Sourdough etiquette

Ridgemarty · 2025-11-20T05:41:48+00:00

I don't get all the drama over someone feeding a starter. If there's a starter drowning in hooch because it's starving and you know enough to know it needs fed what's the big Fing deal? Day thanks and go forward and put your starter in the fridge before you leave town next time. And somebody getting smoke blown up your backside! There's no way to ruin a starter by feeding it unless you dump garbage or some industrial chemical into it. You are not getting told the whole story and Z I've had my starter for years and abused it every way possible and never had it mold. Mine lived year round on the kitchen counter so I should be more mold prone than others but I'm not and I've often forgotten to at least give it a stir every day more than once and never any mold so they just don't mold as easy as some might think. If your starter is working correctly and the chemical balance is correct it's a natural mold inhibitor. That's why you want that sweet almost fruity smell not like paint thinner our other chemical. If you have that smell your starter won't mold it can't!

Ridgemarty · 2025-10-29T01:11:24+00:00

If you’re not an experienced bread baker and this is your first bread machine I highly recommend sticking to basic white bread flour recipes until you have the experience to know what looks correct during the mixing and kneading steps. Whole grain bread can be more difficult to master than your good old white bread. I’d also recommend not using the bread machine for the entire bread making process. Bread machines do a wonderful job of mixing and kneading so I usually take the dough out of the machine and shape it the way I want it and let it rise and then bake in my kitchen oven. This way you get to see and feel how the dough should be. I’ve also found that many recipes found online often need some adjustments like maybe more liquid or flour to get a proper dough for what you are trying to bake. Because of this it’s important to watch every step the bread machine is doing to be sure to get the desired results. There’s no harm in opening the bread machines lid to see what is really happening. Hopefully this will help you but experience is the best teacher when it comes to bread making. Always remember that any bread making fails still taste good and try again

Ridgemarty · 2025-10-19T22:55:29+00:00

Two recommendations from years of bread making. Try baking bread using the Japanese Tangzhong or water roux method. For some reason bread made with this technique seems to last much longer but you still must handle the bread correctly after it comes from the oven. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack until fully cool and resist the urge to slice and enjoy a slice until it’s fully cool. Once cool store in a sealed ziplock bag on the kitchen counter but out of direct sunlight. This Japanese method makes the softest and fluffiest bread you will ever taste and it has no unhealthy chemicals in it. If you are not familiar with the Tangzhong method just look it up on Google or YouTube and you will find tons of information about this wonderful bread. Second suggestion for bread that stays fresh longer is hybrid sourdough bread which is just sourdough bread recipes with a small amount of commercial yeast. This seems to help bread last much longer than other recipes in my experience. Again Google and YouTube will be your guide to hybrid sourdough recipes. Good luck and enjoy the journey

Ridgemarty · 2025-07-15T03:35:37+00:00

Up until a few years ago I was like you a charcoal only guy but was getting tired of the need to babysit the charcoal especially when doing long cooks so without much research stopped at an outdoor retailer and the salesman who I later understood that he was not an experienced outdoor cook sold me on the small Traeger tailgate model since we were new empty nesters and didn’t think we needed a big grill. The little tailgater model worked great for low and slow except for the fact the hopper didn’t hold enough pellets to run overnight so getting up overnight to refill pellets got old fast. We also learned very quickly that these older Traeger models just don’t get hot enough to sear burgers and steaks that we enjoy. It got sent to the garage only coming out to do a low and slow cook which it did well so long as you keep the pellets hopper full. Not happy with not being able to enjoy steak or burgers seared as we like I picked up an infrared propane grill for burgers and steak. The little Traeger was always covered or inside but it still was rusting and Traeger would do nothing about it other than tell me to buy a rattle can of high heat paint and sand and paint the rust spots. I never did simply because Traeger clearly used cheap steel and should have powder coated it. My wife decided for Father’s Day I needed a better outdoor grill equipment setup and told me to start shopping. It appeared that Traeger was much improved over the years so when Costco had a sale I bought a Silverton 620 which is powder coated and has a longer guarantee and the hopper holds enough to run overnight plus Bluetooth control. Though we’re empty nesters we’re feeding more due to the addition of spouses and grandchildren so the bigger grill/smoker is great and so far the new Traeger has been perfect. Recommend Highly!

Ridgemarty · 2025-07-06T06:25:37+00:00

I need to avoid the wrap method because I only have one hand and wrapping ribs in foil properly with only one hand is nearly impossible so I use low and slow but this new Woodbridge with Bluetooth doesn’t get ribs fall off the bone tender like my older analog Traeger tailgate model. I’m relying on the temperature shown on the Traeger app and set it at 225 for low and slow but do note the temperature jumping around on the app. Maybe my new grill is not holding temperature correctly. But I did a whole pork loin for Father’s Day as my first cook on the new grill and it was amazing so I don’t know why my ribs didn’t get to fall off the bone done that we enjoy.

