#bread making

Trying my hand at making my own naan to go with the chicken tikka masala I’m making for dinner tonight. Will see how this goes 😅

first pizza in a new batch of ingredients, went really good :3

this time i've got some bread flour rather than all-purpose flour, i kept with a 60% hydration though to see how it'd be. it was firmer, but definitely not an issue, and i'd keep there again i think.

i mixed the salt and flour, then added the water, then i microwaved it and mixed it into a scrappy ball. it had a core temperature of 113°F. after a few minutes, i added the yeast, and kneaded it just enough to get the dough smooth and satiny — it had a final temperature of 91°F.

the high temperature and amount of yeast was definitely intended for getting a nicely fermented dough. as a no-sauce heathen it really helps make a good flavor profile to be as fermented as possible without collapsing

i decided to take two minutes off of my long-ass cook time lol, and it seems worth it. this was still up to my personal preference of a well browned cheese and a reasonably stiff final crust, while not being too burned and crunchy on the outer edge. there was good oven rise, giving about a quarter inch thick crumb with a good spread of airiness, and a crust that's crispy but not crackery.

i was slightly heavy on the onion powder, but not enough to be a problem lol. all in all, quite flavorable, with a reasonably tough and chewy texture on the base, and a good mature flavor that reminds me of a pizzeria i quite like :3

i've realized that what my doughs have been needing is more heat in their initial mixing phase lol. that's why my solid sourdough's been stiff and my doughs have been coming out pretty plain lol

my solid sourdough is experiencing actual volume increase (picture from two days ago since i'm still working out warming techniques) and my pizza dough is smelling alcoholic once again!

the reason this happened with the sourdough was that i switched from fresh tap water to dechlorinated tap water, i underestimated the temperature needs and am now incorporating the microwave to warm the water and flour before adding the starter and mixing, and (starting on the next feeding) pre-warming the fresh container that it rises in.

i'll very likely be adding a chunk of time before i start making use of the sourdough in breads, waiting till i can see for sure that it has a stable culture that rises day after day lol. it has at the very least been smelling great :3

After three days of no activity, my frozen sourdough starter began to show a tiny sign a life after I decided not to feed it, and only gave it a stir.

Only to give me a stronger rise than before I ever froze it!

Life finds a way!

the sourdough activity today exceeded the amount of available dough and we've achieved our first large die-off — it was not so risen and the inside was quite sticky like an over-yeasted dough lol

valuable learning time! this goes together with my previous bread-making knowledge. i now understand that the ratio of starter to new dough is like the amount of yeast lol. so very clearly a "cut the starter in half and replace it" is going to over-ferment and not be particularly stable lol.

the new feeding ratio shall be 1 part starter to 3 parts new dough, or 33.3g starter to 100g fresh dough:

it also makes our container more appropriately sized :3