Covey and the Sunbeam Crisis

Today at church, we had a sunbeam who was on the verge of total meltdown.

My current church responsibility is teaching the sunbeams class with my wife (for those unfamiliar, sunbeams are 3 years old). On this day one of our precious little sunbeams was not having a good day. Her mother teaches one of the older classes, and when her mother brought her in, she was looking a bit surly, and was clinging to her mother. Her mother deposited her in a chair with our class and went back to sit with her class.

She was not okay with this.

She immediately stood up and followed her mom. Mother kindly insisted that she return to her seat. 

She did not want to return to her seat. She pointed to a chair near her mom and stated that she wanted to sit in that seat.

She was informed that the chair she wished to sit in was not with her class, and that she needed to go back and sit in her seat, with her class. Her volume began to rise as she repeated her desire to sit in that particular seat. I watched the gradual rise toward full meltdown for a while, then an idea came to me.

“Would it be okay if we moved that chair to where your chair is, and then you can sit in that chair?” I asked. It is worth noting that the two chairs in question are identical. Same color, same shape, same size... Possibly slightly different stains (pencil, pen, crayon...).

She paused for a moment as she considered this, then nodded affirmatively that this would be an acceptable solution. I pulled her chair out of the way, and my wife moved the other chair to where her chair had been. She sat down, and I moved her chair back to where the other chair had been.

Crisis averted.

As I pondered this, two of the Steven R. Covey 7 Habits came to mind:

• Think Win-Win
• Seek first to understand, then to be understood.

Okay, I will admit, I have no idea why that chair was different from the other one. Perhaps - given that this is a 3 year old – It wasn’t important in the beginning. Perhaps what she wanted was to be near her Mother, and chose that chair as the means to her end, but then as time passed the means became the end.

But what I did understand is that she wanted to sit in that chair, and not her chair. So, thinking win-win, I offered the suggestion. And voila! She was happy because she got the chair she wanted, and her mother was happy because she was sitting with her class.

Mr. Covey has some pretty good ideas there. It’s a little harder with grown-ups, given their particular flavor of stubborn-headed, but I’m betting that with a little effort, it works for them too….

Sourdough Pretzels

I think I am finally satisfied with this recipe.

Sourdough Soft Pretzels

Ingredients:

Pretzels:

  1 cup warm milk

  1 cup unfed sourdough starter

  1 1/2  tsp instant yeast

  2 Tbsp brown sugar

  1 tsp salt

  2 Tbsp butter, melted

  3 cups All purpose flour

Alkali Bath:
  3 Tbsp sodium carbonate (can substitute baking soda)
  3 cups water

Egg Wash:
  1 egg (beaten)
  1 Tbsp Cold water



  Coarse Salt

Directions

1. In a large Bowl, mix the first 7 ingredients
2. Knead until smooth and elastic
3. Return to bowl and lest rest at least one hour
4. Shape into a rectangle and divide into 12 equal pieces
5. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
6. Roll one piece at a time into a rope approx. 18 inches long
7. Shape into a pretzel and place on baking tray
8. In a pot, dissolve sodium carbonate in 3 cups water and bring to a low boil
9. Insert pretzels one at a time for 30 seconds, turning at 15 seconds, return to baking sheet.
10. In a small bowl, beat egg with one Tbsp water to be used as an egg wash.
11. Brush each pretzel with egg wash, and sprinkle with coarse salt
12. Bake 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until dark golden brown.
13. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Regarding Sodium Carbonate:

Sodium Carbonate (Washing Soda, Soda Ash...) and Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) are quite similar. Sodium carbonate is slightly more basic (as in opposite of acidic), and really is a better choice for Pretzels, but Baking Soda is a ready substitute and works fine as well.

If you want to make your own sodium carbonate, just spread baking soda on a baking pan or tray and bake in a 200 F oven for about an hour.

(This converts sodium bicarbonate into sodium carbonate, carbon dioxide and water (The later two escaping as gases).

Store any extra in an airtight container (or it will revert back to baking soda). Also, since it is somewhat more alkaline that baking soda, treat it with a little more care (keep it away from eyes, nose, etc...).  

[Back to Sourdough]

Sourdough Pizza Crust

So now you don't have time to make the Artisan Bread and you need a break from the Sandwich Bread, but you have starter that you don't want to waste...

Pizza!

Sourdough pizza crust is fairly low maintenance. There is an overnight rest period, and  a couple folds the next day.

