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I was curious due to JW's comments on bread making. So, last yesterday I hunted down making one's own artisan bread. I baked a "loaf" last night and had it with the ham and beans. ( ) The loaf, a bit overdone (450 as per directions was to hot...), turned out excellent, with butter.
Tonight I have another loaf in as I type, and I made a sourdough starter. I was watching Bourdain a year or two back and a bakery in San Francisco has been using the same sourdough starter since the 1850's. Amazing.
Anyway, thank you JW for getting me thinking about this.
O43
Bacon is the gateway meat. - Anthony Bourdain
You pale in comparison to Fox Mulder. - The Smoking Man
I made myself be hungry, then I would get hungrier. - Frank Zane Mr. Olympia '77, '78, '79
The acidity in sourdough keeps bloodsugar from rising, apparently considerably less that a traditional loaf of store bought. I am going to go with whole wheat in the starter tomorrow. My wife wondered if I could mix it with the white flower, I don't imagine it would make a difference. Like a great white wouldn't know the difference between Californian and an Australian, I doubt yeast knows the difference between whole wheat and white flour.
Bacon is the gateway meat. - Anthony Bourdain
You pale in comparison to Fox Mulder. - The Smoking Man
I made myself be hungry, then I would get hungrier. - Frank Zane Mr. Olympia '77, '78, '79
Yes, you can mix whole wheat and white flour -- no problem!
If you are looking into starches that don't raise your blood sugar much, check out chana dal -- it's a small chickpea from India that is lower on the glycemic index than many veggies. You can get it at any Indian market or online. It has a really nice flavor. It is also ground into a flour called besan or gram flour which makes very nice flatbreads and pancakes.
"The second you overcomplicate it is the second it becomes the thing for which it is a corrective." -- El Fug
I have 100 pound, sixteen month old German Shepard. Now that is a pet (actually, he is part of the family), a mason jar full of bacteria should be manageable.
Bacon is the gateway meat. - Anthony Bourdain
You pale in comparison to Fox Mulder. - The Smoking Man
I made myself be hungry, then I would get hungrier. - Frank Zane Mr. Olympia '77, '78, '79
Whole wheat flour already contains gluten. (So does white flour -- you shouldn't need to add any.)
You do have a big boy! I have two dogs myself, one a shepherd-terrier cross, one a lab-border collie mix. If you don't go away much and bake pretty regularly, sourdough starter is easy to maintain -- but it does need to be fed on schedule or it will foam up, turn to alcohol, and die!
"The second you overcomplicate it is the second it becomes the thing for which it is a corrective." -- El Fug
I just looked up vital wheat gluten -- it sounds like it would be an interesting addition to the dough once you start to make the bread. Whole wheat with no white flour incorporated can be pretty heavy and have trouble rising -- the vital wheat gluten could help. And, of course, it would up the protein content and reduce the starch in the final product.
I've never used it myself -- I have also heard that baking at a high altitude requires some adjustments. Thanks for letting me know about a new twist!
"The second you overcomplicate it is the second it becomes the thing for which it is a corrective." -- El Fug
) The loaf, a bit overdone (450 as per directions was to hot...), turned out excellent, with butter. 