Sour dough bread
I have shorten the recipe and method as much as i can but it is still a project but worthwhile.

405g white starter
765g plain flour
400ml water
20g sea salt

Method
mix starter flour and water in a large bowl with a spoon until it comes together, turn mix out and knead for 10 mins, the dough does not need to be smooth at this point, cover with plastic and set aside for 20 mins add the salt and knead for anouther 20 mins or until smooth and elastic, you should be able to stretch it to make a "window" it should not tear easily. lightly grease a container with oil and let dough prove at ambient room temp for 1 hour, turn the dough out and knock it back
press into a rectange about2.5 cm thick, fold one thrid back onto itself and repeat with the other third (like folding a letter to put in an envelope) turn dough 90 degress and repeat, then set aside in greased container for a further hour at room temp 20 to 24 degress c is ideal. Split into dough into 3 roll into balls and rest for 20 mins, shape into batard loaves (stretch and flaten to twice the size of the ball and repeat the three fold steps as before with each loaf finishing off by rolling into an oval loaf about twice as long as iit is wide with a seam running along the top at this stage) line three small baskets or banetons with a tea towel dust with flour and place loaves in seam side up cover loosely with plastic and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours, place in a warm spot for 1 to 4 hours until 2 thirds original size 25 degress C 80 percent humidity is the purple patch here. When risen gently turn the loaves out on to baking tray or baking paper and score with a very sharp knife three or four times
Cooking
Get the CO to 250ish degress before the bread goes in, place loaves in on a rack (I use a round cake cooling rack in the bottom) lightly mist some clean water into the oven and replace lid, topping with fresh coals, check progress 20 mins later test with a thermometer or give it a tap should sound hollow.
happy cooking

---

For what its worth, I use the stater mix from the recipe book that came with our breadmaker ( only use it now for the mixing and initial rising if I am feeling lazy).

http://lee.org/cooking/Breadman%20Ultimate%20Manual%20TR2200C.pdf

Some great stuff in that pdf Michael thanks heaps.

Carolyn,  

Agreed, so many breads so little coals....

This is a great pdf download for those interested in sourdough bread.

http://www.northwestsourdough.com/discovering/

I have just started making a starter!! from scratch using whole grain rye flour (could be other flour) and pineapple juice.  This is day two and it will take a while to hopefully activate - I think someone else had made their own starter and I cant remember what the final results were and would love to hear what happened.

Well as they say a good tradesman never blames his tools  ;)

I was happy with the pineapple juice and flour sour dough starter mixed into a no knead bread.  The rising processes went smoothly.

I didnt research the basket thingy though  :D

I decided it was too hot and I was too tired to be bothered with heat beads so I put the oven on with an enameled cast iron lidded pot to heat up to 250C.

I floured the basket liner shaped the dough and put it in the liner, I didnt expect the basket shape would come out and it didnt.

I tried to tip the dough into the cast iron pot and went to grab it to steady it and it stuck to my hand oooooh and it plopped in somewhat askew.  So much for a lovely shape.  The lame worked well and I slashed away with it.  I think I should have turned the loaf onto a floured or corn mealed peel before putting in the pot or not using the pot and putting it on a stone.

I checked it at about 25 minutes and took the lid off and gave it another ten minutes the internal temperature was reading 210.

Its a great bread not as holey as the one I made with the Tasmanian Devil Starter I reconstituted.

I remembered too late that I was supposed to turn the temperature down after putting it in the oven.  :D

Its all a learning curve and I will check out using the basket a bit more before I make the next one.

Here is the visual

[media width=640]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN1JKiP8pd8[/media]

I tried to combine two recipes and didnt get much of a rise for along time.  Its soft enough but a bit heavy, looks worse as I cut it hot.  This was 4 cups of flour halved into the two loaves and I shaped them in the banneton which would have shown up better if I had made the whole dough in one loaf.

Here is the proper recipe:

Deluxe Sourdough Bread
1 1/4 cups proofed starter
1 cup water
3 T. dry powdered milk
1 T. lemon juice
1/4 cup instant potato flakes
3 3/4 cups bread flour
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2 T. sugar
3 T. butter or margarine
2 tsp. salt
Combine the first 5 ingredients. Mix in the flour just until the mixture is a shaggy mass. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Add sugar, butter, and salt and mix until all is incorporated. Knead dough until it is smooth and satiny.
Cover and let dough rest for 45 minutes. Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Pat each dough portion out into a large, flat circle. Gently stretch and fold the left side over the middle, then the right side over the middle (like folding a letter). Pat down with the palms of hands and repeat the folding with the remaining two unfolded ends. Shape loaves, always keeping the folded side as the bottom. I do free-form oval loaves and place them on parchment paper.
Spray the loaves with Pam and cover with plastic. Place in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, take loaves out and let them finish rising at room temperature. They should be very light. Do not rush it or your bread will be dense.
While bread is rising, preheat oven and stone to 400 F. I also place a shallow pan of hot water on the bottom rack for steam.
When bread is fully risen, slash top and slide onto hot stone. If you don't have a stone, just bake on a baking sheet. After 10 minutes, turn the oven heat down to 375 F. When loaves start to show color, water pan can be removed. Bake until loaves are a nice golden brown. Time will vary according to the shape and size of loaf.
Cool on a wire rack. You can brush crust with butter while still hot if you like a soft crust.

http://i513.photobucket.com/albums/t331/VIRTUALCOG/2010%20BITS/abread.jpg
http://i513.photobucket.com/albums/t331/VIRTUALCOG/2010%20BITS/aslidebread.jpg

Carolyn thanks for reminidng me that I have to get my starters out and give them a feed.

Was yours a mix 'wet', I have to stop adding additional flour when needing and just accept that it is a wet mix.

H

Many years ago when I first made Piroshki - I unknowling used a no knead method.  Now I have the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day and Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a day books and have watched some Youtubes by Jim Lahey I doubt I would ever knead bread again.  No knead bread is rather wet but firms up with refrigerating overnight.  I have made some where I didnt chill overnight and had to add a bit of flour to manage to shape it but it was fine to eat.  I am having better results lately and am using the white  flour that comes in 5K bags at Coles.  Being white flour it gives a much softer and lighter loaf than the wholemeal flours so I guess it just a matter of choice of if you want a healthier loaf or not.  Personally I like seeds and wholemeal but the rest of my family prefers white.

http://carolynscocioz.blogspot.com/2010/12/carolyns-baked-party-piroshki-this.html


The Starter Saga

I hate having to be organised so I left the two different starters on the kitchen bench with the idea in mind to feed them on Fridays, I put two more in the fridge, my understanding was that I could just leave them sit there but would then need to reconstitute them and leave them at room temperature for about 6 hours to get them active again.  

The two in the kitchen grew mould as well as the expected liquid topping and I decided I would chuck them.

The fridge two have just acquired the liquid which I believe can either be drained off or stirred in.  I will leave them till the silly season is over and I come back from a holiday where I wont be cooking  ;)