The other cool thing about the pizza crust is that you can freeze it, and use it whenever. You can either freeze it as a dough ball, or you can roll out the shell, par-bake and then freeze.

I will include directions at the bottom.



This is my recipe, and it is still somewhat experimental. you may need to play with it a bit. (Specifically the amount of water may need to be adjusted slightly. I currently have 1 1/2 cups in the recipe, but It may actually need a bit more. Somewhere between 1.5 and 2 cups may be the correct amount, you are looking for a somewhat stiffer dough than the sourdough bread dough, but as I currently have it, you may not have quite enough moisture to properly integrate the flour.).



Sourdough Pizza Crust


Ingredients:

1 C sourdough starter
1 1/2 C warm water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp salt
5 C flour



Directions:

Mix starter, water, oil and salt together until the starter has dissolved. It's okay if there are some strings or chunks.

Add flour and mix/knead until well combined. Cover bowl and let rest overnight.

Fold the dough by grabbing one side, lifting and folding  over the other side. Fold four times, turning the bowl 90 degrees each time.

Let the dough rest 15-30 minutes and fold a second time. rest another 15-30 minutes

Move dough to a floured surface, divide into four equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

Place pizza stone (if you have one) in oven and preheat to 500 degrees.

Roll/stretch the ball into a pizza shell (use flour to keep from sticking). Place the shell on your transferring implement. I believe a pizza peel is the recommended tool. Sadly, I am not the proud owner of such a tool, so I use a cutting board. I highly recommend a liberal sprinkling of cornmeal first, so as to keep your shell from sticking (this makes transferring to the oven awkward. Of course, if you aren't using a stone, you can just place the shell on  a baking sheet, and then pop it in the oven, skipping the transfer step. I'd still recommend using the cornmeal though).

Add sauce and toppings of your choice.

Transfer to pizza stone (you might want to sprinkle a little cornmeal on the stone first, to prevent sticking. 

Bake in 500 degree oven until crust is golden brown and toppings are done to your liking (12-15 minutes).


-------


If you wish to save your dough for use at a later date, you can either freeze as dough balls, or par bake...


Dough ball method:

Place the dough balls on a pre-chilled baking sheet and put them in the freezer for approximately 30 minutes, until the outer surface is firm and not at risk of sticking. Place the balls of dough in a freezer bag and return them to the freezer.

When ready to use, transfer the desired number of dough balls refrigerator the day before, or on short notice, throw a dough ball in the microwave for about three minutes on defrost. Then roll it out, top it and bake it. as above.


Par bake method:

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
Shape your dough ball into a shell. bake until puffy and dry on top, approximately 5 minutes.
Cool, wrap and freeze.
When ready to use, remove from freezer, top and back as before.



Par bake option II:

I haven't actually tried this yet, but it occurs to me, after you have cooled the par baked shell, you could top the shell, then wrap and freeze. Then, when your pizza craving hits, you can pull your prepared pizza out of the freezer, pop it in the oven and you're set!




As I mentioned, this is my recipe. If you find any of the directions unclear, or if you discover improvements, let me know.



[Back to Sourdough]

Easy Sourdough Sandwich Bread

Okay, this barely qualifies as a post.

Because this recipe is not mine, and I have made no modifications to it. I just use it as-is from kitchn.com.

So....


Here is the link...

https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-beginner-sourdough-sandwich-loaf-recipes-from-the-kitchn-48192


It is a great loaf for sandwiches. My personal favorite is ham and pepperoni. Add some mustard, lettuce, tomato, pickle, a few banana peppers.

Very tasty. I  have been told sourdough keeps longer than other breads, due to the slightly higher acidity. I really wouldn't know though, The first loaf is usually gone the Day I bake it, the second loaf is gone the day after.

I have done this loaf artisan style (i.e. This recipe, using the Dutch oven to bake.) It is no match for the Artisan sourdough recipe. Does take considerably less time though.

No Knead Artisan Sourdough Bread

This is where the sourdough romance began for me. This was my first sourdough recipe.

Note this is not my recipe, though I have made a few tweaks to it.


The original recipe is here, at the previously mentioned kitchn.com site.

My main change was cook times. I found I was burning my bread using the give cook times and temps. Perhaps it has to do with altitude, or accuracy of oven temp.

First  a couple notes from my personal learning. The numbers are the steps in the recipe they coincide with:

6. If you have not worked with a high hydration dough before, you will be uncomfortable with how wet, shapeless, shaggy and sticky this dough is at this point. You will be tempted to add more flour. Don't. Just trust the process. It will turn out just fine.

