An end to sourdough???

My mum had a ginger beer plant and gave us the results to drink - I didn’t know it was alcoholic!

This reminds me of the craze for ginger beer plants. Everyone in the street and all visitors were given some.
The children in the street loved the resulting ginger beer and it was years later I learned it was alcoholic! Does not seem to have done them any harm though.

Haha to the yeast, Maizie! I should have said that I ignore the yeast bit, as that seems to defeat the purpose of using sourdough.

No Dutch oven, either, I just use a sturdy casserole dish.

SueDonim

at being too scared to go into the baker’s, Iam64.

This is the recipe I use, MaizieD It’s a bit wordy but I’ve found it works for me. It might be my oven but I don’t bake it for quite as long or as quite as hot as it suggests.

www.growforagecookferment.com/no-knead-sourdough-bread/

Do you have a Dutch Oven, sueDonim?

I don't. I put mine on a pre-heated cast iron griddle and have a pan of water below to provide steam. It seems to work OK, though the finished loaf doesn't come out quite so 'rustic' looking.

I note that your recipe uses yeast. surely that's cheating

Casdon We love the SF sourdough from M&S, and haven’t found any artisan baker’s offerings come anywhere near it. Sadly it’s a past treat as we don’t go shopping now, and Ocado doesn’t do it.

Jomarie

Oh yes I remember that "craze" - so pleased when it was over - we called it "Herman Cake" and it was monstrous in the end - friends avoided you - but I felt bad when I eventually ditched it down the loo - mixture of feeling guilty and relieved

I remember it, too. We didn't eat enough cake to keep up with it!

After my experience with freezing sourdough starter I realise now that I could have frozen some and just activated it when I needed it.. I think mine went on the compost heap...

Oops - my comment was in response to an earlier one of Callistemon - re cake

Oh yes I remember that "craze" - so pleased when it was over - we called it "Herman Cake" and it was monstrous in the end - friends avoided you - but I felt bad when I eventually ditched it down the loo - mixture of feeling guilty and relieved

at being too scared to go into the baker’s, Iam64.

This is the recipe I use, MaizieD It’s a bit wordy but I’ve found it works for me. It might be my oven but I don’t bake it for quite as long or as quite as hot as it suggests.

www.growforagecookferment.com/no-knead-sourdough-bread/

’ve now got a no-knead recipe. I was struggling to knead as I have arthritis in my hands but this just requires just slapping it about a bit.

That's one of the things I like about it. No kneading. Just stretch and fold a few times, repeat every hour until you've done it three times, then leave it to rise. I really disliked all that kneading with ordinary bread. 'Slapping about' sounds good, though

I think it makes really nice toast after a day or two.

I love the M&S San Francisco sourdough, and always buy it when I go to my nearest M&S. (sadly not for ages, as my nearest one is in a Covid hotspot town)

Second sentence should read 'I have bought various sourdough bread items.....'

I think it is overrated. I have bought various bread items from both supermarkets and our local baker and found them boring and no different in taste to any other white bread bought from a good local artisan baker.

Every time DS visits, he goes there and stocks up with their properly baked white bread to take home.

Marmalade ‘ falls through the holes??????’ The worlds gone mad!! ?

SueDonim, I'm so impressed. I killed our starter at the beginning of lockdown 1. I haven't been into the German baker since because I know she'll ask me how it worked out. Mr i goes instead.

Chewbacca - pobs , I havent come across anyone who knows what they are, much less enjoyed them. I had scarlet fever as a 4 year old and despite the doctor wanting me into hospital, mum insisted I stay home. I remember being persuaded to eat pobs as part of my recovery.

Calistemon, I think you’re thinking of soda bread - you need buttermilk for that ?

I love sourdough bread, usually Asda or M & S. But have it as a treat. Wonderful with garlic butter to dip into a baked brie.
Favourite is Kingsmill thick white for a bacon buttie.

Always find the crust too hard, much prefer the granary bread DH makes in the breadmaker.

I’m very slapdash with my baby. I get it out of the fridge and open the lid (it’s in a Kilner jar) and let it ‘breathe’. It starts bubbling eventually and I then add some flour and water. I don’t measure anything, a tablespoon of flour and a dollop of water does the trick.

Then Once it’s started bubbling again, I put it back into hibernation. If I want to make a loaf I give it more flour so there’s enough to take out.

I’ve now got a no-knead recipe. I was struggling to knead as I have arthritis in my hands but this just requires just slapping it about a bit. You need to start the day before you want to eat it, though. Sourdough isn’t a quick bread to make!

I think sourdough bread is seriously over-rated. It might be good straight from the oven with plenty of butter - but all bread is good straight from the oven.

By the next day it is rubbery and unappetising. I'd rather have wholemeal seeded loaf from a supermarket which keeps well, is healthier and makes great toast.

It all sounds very technical.

I just made an ordinary loaf in the bread maker, throw it all in, switch it on.

I've never used anything but bog standard bread flour, pantglas We don't really get posh things like spelt flour in our neck of the woods.

SueDonim

*MaizieD*, I abandon my sourdough baby in the fridge for weeks at a time. :bad mother: It always comes back to life when I feed it. In fact, I’ll go and rescue it right now and see if it has survived Xmas.

I'm not sure that I tried too hard to revive it the first time. It was so insatiable that I couldn't afford it! I didn't know about how to do the fridge trick properly... And the bread dough was so messy to handle and never made a satisfactory loaf.

I know a bit more about how to do it now

Does your abandoned baby revive at the first feeding or does it sulk for a while?

Lidl's is good. My husband doesn't like M&S sourdough - because one loaf had too many holes, seriously.
It's lovely toasted with mashed avocado.

MaizieD, I abandon my sourdough baby in the fridge for weeks at a time. :bad mother: It always comes back to life when I feed it. In fact, I’ll go and rescue it right now and see if it has survived Xmas.