DIY -- sourdough reservations

Here's a changeup! I haven't written DIY for a long time.

Having developed some nice strong rye and white sourdough starter, I tried new waters.

Luckily they weren't uncharted.

I decided to see what happens if you use sourdough in bagels and croissants, with no domestic yeast at all.

The answer was predictable. You can't get the nice big bagels or croissants without the domestic yeast. They do rise, but not much.

The croissant recipe I used is online and it uses 5 TABLESPOONS of sugar. Way too much for my taste.

So I guess what I'll be doing is buying a strip of domestic yeast and baking a batch each of bagels, English muffins and croissants.

Of course, I will be eating the croissants fresh, but the other two freeze well in my experience.

OTOH, since I'm limiting my grains to two servings a day, baking loaves of sourdough bread means having way too much in the freezer or going stale on the counter.

So what I do is make up dough for only one loaf, and then split it into 6 or 8, roll into balls and flatten. These rise and bake faster than loaves and are great for sandwiches or toasted cheese and bread which is my favorite supper.

Oh yeah, sourdough is a great pizza crust, too.

So in case you were wondering what else you can do with sourdough, there it is. As Julia Child would say, bon appetit!

© Patricia Jo Heil, 2013-2020 All Rights  Reserved