You can use whole wheat flour for up to half the amount of flour. I find I prefer approximately 1/3 whole wheat to 2/3 white flour. I have tried both all purpose and bread flour. I apparently am not sophisticated enough to tell the difference, but bread flour has a higher protein content, and should therefor give you a slightly sturdier bread.

7. For the rest, I have found longer is better. Aim to let it rest for the full four hours if you can. Time is the magic ingredient in this bread. I have a bowl which is the right size for me to use an upside-down plate as a cover, This works very well.

9. Before each fold, I wash  my hands, then pat them dry, leaving a little moisture behind. This seems to help keep the dough form sticking so much. Again, resist the urge to add flour, the dough will become smoother, easier to work with after each folding session.

12. I might try to create and add a video of the scraper process - at least the way I do it. I haven't been able to find one. Basically, you work your way around the dough ball, using the scraper to tuck the dough under the ball as you go. The "skin" of the ball with become taut.

14. I have one proofing basket which I received as a gift, for the other, I use a melamine bowl, roughly 8 inch in diameter and quite close to a half-sphere. I really wish I had too proofing baskets, they are much easier to work with and produce a generally better looking loaf. I highly recommend them. Flour the insert and drop the loaf in.

17. I usually let the dough rise overnight in the fridge. I start my levain Friday night, do all the mixing, folding, resting and shaping Saturday, and then bake Sunday. If you are doing it this way, I strongly recommend giving it an hour or two rise time at room temperature before moving to the fridge. Maybe my fridge is set too cold, but the overnight rise really doesn't suffice. I do think the dough is easier to handle cold though, so better to rise and chill than to chill overnight, and then bring to room temp to rise just before cooking.

18. Dutch oven: This is a crucial tool for baking this bread. The dutch oven gives you the moisture control and temperature consistency which gives you the amazing crust. Also note you are preheating the dutch oven, not just the oven. Give it 15-20 minutes. The originally recipe call for 500 F, I reudce this by 10 degrees. You  may want to experiment.


21. The original calls for 20 minutes. I reduced to 18. Again, you may want to play with this.

24. My bread is usually done by this time, so I don't bake the additional 15 to 25 minutes they recommend. It is okay to have a bit of charring on the bread, as it does boost the flavor. The one in the picture above is a tad lighter than I usually go.

There you have it. Enjoy!

Ingredients

For the leaven:

1 tablespoon active sourdough starter

75 grams (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour or bread flour

75 grams (1/3 cup) water

For the dough:

1 tablespoon salt

525 grams (2 1/2 cups) water

700 grams (5 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour or bread flour

