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Monday, February 21, 2011

Sourdough Bread- take one: the debacle

It all began with dreams of grandeur.  Sure, it my have been my virgin run...my maiden voyage...my rookie stint...but I kept my eyes on the horizon and even thought I could see the finish line in the distance.  Ha.  That is what I get for thinkin'.  

Sally was bubbling and fermenting ferociously.  She was ready.  And after a week of nurturing her...documenting that initial zing of rotting apples mellow into a smooth, aged scent that is somewhat hard to describe, but very easy to love...I was ready.  
Tuesday.  Late afternoon.  Water, flour, and a ladle of Sally.  She fit in perfectly.  I was so proud.  Nestled in an earthenware bowl and then tucked inside of a garbage bag, she set about doing what I knew she would do with ease.  Permeating.  Lifting.  Flavoring.  Making a beautiful sponge.
Wednesday.  Eight o'clock in the morning.  More flour and some salt are added to the sponge that took all night to develop.  It's turned out onto a floured counter and kneaded until it becomes smooth and silky and satiny.  I form it into a ball and wrap it up to rise for an hour.
 Then I turn that beauty out, poke out the gasses, roll it into a ball and repeat the rising process.
 And then I do it again.  Every hour. For four hours.
 After the fourth rise is through, I divide the soft pillow...
 ...into two and form them into loaves.  Placed into my equally virgin brotforms and covered, they proof for another three hours.  
With all the care of a first-time mother handling her newborn baby, I turn the dough from the forms with trembling delight. With the oven dialed as high as it will go and my trigger finger on the spray bottle, I slide the slashed loaves into the inferno.
One more turn before the final stretch.  The boiling water on the stove carefully and quickly poured into the roasting pan that looks up at the loaves above.  But wait!  That's not a roasting pan, at all.  It is a glass pan.  Surely that will serve the same purpose.  Surely it will.  But suddenly a shot rings out!  The shot heard round the world.  I divert my eyes, dodging the flying shards of glass that are hurtling through the air.  And then I stood there.  Jaw hanging slack.  Eyes back on the scene and unable to turn away from the grisly events that had commenced.
Well shit.  Nothing left to do but clean up.  I realize that with a little less dumbassery, I could have sailed through my foray into sourdough with nary a hiccup.  But.  Tomorrow is another day.  
I can still smell it.  What could have been.

*What in the world was I thinking, you ask?  Well.  A little flag did pop up somewhere in the back of my brain.  But I figured adding boiling water to a hot pan wouldn't have the same effect as adding cold water.  I can now tell you firmly and without a doubt, that it does have the same effect.  And yes.  The uncooked loaves went into the bin.  Nothing else I could do.  The glass literally sprayed ev-ry-where.  I'm pretty sure none went into the dough, but I wasn't taking any chances.  Plus, I had to let the oven cool down in order to clean it out.  That was it for the day.  But, Sally did her job...and she did it famously! I cannot wait to head back in and give her another chance to work her "wild" magic.  Watch for a successful sourdough in the near future☺. 

The good?  My oven received a long-overdue scrubbing.

*I'm sharing this post with:

Would you like to comment?

  1. I saw your pictures on Flickr the other day and was wondering what happened. All that work! Sad. I once did something similar with a glass pan inherited from my Grandma - the only one we have(had).

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  2. Oh NO! Well, at least you have a clean oven. Get back to baking!

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  3. Ohhhhh....and those loaves were looking so beautiful too.

    I had a similar experience with hot cranberry sauce and a crystal dish. So, so sad.

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  4. I too would have thought that if the glass was hot it would be ok. Lesson learned.

    Those loaves looked beautiful!

    -Brenda

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  5. Ouch! So glad you weren't hurt. Those loaves would have been awesome, I'm sure. Can't wait to see what Sally does next time. :)

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  6. so sorry Heather thats such a stressful event he he make more babies one already and one in the oven we are done he h ehe

    love ya wish you could come down under with us

    hugs

    Rebecca

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  7. A kitchen can be such a dangerous place - wow I am so surprised you weren't hurt. Much to be thankful for - including a clean oven! Thanks for hosting and posting the Hearth and Soul Hop -
    (mine was an antique gravy boat)

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  8. Thank goodness you're okay Heather. I'm so sorry this happened. I must say, you're taking it quite well. I would be shattered!

    I'm looking forward to Sally's next shining moment. I just know it is well worth the wait!

    Thank you so much for sharing...

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  9. It really looked lovely; glad that no one got hurt...even the broken blue glass looks beautiful!
    Looking forward to a perfect loaf soon! :-)

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  10. Oh, my! All that work, only to have it blow up! I'm glad you weren't hurt! I have a banged up 9x13 metal pan that I use in the bottom of the oven and pour hot water from the tap in a cup that has a pour spout ~ works like a charm. Some people use a turkey baster to squeeze the water into the bottom pan.
    Caution: when using a spray bottle to spritz your loaves, make sure you avoid spraying the oven lights! They may burst and break, too.

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  11. Poor you...with the minor accident. Good thing that the breads at least look delicious.

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  12. Eeeek! Next time I guess? If it makes you feel better I will not even attempt making bread. It scares me to death.

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  13. Feel terrible for all the effort you had to spend but happy to see you are taking it in good spirits..glad to hear you didn't get hurt in the process..

    US Masala

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  14. Im so sorry... but hey! you didnt get hurt! Next time your bread will be even better! At least you have a wonderful starter already, mine is dead, again....
    I begin to wonder what Im a going to bake this month for BBD ... :(

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  15. Those could've been beautiful breads!

