I baked another bread! Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve been on a roll lately (no pun intended). Ugh. For those of you who are still reading this post, let me also say that I diverted from the BBA Challenge list to ALSO make a batch of brioche rolls for Thanksgiving. I now have very few breads left (the dreaded fruitcake) before the remaining set of sourdough recipes. To recap, the wheat bread was very basic and simple to make. It called for a wet starter (whole wheat flour and water) and a poolish (a pre-ferment with flour, water, and yeast) that I had to make the night before. The next day, I combined the two of those with additional whole wheat flour, honey, 1 egg, salt, and some vegetable oil. It proofed twice and a few hours later, I was able to bake two loaves. They came out a little small, but I think that’s because my loaf pans are too big.
The bread tastes very wheaty and has a nice crust. I’ve been having it for breakfast, toasted with PB&J.
In other news, I am on my third attempt at making a sourdough starter. I’ve given up on the instructions in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice and instead am following the steps set forth by the Yumarama Bread Blog. I am currently on Day 3 of the feeding schedule. Looking at it tonight should provide an indication of whether or not the seed culture is going to be viable. For the past two days, I have been creating a mixture of whole wheat flour and pineapple juice (to create a lower pH level). On Day 1, it looked like this. I have been very paranoid about keeping it as warm as possible (yeast won’t grow if it’s too cold), which sucks because our thermostat is set to 68 degrees. So, I tried to bundle it up as much as possible (it’s inside an oven mit, with a dish rag stuffed on top of it and another cloth wrapped around it), and have been keeping it on top of the refrigerator. It kind of reminds me of Randy from A Christmas Story. “I can’t put my arms down!”
Anyway, the next bread post will most likely be about whether or not this seed culture survived. If it fails yet again, I don’t really know what I’m going to do about these darn sourdough breads…
The Long-Winded Librarian 
Hey Rachel,
Hope the sourdough works out well for you. Love the comment about “Randy” – that should be your starter’s name once it gets going. Keep in mind that bundling the starter up insulates it from both the cold and warm so it mak keep it from enjoying the warm space atop the fridge. If you have a table lamp with a regular light bulb nearby (remember, it doesn’t’ have to live in the kitchen) that you can keep on all the time and is in a draft free corner, the temperature near the lamp will be a few degrees warmer. Or next to a computer that’s on all the time.
Don’t get hung up on the number of days, either. Your starter might show signs on day four where someone else’s shows on day six. Coolness will also slow the process down but that doesn’t mean it isn’t progressing, just doing so at a slower pace. What you see on my blog is happening in mid summer. Had I done it in December, it would likely have taken more time. So go by stages, not dates.
I hope your BBA breads keep coming out splendidly!
-Paul
Yumarama.com
Thanks for the tips, Paul. You actually gave me a really great idea – I put the jar in our TV cabinet with the cable box and xbox…it’s always pretty warm in there! As of now, on day 5, I’m getting some bubbles, so I’ll continue to patiently feed it. 🙂
This is so cool! And I second the “Randy”
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