Through the wonderful persuavive qualities of television,i have become totally interested in producing a new addition to my family and it will spend it's life in a jam jar in my fridge and shall be fed when it requires it .
Anyone who has knowledge on this subject ,i'll be thrilled to look at any comments .
I understand san-fransisco is famous for it - and has the record breaking 150 year old living batch.

for those that dont know what it is-(could be boring)
It's the original agent for our ancestors' bread making .
The natural form of yeast.
gives a sour taste to the bread.
flour water and salt are the only other ingredience use in making sour bread.
can store for 7 to 10 days in it's crust.
The wonderful thing is it is kept alive by feeding it with flour .

most important of all -

When spelt flour* is used it makes THE PERFECT cheese toasty .I am so looking forward to making one.Problem is I have to wait 6 days before the yeast has been born and become strong enough ,thats if it works first time round.

*spelt flour - my knowledge atm on this is was introduced
into Britain by the Romans,doesn't have the same bloating effect of wheat which causes wheat intolerences.Wheat was easier and better for mass producing.
any more info on spelt flour will also be greatfully accepted.

Last Edited : Sunday, 7 August 2011 - 10:01

I eat mostly such bread but I don't bake it myself. There are people, called bakers, who make a living baking bread. In these times of unemployment I do not want to be a part of putting yet another baker out of buissiness
Good luck with your dough though and remember to feed it well. There are even places around where you may leave your new baby to be taken care of, should you need to be absent for a periode of time. (holliday or something)

Thanks Lod for the good wishes lol .I appreciate the comment , but i think here in Britain our bakeries are just full of white,brown and granery bread ,I know our super markets stock soda bread and some others .
I shall talk to some of my local bakers tomoz and i'll let you know ,maybe they do stock it and i can satsfy my curiousity early.

believe me Lod - I'm all for letting someone else do all the work (especially bread lol) when it's affordable and convenient. but i'm sure you'll agree some things in life have to be made/grown at home .

The programme i watched had an entrepeneur who made a killing selling cheese toasties and he imported his bread from France ,plus, he left it for 4 days to dry it out more which increased the whole experience 10 fold.

Last Edited : Saturday, 18 June 2011 - 10:12

Sourdough bread is a lot more dense than the stuff you buy at supermarkets. Look for the weight before you judge if it's more expensive. Also it will not go mouldy in a long time if kept dry, in my opinion it's even better after it dried out some. That extra time you can keep it will make up for the extra cost. I have one here with a best before 15th of november on it and thats without any preservatives added
Spread a lot of extra salted butter on it and enjoy

Last Edited : Saturday, 18 June 2011 - 12:25

Top tips Lod ,thankyou .
I didn't get to any bakers today but went to an organic shop and picked up some Rye wholemeal to make my yeast culture, some wholemeal spelt to make my Roman loaf next week , and a ready made loaf of Rye sour bread .I've just finished my first cheese and onion toasty and my verdict is -
At first a slighty weird experience but definately enjoyable. i am looking forward to trying it again with a dryer bread as it is a very moist loaf at the moment.
I am definately hooked..

How's it going with the dough? Did you bake any bread yet?

I've had a few probs making the yeast starter,it bubbles up like crazy at first but i'm having troubles keeping it going ,it seems to go rancid ..saying that, i made up a dough using spelt flour for my Roman loaf with some healthy (young starter) ,left it for an afternoon and overnight . It didn't rise dramatically but it had plenty of bubbles in it so I thought i had better bake it .
It did the job and was nice .
So i'm still experimenting with the starter, yes I can put it in the fridge to slow it down and use it when needed ,but it's getting it really active again that i'm struggling with .I'm sure it'll come together at some point ..
Thanks for the interest Lod , hope that answers your question .
Have i managed to tempt you to try making your own yet ?....lol

Last Edited : Friday, 1 July 2011 - 06:47

Nope, I will not bake anything but glad to hear you're making progress

ok this'll be my last comment on this as it's obviously not 'interesting post of the century'

After a few failed attempts i've now managed to churn out a really nice loaf of wholemeal, strong white and rye mix (with some nice big bubbles in )
and just now really nice loaf of just strong white flour.
btw -a hitme fact you guys-

Do you know what strong white flour is?
well it's wheat with a high Gluten content (makes a very elastic dough when kneeded) only grows in places with large temperature change ( very cold-very hot) thus Canada wheat is a major export .
Apparently the grain that grows well here in Britain is Rye .
Anyway I'm chuffed i've got to grips with my latest interest ,I would love it if some Americans can give any experiences they've had with the world famous San-Francisco sourdough pizza (apparently it was the 49ers mainstay)

Well LOD if you're ever down my way i'll bake you a loaf of my finest.
over and out for now.........

Last Edited : Tuesday, 12 July 2011 - 00:17

Free food huh I might just come over for that
I belive we have that kind of flour up here too. Italians are importing it from here when they want to make extra quality pizzas

and now i resurect this post from the deepest caverns of this forum to bring you an update of my latest findings and events since last mentioned .

My succes rate is 100% now so i make a couple of loaves a week and a pizza once and fruit bread that the kids love. .
I have a new boss who is lithuanian and she gave me some bread ,,,,WOwseroony really dark like german rye ,,with sunflower seeds and a liquorice ,aniseed taste ,and a sweetness to it ...not to be forgotten . apparently theres alot o polish lithuanian bakers in Chicago ....

lastly i watched family guy the other night and stewy asked the dog if he 'fancied a sour-pizza' which surprised me .
any way thats it cheers ...

Last Edited : Sunday, 7 August 2011 - 09:59

Did you notice any improvements in your personal health as well? Weightloss maybe?

i cant answer that for sure ,due to other factors in my life ,general healthy eating and exercise can vary alot with me. ..
I'm aware of the benefits of 'good bacteria'
'lactobacylis' etc that is present in sour dough ,as opposed to paying a fortune for it in live yoghurts ,,

Sourdough is great So I am always late to join the party! Giggles It is well worth the wait you will savor every bite. Another easy bread to make and quick is Cinn-Raisin I love it and also Banana Bread too. I like to bake all kinds of stuff.

I remember the tales of the stuff you like to bake harley.. and your "special ingredients"

Excellent ,thanks guys ,i'll look into those Harley-x
and no special ingredients in my bread lol ,
and another point on LODs last comment - i've been trying to gain weight most of my life so i dont need to worry about losing weight .. poor old me eh ,and no it wont change when i'm older ,i'm 42 now ... and i eat plenty.. sorry to any girls that may have found that extremely irritating.

How's the dough doing, Hitme?

Thanks LOD ,yes i've got a nice routine going.I keep the starter in the fridge and once a week replenish it's food (equal weight in fresh flour) . and just bake a new loaf when needed ... I adore to have it toasted with cheese opposed to crackers.
I noticed my local ASDA walmart has a much better selection of bread now with a lot of polish bread that uses sour dough starter ,i haven't tried it yet ,i like MINE too much lol.

edit- in fact LOD you are life saver (literally) you reminded me that i'd neglected my duties as i usually make a new loaf/loaves at the weekend but due to a small back-log in the freezer i haven't made any the last 2 weeks but i still have to feed the starter and being monday those lacto-bacylis must have been blinking starving ..lol thanks again LOD

Last Edited : Tuesday, 21 February 2012 - 02:56

Maybe your dough contacted my subconcious mind, complaining about it starving It's a bit scary ..

Last Edited : Tuesday, 21 February 2012 - 03:20