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  16. Oh no! I probably would have cried. They looked beautiful, and I like how you saw a bright side : )

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  17. Kitchen disasters are horrible and then when over, can be seen from a different light. I was always harsh on myself when something like this happened and it does for every cook! Love the look of your loaves, they would of been some pretty bread baked up brown. Next time, there is always a next time in a busy kitchen.

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  18. Oh man! Wasn't it just last year that you had the landslide from your kitchen cabinet amd broken glass everywhere?

    What a shame!

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  19. Oh no!! I'm so glad you were OK!! Oh, boy. But Sally is awesome - she's indestructible!!

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  20. Reeni...yup, that was it ;)

    Frieda...thanks so much for the tip...it would be just my luck...

    Beth Anne...Um, YES! Sheesh...I'm a broken glass magnet, apparently!

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  21. I'm glad you were not hurt! And Sally is doing really well, I'm sure next time round is the lucky one.
    The loaves looked beautiful - I loved the ridges your bread molds make.

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  22. What a shame! All that time invested. I've done something similar and my response was pretty much yours: "Well shit." And maby a few other things thrown in. ;-)

    Here's to lessons learned and next time!

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  23. Ai yi yi! Girl, I am glad you were not injured in any way, and I am so sorry that all of your work didn't yield a beautiful loaf of bread...

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  24. Well SHOOT! I'll be anxiously awaiting your 2nd adventure.

    Signed
    Sourdough Bread Failure

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  25. You have the perfect attitude for cooking. So sorry this all happened but you learned something and shared it with others! Awesome in my book!

    Just found your blog today so I'm a new FAN! yay! I'm hoping that you would like to be a guest chef on my blog! I'd love to have you! Susie at Scraps of Life

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  26. While I was reading your post and came across the word glass pan and then adding water.... I knew right away what will happen next. That too could happen to the glass door if you have water spraying in contact with it. That happened even to Peter Reinhart. So glad no one got injure.

    Keep trying, it will come excellent.

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  27. Oh no! I hate kitchen disasters! Thanks for stopping by!

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  28. Opppsss! They looked so perfect! I bet the next batch will go so much faster, with a clean oven and all!

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  29. This sounds worse than my cheese making disaster. I have thought about making sourdough bread, but am not nearly brave enough. I can just imagine you taking pictures along the way, so optimistic and excited, and then to have your dreams crash. I especially love how you named your dough. Good luck next time!

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  30. When disasters happen I always think, "It could have been worse." There are some perfect lovaes in your future, a clean oven and new knowledge.

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  31. Thats really terrible,happy u didnt get hurt..

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  32. I'm sorry to be laughing at your expense, and grateful you weren't cut. Don't wear bare feet in the kitchen for a while either. Shattered glass breeds and sheds. Please post again, using a METAL pan for the water. Bless your heart. Pat...pat...pat...

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  33. oh no! :( I am sure the next time you make it it will taste AWSM .. will wait for the post dear..

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  34. i had a friend who experienced the same thing, she'd thought a bomb exploded by the noise.

    i'm really sorry to hear what happened, but i admit to laughing hard enough to snort at the word dumbassery. i will definitely think of that word when i do something stupid, which happens often :)

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  35. We all do studpid things sometimes. I'm sorry it had to be when you had that beautiful loaf in the oven. I can't wait to see the second try.

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  36. I am so glad you weren't hurt!! I am sorry that this attempt didn't work out so well. The loaves looked beautiful so I know that the next one will be wonderful. I'll be looking forward to it! Have a great week, Candace

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  37. i feel so bad hearing about the incident. So much time and effort you put in :(
    Thankfully you didn't get hurt.

    have a wonderful day Heather

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  38. Back in the olden days, I had a sourdough starter. Our favorite was pancakes - be sure to try them with your Sally!

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  39. Yikes! That is no fun. :-( I hope Sally rides better her next time at the rodeo. ;-)

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  40. OH NO! That is one of my biggest fears when baking with glass bakeware. I think maybe I should avoid it at all cost. Well hopefully you'll get back on the proverbial horse soon because with all that love you put into it, I'm sure that loaf would have been amazing!

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  41. Sorry for the breaking of glass pan.I have suggestion try to use roasting pan metal one. Put it lower rack of oven and fill with hot water. I don't like to use ice. sure you are going to make good tasty bread.

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  42. What a SHAME! I heard of someone who when pouring water into a pan, got some on the oven glass in the front and it broke! Thankfully, THAT didn't happen! Looking forward to seeing Sally in another post :)

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  43. oh no! The loaves looked awesome... at least you know you can do it, even if you didn't get to the beautiful final product.

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  44. Oh my, wow glad you did not get hurt...but good job to Sally and the loaves would have been gorgeous.

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  45. Oh heather my love, I so feel for you! I have done the exploding glass pan trick before! But as far as ruining baked goods, I think I top you. I slid a pizza into the oven on a peel and stone and had forgotten to put the salt in the dough, it slid off the back of the stone and onto the hot coils, instantly bursting into a fire ball that had to be put out using a fire extinguisher filled with tiny dusty pellets that got all over everything! UGH! At least I didn't burn the house down. Up until the shattering though, it looks like you did a good job! Sourdough is such a fickle thing! hugs! Alex

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  46. Wow, Alex, that's awesome! ;) Heather, when will we see the next attempt?

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  47. oh my gosh, Alex...I don't understand why it burst into flames, though!? Surely it didn't have anything to do with not adding the salt. Did it??

    I'll be attempting these particular loaves again this week. So hopefully I'll have them up withing the next week or so!! Fingers crossed. Although, I already know it'll work out this time!! ;)

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