This week I decided that it is sime for another cooking project - baking bread with the starter.



There was a bread company that posted an article about making your own starter, so I followed it. From a friend I got a piece of bread (as me and my sister don't usually have bread at home) and also a mould. So I was ready to go.

So on the first day it was quite interesting to tear the bread into small pieces and start to feed it. Feeding on second and thurd day. :D I made jokes about having a new pet or tamagochi, who I need to take care of. :D

Anyway, on the fourth day my starter looked like this and was bubbling, meaning it was all good:



I talked to some people with experience on instagram, as I had so many questions! Is some of the starter just going to be to throw away? (I used it to make those Japanese cabbage pancakes.) How much starter do I need to add to my bread? The recipe on the bread company site was made for three big breads, I just wanted to make one. We shall see how it goies. At the moment I am on fourth day of growing my starter, and I will bake on Friday! Also I am soon having a vacation from work! Can't wait!

It is sixth day now and my starter is doing well, thank you for asking. Tonight I will make pre-dough and then tomorrow morning I will put it in the mould, then go out for a bit and will bake during lunch. Please keep your fingers and toes crossed for me! :D I will make a proper seeded loaf.

Pre-dough came out well and I also took a small "son of starter" to bake again some time. Anyway, on the seventh day I made the real dough - it came out around 850-900 grams.



Dough while it was still rising.

Anyway, I let it rise a little and it rise so beautifully! I was not expecting this. :D Then I put it in the mould and went to have a coffee with a friend (via coffee window. It was so cool, you rang a bell and they opened a window and you got your coffee in a little basket).



When I got home, I put the bread in the oven... and in an hour I had a nice warm loaf ready!



I couldn't even wait for it to properly cool down, I really wanted to try it already. :D

And it tastes like real rye bread! I added some seeds to give it a little crunch. Next time I want to add hemp seeds, because these should be extra crunchy. I am convinced I am going to bake in every 2 weeks (as the starter is good for about 14 days). Maybe even more often... bread world is so big and I really want to try different add-ins like seasonings and all that... yum, I can already imagine it. :D



Proper amount of seeds as you can see. And it looks like real bread!!! :D

Anyway, I am really happy with this and I would like to thank all the people who helped me, answered to my questions and just cheered me on. Thank you! Also if anyone wants some starter - please contact me, I am happy to share.

All in all I would say that the hassle was so worth it!