthy and
developing a nice tang.Have baked a couple of loaves - a couple of
loaves of sandwich sourdough in the ABM and a couple of batches
French-style sourdough baguettes (some with and some without
additional yeast) in the oven. They have all turned out with good
flavor and good crumb, vacuoles etc. But the crusts seem to be
lacking something. *All* the loaves have come out with a really
*really* pale crust. Is that normal? I don't think so; that isn't how
they look at the bakery! Also, the baguettes that I baked in the oven
had rather doughy chewy crusts. This happened in a recipe that
included yeast as well as one that used sourdough starter as the
exclusive leaven. I can't seem to figure out how to get them to crisp
up more. I had a pan of hot water in the bottom of the oven, and
sprayed too the way I do to get a crispy crusted regular baguette. So
? any advise?
TIA,
Ilene Warfield
ilenewar@starnetinc.com