Equipment

Small mixing bowl

Large mixing bowl

Plastic wrap or other covering for the bowls

Spatula

Pastry scraper

Bread proofing baskets, colanders, or mixing bowls

Dutch ovens or large heavy-bottomed pots with lids

Lame, sharp knife, or serrated knife

Instructions

1. Make sure your sourdough culture is active: If your sourdough has been in the fridge, take it out 2 to 3 days before you plan to bake. Feed it daily to make sure it's strong and very active before you make the bread.
2. Make the leaven (overnight): The night before you plan to make the dough, combine a tablespoon of active sourdough culture with the flour and water for the leaven. Mix thoroughly to form a thick batter. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight, for about 12 hours.
3. Test that the leaven is ready: Generally, if the surface of the leaven is very bubbly, it's ready to be used. To double check, drop a small spoonful of the leaven in a cup of water; if the leaven floats, it's ready.
4. Dissolve the salt: Combine the salt and 50 grams (about 1/4 cup) of the water for the dough in a small bowl. Set aside, stirring every so often to make sure the salt dissolves.
5. Mix the leaven and water: Combine the leaven and the remaining 475 grams (2 cups) of water for the dough in a large mixing bowl. Stir with a spatula or use your hands to break up and dissolve the leaven into the water. It's OK if the leaven doesn't fully dissolve and a few clumps remain.
6. Add the flour: Stir the flour into the water and leaven with a spatula until you see no more visible dry flour and you've formed a very shaggy dough. 
7. Rest the dough (30 minutes, or up to 4 hours): Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours. This is the autolyse stage where the flour is fully absorbing the water and enzymes in the flour begin breaking down the starches and proteins.
8. Mix in the salt: Pour the dissolved salt over the dough. Work the liquid and salt into the dough by pinching and squeezing the dough. The dough will feel quite wet and loose at this point.
9. Begin folding the dough (2 1/2 hours): To fold the dough, grab the dough at one side, lift it up, and fold it over on top of itself. Fold the dough four times, moving clockwise from the top of the bowl (or giving the bowl a quarter turn in between folds). Let the dough rest 30 minutes, then repeat. Do this a total of 6 times, every half hour for a total of 2 1/2 hours. The dough will start out shaggy and very loose, but will gradually smooth out and become tighter as you continue folding.
10. Let the dough rise undisturbed (30 to 60 minutes): Once you've finished the folds, let the dough rise undisturbed for 30 to 60 minutes, until it looks slightly puffed. This dough won't double in size the way regular, non-sourdough breads will; it should just look larger than it did when you started.
11. Divide the dough: Sprinkle some flour over your counter and turn the dough out on top. Work gently to avoid deflating the dough. Use a pastry scraper to divide the dough in half.
12. Shape the dough into loose rounds: Sprinkle a little flour over each piece of dough. Use your pastry scraper to shape each one into loose rounds — this isn't the final shaping, just a preliminary shaping to prep the dough for further shaping. Shape them into rounds by slipping your pastry scraper under the edge of the dough and then scraping it around curve of the dough, like turning left when driving. Do this a few times to build the surface tension in the dough (it makes more sense to do it than to read about it!). Flour your pastry scraper as needed to keep it from sticking to the dough.
13. Rest the dough (20 to 30 minutes): Once both pieces of dough are shaped, let them rest for 20 to 30 minutes to relax the gluten again before final shaping.
14. Prepare 2 bread proofing baskets, colanders, or mixing bowls: Line 2 bread proofing baskets, colanders, or mixing bowls with clean dishtowels. Dust them heavily with flour, rubbing the flour into the cloth on the bottom and up the sides with your fingers. Use more flour than you think you'll need — it should form a thin layer over the surface of the towel.
15. Shape the loaves: Dust the top of one of the balls of dough with flour. Flip it over with a pastry scraper so that the floured side is against the board and the un-floured, sticky surface is up. Shape the loaf much like you folded the dough earlier: Grab the lip of the dough at the bottom, pull it gently up, then fold it over onto the center of the dough. Repeat with the right and left side of the dough. Repeat with the top of the dough, but once you've fold it downward, use your thumb to grab the bottom lip again and gently roll the dough right-side up. If it's not quite a round or doesn't seem taut to you, cup your palms around the dough and rotate it against the counter to shape it up. Repeat with the second ball of dough.
16. Transfer to the proofing baskets: Dust the tops and sides of the shaped loaves generously with flour. Place them into the proofing baskets upside down, so the seams from shaping are on top.
17. Let the dough rise (3 to 4 hours, or overnight in the fridge): Cover the baskets loosely with plastic, or place them inside clean plastic bags. Let them rise at room temperature until they look billowy and poofy, 3 to 4 hours. Alternatively, place the covered basket in the refrigerator and let them rise slowly overnight, 12 to 15 hours. If rising overnight, bake the loaves straight from the fridge; no need to warm before baking.
18. Heat the oven to 490°F: Place two Dutch ovens or other heavy-bottomed pots with lids in the oven, and heat to 4900°F. (If you don't have two pots, you can bake one loaf after the next.)
19. Transfer the loaves to the Dutch ovens: Carefully remove one of the Dutch ovens from the oven and remove the lid. Tip the loaf into the pot so the seam-side is down. Repeat with the second loaf. (See Recipe Note if your loaf sticks to the basket.)
20. Score the top of the loaf: Use a lame, sharp knife, or serrated knife to quickly score the surface of the loaves. Try to score at a slight angle, so you're cutting almost parallel to the surface of the loaf; this gives the loaves the distinctive "shelf" along the score line.
21. Bake the loaves for 18 minutes: Cover the pots and place them in the oven to bake for 18 minutes.
22. Reduce the oven temperature to 450°F and bake another 10 minutes. Resist the temptation to check the loaves at this point; just reduce the oven temperature.
23. Remove the lids and continue baking 15 to 25 minutes: After 30 minutes of baking, remove the lids from the pots to release any remaining steam. At this point, the loaves should have "sprung" up, have a dry surface, and be just beginning to show golden color. Place the pots back in the oven, uncovered.
24. Bake another 15 to 25 minutes. Continue baking until the crust is deeply browned; aim for just short of burnt. It might feel a bit unnatural to bake loaves this fully, but this is where a lot of the flavor and texture of the crust comes in.
25. Cool the loaves completely: When done, lift the loaves out of the pots using a spatula. Transfer them to cooling racks to cool completely. Wait until they have cooled to room temperature before slicing.

