Life in Geezerville: New Trick Edition

Hey geezers, I learned a new trick. I used the 116 year old sourdough starter I told you about the other day, and made my very first loaf of sourdough bread. HOORAY. I'm pumped!

I was a little scared about the process, so I called Rick, the fellow who gave me the starter, and asked if he would help me on Friday morning when I started the bread. He agreed. BUT he called on Thursday afternoon and asked if he could come over now. Of course I agreed.

The first thing he said was "I was overthinking the process." In a short 10 minutes, he showed me each step, and then he left. I was on my own. Rick gave me confidence. I could do this. On Friday morning I weighed the ingredients (there are only 4--flour, starter, water and salt), combined them, and let them rest for 30 minutes. So far so good. 

Then came stretching of the dough. The recipe called for stretching the dough every 30 minutes for 2 hours. Stretching was not too complex to do. 

After 120 minutes of stretching and resting the dough, I shaped it into a loaf and put it in a 100 degree oven and proofed it for 6 hours. 

The bread was not finished. It still needed to be kneaded and reshaped, and rested overnight in the fridge. This morning I put my covered enameled dutch oven into a screaming 500 degree hot oven for one hour. At the end of the hour I took off the cover and carefully placed the bread wrapped in parchment in it and put the cover back on.

The loaf cooked at 500 degrees for 20 minutes. I took off the cover and turned the oven down to 450 degrees and let the bread get brown for 15 more minutes. 

The internal temperature registered 205 degrees, that meant it was done. I took it out of the dutch oven and cut the loaf open.

What an amazing thing to see. The kitchen smelled heavenly. The warm bread was incredible. Would you believe we ate half the loaf in record time? 

I'm ready to make another loaf tomorrow. 

So geezers, even at our advanced age, we can learn new stuff. I challenge you to go out and learn something new this week. It's good for the soul.