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BONUS RECIPES
Let's Break ( Sourdough) Bread
Sam Wood is Olive Well broker Charlie Wood’s brother, who abandoned his family and moved to the Pacific Northwest. We joke, but his presence is missed. Charlie helped sell Sam and his wife Linnea’s condo when they decamped for Seattle. Selfishly Charlie misses having fresh bread available whenever he visits, and seeing as how Sam perfected his process, it had to be shared…you’re welcome. Like a lot of people recently, my sourdough journey began during the initial Covid outbreak. I got a starter from an acquaintance in Seattle and tried out the NYT recipe attached a couple of times. My first two loaves turned out pretty well, so I was super excited to keep working at the skill and refining the process. The second set of loaves was a disaster. I tried incorporating garlic cloves into the bread and I didn't quite have the fermentation process totally dialed in, and the bread just didn't pan out and was a dense mess. After the bad experience, I put my starter in the freezer and didn't touch it for several months. For whatever reason, last summer I decided to revive my starter and really figure out the process. I started being more patient with the rising process, and getting the temperature in my kitchen just right. Really, when making any bread, the kitchen temp is paramount - if you don't have a good fermentation environment you will not get the rises you need to make nice looking sliced bread. For me, my kitchen is simply too cool throughout the day to rise a dough, so I have to warm my oven just a touch to get it to the right temp, and keep repeating this warming process throughout the bulk rise. Once I figured this out, getting consistent bread turned out to be pretty easy. I guess the above doesn't answer the 'why', and gives you more the 'how did it go'. For the why: I like making bread due to the simplicity of the ingredients, that each loaf will be unique, and that you can really experiment with different types of flour and still arrive at a tasty result that will beat most breads you'll get from a grocer. That, and those around you appreciate the fruits of your labor. There's nothing more satisfying than a loaf you baked in the morning to be completely consumed by mid day.
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