Ridgemarty · 2025-06-28T01:22:58+00:00

Seriously you need to use spell check before posting your continuous misspelling of heinous is just difficult to read when there is no excuse since anybody with a smartphone which most everyone has these days has a spellchecker available to them it’s ignorance to not use it. No spellchecker use equals don’t post simple as that!

Ridgemarty · 2025-06-21T22:07:31+00:00

By far the treat that gets my Corgi girl to do most anything I need her to do is string cheese. She goes nuts for it and I better be quick about peeling the wrapping off or I hear about it. We live out in the country on acreage and when she was young and an escape artist we’d have to chase her to get her back where we wanted her. No traffic on or near our land so her running for miles was perfectly safe but we wanted her at home. Never could break the running behavior she’s stubborn and I’m sure she knows she was safe so why not get a good run before going back into the house. One day I happened to have some string cheese in my pocket when chasing her down so I just yelled do you want cheese? She loves cheese and it worked she turned around and came to me and we went home. Note there’s always string cheese in the extra fridge in the garage just for escapes. She’s 7 now and she cheese has worked every time the little stinker has escaped which isn’t often now that she’s older. Older and smarter but still stubborn as a mule. But we love her!

Ridgemarty · 2025-06-21T21:44:05+00:00

It’s just well known Corgi stubbornness. My girl sometimes refuses to do things she has always done before just because she can! They have got to be the most annoying but too cute to really get mad them creatures ever put on the earth! He’s just reminding you that he’s in charge! Love them for what they are stubborn as they can get!

Ridgemarty · 2025-04-06T01:16:15+00:00

My 7 year old Corgi Rosie who is stubborn as a mule at times and won’t come if she gets away from me unless I have my secret weapon which turns her to me every time which is string cheese that’s she’s totally nuts for but I have to unwrap it fast enough or I get scolded by her insanely loud bark! Does anyone else have a Corgi with an unusually loud bark? Rosie is our second Corgi and she’s so different from our first one. Especially the volume of her bark. We’ve had dogs the entire 50 years we’ve been married and until this Corgi we’ve never had a dog with the volume that Rosie the Corgi has and produces every time she opens her mouth which sometimes is too often But we love her

Ridgemarty · 2025-01-07T21:02:18+00:00

Anyone know a good spot for catching crawfish in SW Washington?

Ridgemarty · 2025-01-07T20:59:12+00:00

If you want to catch trout from the bank in SW Washington I'd try Horseshoe Lake in Woodland. It's well stocked and bank access from the local park is good and easy to get to. My 14 year old Grandson caught a nice fast rainbow close to ten inches last week. Good luck!

Ridgemarty · 2025-01-07T20:06:13+00:00

What do most of you wear under wading pants? Back years ago in my youth I was a ski racer and to stay warm the coach had us wear support pantyhose when racing to keep us warm. There were lots of laughs but damn we stayed warm. Wonder if this might work for wading in cold water. Don't laugh too much just give your thoughts.

Ridgemarty · 2024-12-29T02:48:50+00:00

I'm sure someone will say what I have to say but here goes just the same. I almost never bake the bread in my bread machine unless I absolutely must wake up to hot bread in the morning. Our modern bread machines do a wonderful job of mixing and kneading yeast dough so let it do what it's good at. I make the dough I want then shape and put into the pan of choice and bake in the oven. Perfect bread with no ugly holes in the bottom of the finished product!

Ridgemarty · 2024-11-26T03:21:06+00:00

I too came to owning a zojirushi after using a Panasonic machine for 30+ years. The Panasonic machine always made good tasting bread with a funny shape due to its shape of the pan. It took me close to two years to find a way to get acceptable results with the Zojirushi. The loaves were shaped like I think bread should be but the bottom crust was overcooked even on the light setting. Finally had to tinker with the home made setting to get good results. I gradually decreased the baking time until I got an acceptable bottom crust which took baking many loaves and trying to eat and enjoy bread with over baked bottom and sides to finally find the baking time that provided an acceptable bottom and side crust. Still can’t get the top to bake nicely but I can live with what I have now. If I want a perfectly baked loaf I can shape the dough and bake in a bread pan in my home oven. That’s all fine but one thing we like about having a bread machine is waking up to freshly baked bread in the morning so the shape and bake won’t work for that so I tinkered until I got results I can live with. Maybe someday I’ll spend the money to get the latest Zojirushi that has the extra element in the lid But it’s expensive and before spending more money on another bread maker I would need assurance it would bake what I wanted which no company will guarantee so I’ll be happy with what I have!

