Perro Bread

Last night was the first time I tried out my new sourdough starter, which seems to be mature, after 2 weeks. It is a little harder to use, since it requires longer times to rise. I attempted one of the no knead bread recipes, featuring sourdough starter.

It was not a success. First of all, I think the dough was too dry, since I overcompensated for the wet starter. Then, we have not been keeping the house "toasty" warm, as it was in the summer. We've only been lighting fires when it gets chilly (so not every day). And overnight, the dough didn't seem to produce the same product. Then, when I proofed it in the pan for 4 hours (called for in the recipe), it didn't really increase in size, but I decided to bake in anyway. This method called for the bread to be baked for one hour, starting in a cold over, as opposed to a pre-heated oven.

Well- long and short of it- it did not come out eatible, for humans, that is. It did have a distinctive sourdough taste, on the plus side, but it was so dense and the crust so hard, that it proved to be a failed experiment. But not entirely. This morning I cut a slice (with great difficulty) and fed it to the dogs. I am happy to report that after a good workout with their teeth and jaws, they managed to eat it. Now I know that bread is probably not a good dog food, but they eat cardboard, tree bark and tree limbs and many other disgusting things- so my bread can't be that bad.

I will try again, and hope that next time, I don't end up with Perro Bread.