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Chelseabun

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Everything posted by Chelseabun

  1. Hi Tinyragebaking, welcome to EGullet. I lurked for a long time before joining too! I am looking forward to reading your posts. Regards.
  2. Chelseabun

    Thanksgiving 2014

    I have rhubarb growing in the garden so make it from fresh during the summer months. However, it needs to be sweetened well to make it palatable LoL. I only mentioned deep fried turkey as it would give me an opportunity to build an Alton Brown style 'turkey derrick' LoL complete with flashing warning light on top! With regard to the Pilgrim Fathers - is that what thanksgiving is about or is it about other things? You are being thankful for the harvest or thankful that you have food or thankful that you are American? I'm guessing partially patriotic and partially religious? Or is it about family and friends or community and sharing food? I'm from the UK so only hear about it through the media.
  3. Hi Patrick, Welcome to Egullet. Sounds like you will find the forums very useful. Regards
  4. Chelseabun

    Thanksgiving 2014

    You could add Rhubarb pie to the list? That's always been a favourite of mine from way back! Is it true that the Pilgrim Fathers got the idea of Thanksgiving from their time in Leiden (Netherlands) before making the journey on the Mayflower? We certainly don't have a thanksgiving tradition in the UK but if i were to make a thanksgiving dinner it would have to have lots of pumpkin and i recon a deep fried turkey!!
  5. 'Yeastie' (my name for my starter) gets fed about the same time each day but when it was started (about two weeks ago) initially was fed about once every two days (i.e. when required). Now i am thinking about baking with 'Yeastie', i will increase the feeds to approx. every eight hours (i.e. according to it's rising and falling cycle approximately). I really wish i had the answer for you. I thought you had it working out well when you posted the photo of your starter fermenting. I am used to using commercial yeasts for bread, beer and wine-making. Wild yeast cultures are new to me. I am learning with you here. Regards.
  6. My first attempt was with a white flour starter (see post #12). I felt there wasn't something right with it as although it was fermenting, it was very slow. My second attempt started with rye flour and then after it was established was fed with only white flour. I found the second starter was active from very early on and i am confident that it will give my bread enough rise. I would suggest therefore, you may like to try (alongside your white starter) a second starter (from rye flour). Just to prove mine is working, here is my starter in slow motion: http://youtu.be/xbTsG64Vtq4 copyright statement: This video was shot by me in my kitchen and i therefore own the copyright. The background music was provided free by youtube and is therefore covered by their standard licence arrangements.
  7. I use the glass turntable from an old microwave oven. Not a professional solution but it does rotate very smoothly, can carry a reasonably heavy cake and was cheap (free)!
  8. Mine rises up and then deflates. Are you sure that it hasn't just got very lively and is flat because it needs another feed?
  9. I considered doing this when I was learning my primal cuts. When you see butchers demonstrating a hog breakdown, they always seem to go too fast. At home, I am assuming you can take your time and get the cuts exactly how you want them. Your stainless steel table looks perfect for the job but might be a bit on the small side for Bovine LoL
  10. I have just taken a look at the Nourished kitchen recipe. Can i not just add some egg and blueberrys to the starter i discard when i feed it?
  11. This is my second attempt. I started it with Rye but have been feeding it with white flour. It is now on day nine and is a relatively lively starter. I will be baking with this in the next few days!
  12. Welcome jpebbs! Where is PDX? Is that Portland? Cooking is a worthwile career in many ways. The dishpit is the best place to start !
  13. Yeast multiplies fairly quickly. I have made cider and wine from wild yeast before. Just from intuition, it just looked like it was being inhibitted somehow. I am viewing it as a success though and at least i can say that i was inspired enough by this thread to try a sourdough starter myself. We say 'went south' too. We have a lovely expression (meaning gone south): 'gone pear shaped'!
  14. Thank you. That is very nice of you to say that. I dont know why the ferment was so weak. It was a very lovely starter apart from that. It had the 'right' smell about it. A loaf made from it would have been very nice. But it would have struggled to produce enough CO2 as it was. You know, it was organic flour from my local windmill. I was expecting it to work. I will give it another go though
  15. Thats 100% correct. We gave it a go! Mine lasted over four days before being cast into the bin (in yeast terms, four days is many thousands of generations LoL). So it had a good life!
  16. My white flour starter was healthy with a very good if not tangy aroma. However, it was very (and I mean very) slow (which could be a great positive as that could lead to a great flavour). However, was not convinced it could be vigorous enough for me to make a loaf with it. So, it has now gone (alas). Is everyone using a rye starter to then make a white starter? Is no-one just making a white starter? I am sure they dont do that in San Francisco? It seems like adding an unnecessary extra step - but if it works, then i guess it is ok. I might try it next time, as I have a bag of rye flour waiting to be used.
  17. @Asadus @Bethesdabakers Dont you two need to connect (in a business sense) Micro bakery + Chocolateir. That would work for me!
  18. Thanks ElsieD. It is healthy and the aroma is ok if not a bit 'complicated'. These starters though make up to a thick paste consistancy dont you think? the bubble holes in mine seem to stay there so it looks more acive than it probably is. I am really looking forward to baking off a loaf with this yeast. Sorry your last starter died. I am very pleased this one is doing ok for you. What flour are you using please? mine is high protein white. Im using bottled water as our tap water i think is has a high level of chlorine
  19. I think it was the plant near Bristol (UK) that was closed. The Bournville factory was not the only site Cadbury owned. I think they also have a large plant in Ireland too? Asadus; I found a great little patisserie with an amazing selection of artisan chocolates in Calais (of all places). I think the French patisseries in general do a good job on the chocolatier front.
  20. Its not very vigorous. Its on day four and has had two feeds. It might be some time before I am baking with this starter.
  21. Its a kind of exhibition adjacent to the original factory in Bournville, Birmingham UK. They charge about £15 ($25) entry. It covers the history of Cadbury (from their perspective) and the chocolate manufacturing process. I've been there once, it was ok. Not something I would go out of my way to do again but people who live in and around Birmingham seem to rate it highly. It might be similar to Hershey's chocolate world?
  22. Hello and welcome from Lincolnshire UK ! Have you been to Cadbury World?
  23. I have baked bread for years but have always used fresh or dried yeast. After reading your posts, I have decided its time to start baking bread using a starter. Oh well, here goes nothing.... (this isn't like a commitment thing is it)? 50g of stoneground organic white flour (12% protein) plus 50g mineral water. Photo was taken after 48 hours.
  24. Many thanks. These are great links. I now understand. My konbu is on order (since last week) and is the wel-pac konbu (also sold by the Japan Centre) but it my take some time to arrive. I tried an Asian supermarket earlier today. I was able to buy some Wakame (ready for when my Konbu finally arrives). They also sold the dried Bonito flakes but i am wanting vegetarian dashi only. For the same reason, i might not have any luck with Miso soup in Japanese restaurants (containing fish).
  25. Have you tried making dashi from other seaweeds? From my experiement, the dashi seemed to be subtle compared to the miso paste that was then added. The Wikipedia entry on Dash mentions 'Shitake Dashi'. Do you know what this is used for and could it have been a better substitute for my Miso soup?
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