• she/her

My hobbies are all excuses to collect pretty colors. I enjoy knitting, sewing, running, trombone-ing, gardening, & sci-fi short stories. Coding when necessitated and occasionally for fun. Microbiology for fun & (non-)profit.


Even if I don't work in a lab anymore, I put my microbiology degree to use by keeping fermentation colonies going. Today I am reaping the fruits of my labor!

I have a sourdough starter I've kept going since 2019, and it makes delicious whole wheat bread. Pictured is today's bake with it: my usual 8"x4" loaf, 70% whole wheat and 30% AP flour. I've done it as 100% whole wheat, but I like the better rise I get with a bit of AP flour. I didn't knead it at all-- just mixed it, let it sit for 16 hours (it's a bit chilly in the house overnight), shaped it, went for a run1, then baked it. It smells divine!

Last month I started some lactofermented cranberries, using the "Pickled Cranberries" recipe from here.2 . Last year I used the suggested teaspoon of cloves and was overwhelmed by the medicinal flavor, so this year I used a single clove and that was better. Next year I might add a second. (We'll see.) This year I let it go for 4 weeks, instead of the suggested 1-3 weeks. I started checking them after three weeks to see when the bubbles stopped, and that was on week 4, so that's when I pulled them. Last year I did three weeks and it was good too, so don't hesitate to taste as you go and grab them when they seem right.

The cranberries are tangy and have that neat buzzy CO2 feel, with notes of cinnamon and ginger and citrus (since that's what I added to the jar). I really like to use these with gin cocktails and mocktails. Ginger ale, cranberry juice (the unsweetened super tart kind), and several of these make a nice festive drink! The brine-soaked candied ginger is delightful, too.

  1. This sourdough culture knows if you're waiting for it to rise, so you've got to distract yourself while it does its thing.
  2. And if you want to make your own sauerkraut-- which I also do-- that same website is a great website to learn from!

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in reply to @effika's post:

what's the water:flour ratio you're using for the sourdough if you don't mind sharing? I currently do 20% wholemeal as I've heard that's the max you can go before you gotta start upping the water and I haven't wanted to stray too far from my current recipe

It's at 83% hydration currently. I mostly do no-knead, which prefers 70% hydration or higher, so I'm used to it being a bit wetter. If I'm kneading by hand, ~65% hydration is usually my sweet spot for a loaf that's majority whole grains.

Whole grain flours are more thirsty, but I wouldn't say significantly so. Like maybe 30g or more water per 120g of whole grain flour subbed in. I don't usually even add it at the beginning if I'm converting a recipe to use more whole grains, just as needed once I've started mixing. Once you've made a lot of loaves you'll be able to kind of feel how your dough is doing and whether you need a lot or a little extra water. Luckily bread is pretty forgiving so keep experimenting!

thanks! I usually do my sourdough at 60% hydration so I definitely know there's more room to move up, but I messed up a lot of bread when I first started (mostly proofing issues) so I'd been a bit nervous to bump it up further. I'll give it a shot at a higher % next time for sure.