Storing Sourdough

Okay, I really don't have all that much to say about this personally. If you are feeding your sourdough every day, and your aren't making bread almost every day, you are going to have a surplus of sourdough.

You could just discard some. It amounts to pennies of flour and water.

But  some of us cringe at the thought of even that small waste.

You could also use other recipes, which use larger amounts of starter. (For instance, At the end of the week, I will either make pretzels, or I will make a batch of pizza crusts. (Recipes coming soon).

Or, you can just let it die, and start again next time you feel the urge to make sourdough something.

Or, you can use a technique for longer term storage.

Below is the excellent video I found on this very topic.

I have only used the refrigeration technique personally. I feed my starter, and stick it in the fridge. I feed it once every week to 10 days. When I want to make bread again, I pull it out three days before, and start daily feedings, to give it time to wake up. This works well.

For the other techniques, please refer to the Video below.

[Return to Index]

Sourdough Care and Feeding

I don't recall what prompted me to give sourdough a go exactly. It was likely that I enjoy a good sourdough, but don't enjoy the ridiculous price tag.

I did a fair amount of googling, and came across several good posts on www.thekitchn.com.


This post specifically was my starting point: https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-your-own-sourdough-starter-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-47337


There were several others as well, that I blended ideas from to produce my own strategy, but I don't recall the links (sorry). I have started, stopped and started about a half-dozen times. It has really been quite easy. I can't say I really get the carrying on some people do about "hundred-year-old starters" and such. It takes about a week to get one going. It really isn't that hard either. You really could just start one when you were planning to make a loaf (well, a week before you were planning to make a loaf...)

First the Tools:

Kitchen scale- I favor measuring by weight for this. A small kitchen scale works great.

Glass or plastic container with a loose fitting lid - I use a 1 quart, wide-mouth mason jar, and one of those plastic screw on lids.  A two quart might be a little more convenient, but one quart if easy to come by. The lids are sold in a six-pack, I saw them first on Amazon, but then found them at the local grocery store.

And the ingredients:

Flour - I used store bought all-purpose white flour the first time. It worked fine. In later starts, I supplemented occasionally with whole wheat. My most recent is primarily home ground, whole-wheat (a mix of hard red and hard white). I occasionally supplement with white flour. I definitely prefer it. It has a more complex flavor, and adds a nice bit of texture. Some people like to get exotic and add some rye or or other flour... I might try that at some point. Right now. I have 50 lb bags of wheat. It is cheap, convenient, and easy.

Water - Tap water is fine. I prefer filtered, I don't know if it really matters, but since we are trying to grow things, I think chlorine is best avoided.


On to the process.


Day 1:
Measure equal parts by weight flour and water into the jar
mix thoroughly.
put on the lid
put it someplace room temperature, an low light. Doesn't need to be dark, just avoid direct sunlight.

The specific amount is not too critical. The way I do it is this:
I place the Jar on the scale with the lid removed and tare(zero) the scale.
I put in some tap water - somewhere between 20 and 40 grams (usually closer to 20).
I note the weight then zero the scale
I add flour until I reach the previous weight.

I then stir with a long handled metal teaspoon. I use a rubber (or silicone) spatula to scrape down the sides, and then loosely screw on the lid. Don't tighten it down, you want gasses to have the ability to get in and out.

Then just set it someplace quite and out of the way.

Day 2:

Repeat the above process.


really. That's it. Add equal amounts by weight flour and water, mix thoroughly, lid and set aside.

Day 3-...:

Continue repeating the process. Just keep feeding it equal amounts of flour and water every day.

Within a weeks time, it will start to get bubbly, and will smell a bit... vinegary and yeasty. (less yeasty and more vinegary with white flour). It is then ready for use in your various sourdough recipes.

From then on it is just maintenance. Feed it every day. Actually you can miss a day, maybe two between feedings. But it will start to look sad fairly quickly. Also, make sure it is fed the day before you intend to use it.


Keep in mind, after each feeding cycle it will expand and then contract, so don't let the jar get much more than half full.



[Return to Index]