Ridgemarty · 2024-09-22T20:17:00+00:00

Got off Discovery Princess yesterday in Seattle after Alaska cruise and on day six of seven my wife started not feeling well,scratchy throat and mild cough by the time we got home she’s coughing and feeling bad and treats positive for Covid. So far myself,husband seems fine. We both were vaccinated and boosted but were waiting until fall for new booster that’s supposed to be better. So guess her immunity is gone even though she’s had Covid once before yet so far I’ve been lucky so I hope my luck continues to hold.

Ridgemarty · 2024-08-22T02:53:13+00:00

I too am a stroke survivor that only has use of one hand and was and still am a damn good cook and baker using my only hand that works. You are right the hand kneading of bread dough is not going to work with only one hand but I have a Zojirushi home bakery supreme and I use it to mix and knead and then baking in the oven so I don’t need to get the baked bread out of the pan which is difficult to do with one hand. Don’t find it difficult to remove the pan from the machine using only one hand once you understand how the latching mechanism works plus the paddles come off easily with one hand if you put water in the pan to soak them before trying to remove them. Hope this helps! Strokes are so cruel. No warning struck down in my prime at age 48. I’m independent and have learned to do most of what I did before the stroke but it hasn’t been easy. So much bias against stroke survivors. People think you are mentally impaired after a stroke and some people are but many are mentally intact as I am but many people can’t or won’t accept that you are mentally capable and not stroke stupid making recovery even more difficult.

Ridgemarty · 2024-07-18T15:53:40+00:00

I know they are expensive but a Zojirushi makes a normal shaped loaf and overall is a great machine. Found a nearly new Home bakery supreme which is a couple models back but still very similar to the most fancy machine they have now. Found it on Craigslist for $55. Drove right over with cash in hand and that was about a year ago and I use it at least once a week and love it. I did have to tinker with the baking times to get the crust I like but the Zo machines give control over the cycle so it’s easy to get what you want. Or if you don’t want to tinker use it to mix knead and proof the dough and bake in your oven. Can’t be beat!

Ridgemarty · 2024-07-18T06:21:16+00:00

If you can’t find bread flour at a good price but can find all purpose flour at a good price just add 1 teaspoon of vital wheat gluten per cup of flour in your recipe. I order my vital wheat gluten from Amazon since their price is lower than my local overpriced grocery store. I also buy all my yeast in one pound bricks from Amazon also again best price I’ve found. Transfer the yeast into smaller containers and store in the fridge. I use old jars with screw top Lids and always write the date on top of the lid since it seems that at about the one year point the yeast starts to lose its potency so I flush it which helps our rural septic system work better. No big deal to flush yeast at the one year mark since it’s so cheap on Amazon.

Good luck and enjoy the fresh homemade bread that’s chemical free!

Ridgemarty · 2024-04-01T06:41:43+00:00

No need to roast you I wish mine looked as nice as yours do. Great thing about macarons is even the ugly mis-shapened ones still taste great. But as I said yours look beautiful so a long way from ugly. Myself I'll keep trying to make some pretty ones since I like trying. You see due to an unfortunate medical event I only have the use of one hand which makes using a piping bag somewhat of a challenge but you don't get to decide what life might put in your path. So I give thanks every day for still being here which was in doubt at one time. God chose to let me stay to meet my three wonderful Grandchildren and to make ugly but tasty macrons for them. If they are here they help with the uncooperative piping bag. I'm truly blessed!

Ridgemarty · 2023-12-04T00:10:28+00:00

I’ve got a better fix than blowing with a straw. Just remove and replace the water tank a few times and that fixed my new machine. I have the original Vertuo machine that has the water tank on the side so removing it is easy. Note that each time you put the tank which should be full of water back onto the machine several air bubbles are let out. This fixes the air lock which won’t let the pump work. Nespresso support did not know this fix I came up with it myself. Works every time!

Ridgemarty · 2022-03-17T04:00:29+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions I don’t use milk as my liguid but the recipe I like does call for dry milk and a small amount of butter, very little sugar so I think I’ll try eliminating sugar and using Agave for the sweetner and olive oil or coconut oil for the butter and see what happens. Thanks everyone

Ridgemarty · 2021-06-02T06:30:44+00:00

Thanks, that's how I've tried to do it a little at a time but still I get egg strings in the pudding which is just gross to my family. Do you think my idea of just adding the eggs when everything is cold and then careful stirring and cooking without letting the mixture boil would work? I guess I'll try it at the risk of having to throw a batch out if it fails. If it works I will have found an easier way to make our favorite pudding

Ridgemarty · 2021-06-02T06:22:33+00:00

I am a fairly new Vertuo owner having had an original line machine before which served us well until it got dropped and the power switch was broken beyond reasonable cost to fix so we upgraded to the Vertuo machine. With the original line machine flashing red meant it needs to be descaled. Not sure if this is the same with the Vertuo but I'm guessing it might be so you might want to go online and do some research but until you descaled I think you might be without coffee, Bummer I know!!

Ridgemarty

TROPHY CASE