I made the perfect bread!

[razz]

Please stop all these tantalizing bread ideas I can leave sweets alone with no problem, cheeses are tempting but fresh bread is my ultimate weakness especially when I think of the warm crust drizzled with butter. They are so good.

I had to stop going to a newest artisan bakery in town as I would buy a round loaf of rye with delicious caraway seeds and the day after the whole loaf was gone. I have tried to cut it in half and freeze but it calls to me.

[Rosemary]

I've been making a sour rye all winter, but my sour culture is not as active as one I had going a year or two ago. I think I'm going to try feeding it with half rye, half wheat. It does have excellent flavor, but the leavening power isn't great. No one in the house complains, though!

I have not had great results from the many recipes that encourage highly hydrated dough. When baked as a loaf, especially in a Dutch oven, the bread has a texture that is too moist. It works ok for flatbreads.

A couple of years ago I was following the Tartine Bread basic whole wheat sourdough recipe fairly closely. That worked pretty well, aside from the overly moist texture.

I usually bake a sourdough that's about 25% rye, 75% wheat, using stoneware casserole dishes with lids, following the Dutch oven method... but removing the lids after about 15 minutes.