I can blame

Panera's sour dough bread with butter to my fatness

:yep:

I never had it. Might have to try it sometime, as long as it's not a fake sourdough(sweet).

Sourdough made using vinegar sucks.

malcore said:

Sourdough made using vinegar sucks.

Click to expand...

Is that what it is? Like mixing fruit juice and everclear, then calling it wine?

There's just something about that combo that is so enticing...can eat that all day

I must try this sourdough. I love sourdough, but I don't like when a place calls non-soured dough, sourdough. Cracker Barrel is like that, not real sourdough, but it's damn good.

Crystallas said:

I never had it. Might have to try it sometime, as long as it's not a fake sourdough(sweet).

Click to expand...

There are different kinds? :shrug:

It might be sweet, well actually i don't know for sure. Hmmm. Got any recommendations in the Chicago area for the type you like?

There are two types of sourdough, then you have 'sweet sourdough' and artificial sourdough. Sourdough doesn't use yeast, therefore it doesn't need sugar. The fermentation creates a the air pockets inside to bake like a bread. The two types are flaky and chewy. People like both, and they come in different sizes as well as act as a base for other creative spinoffs. Flaky means the dough was given more resting after kneading and forming, where chewy is rested less. I like a more flaky bread.

Sweet sourdough is basically a way for bakeries to take existing yeast doughs, and treat them as a sour starter after they expire. Nothing wrong with that IMO, I like sweet sourdoughs as well. But the language is different and important, because for someone trying to avoid sugar, sourdough is a blessing.

The artificial sourdough types use lemon, vinegar, or anything sour to emulate the flavor. Those breads taste off and a bit funny, so they usually fail and don't sell. But big bread manufacturers use preservatives to keep their bread fresh on the shelves, making this the only way to sell a sourdough product. And since the acids added screw with the yeast, they are nearly always on the chewy side.

Okay, aside from the history lesson. I make my own sometimes, and the easiest to find sourdough I buy is from walmart's bakery section. Walmart's bakery sucks IMO, which is why I'm glad they don't make their sourdough. They carry an exclusive brand named California Goldminers' that comes in both sliced and not sliced varieties(I always ask the bakery to slice it, if they are out of the sliced, and they always do it kindly). http://californiagoldminer.com/our-breads/

When you said sourdough was making you fat, I was a bit confused. Sourdough is a very beneficial and healthy bread. Of course, too much bread.... doesn't matter what kind, not good.

Also, most polish rye breads are sourdoughs(no yeast, requires fermentation for rising dough), but VERY mild, like 4-6 hours. Therefore not very sour. Like sharp cheeses, the longer the cultures build, the more sharp/sour it gets.

Make your own? Just take flour, water, salt. Make a dough, kneed it tight. Then rest for an hour or two in the fridge, form it into your pan, let it sit with a towel over it in the kitchen or somewhere room temperature. 12-24 hours later, pop that sucker in the oven at 350-400 like any other bread, poof, sourdough. Simple, tastes great. Sometimes I add butter after it went sour, to make the dough even flakier.

What about the sourdough sandwich at Hardee's?

That's good.

nwfisch said:

What about the sourdough sandwich at Hardee's?

That's good.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure. Because sourdough is cheap to make, it's not really beneficial to make it a fake sourdough. Although like I said, for purposes of using preservatives(and sometimes just the speed of baking to demand), sometimes they do fake the 'sour'. If I had to guess, I would say any fast food place has a fake sourdough, before I would assume it were legit.

Well its still good to me, they don't fry their fish or burn their beans there

I had hardee's for the first time for breakfast. got the $1 bisquit egg, sausage, cheese. Did not like it very much. I have been told to try the burger.

Crys, that was awesome! Thanks. I will definitely try that brand the next time I am at walmart.

Have you ever had Weber's Bakery off of Archer and Harlem?

So the bread at Panera has a nice crust but the inside I would say leans chewy but the bread can also have air pockets in them. The nice thing is you can try it. They usually have it in dinner roll, soup bowl, large loaf and extra large loaf.

brett05 said:

I had hardee's for the first time for breakfast. got the $1 bisquit egg, sausage, cheese. Did not like it very much. I have been told to try the burger.

Crys, that was awesome! Thanks. I will definitely try that brand the next time I am at walmart.

Have you ever had Weber's Bakery off of Archer and Harlem?

So the bread at Panera has a nice crust but the inside I would say leans chewy but the bread can also have air pockets in them. The nice thing is you can try it. They usually have it in dinner roll, soup bowl, large loaf and extra large loaf.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I want to try this Panera bread. Maybe this weekend? We'll see. I can tell a real sourdough from a doctored one easily(and so can most anyone else who gets into sourdough). I got into sourdough because I cut sugar from my diet, also because I wanted some alkaline forming breads in my diet. When you look at the health benefits of sourdough, it makes a bread eater happy that they have a perfect compromise available to them, instead of cutting bread out of their diet.

As far as Weber's. Yup. I grew up in the Midway area, so I know all that stuff. Weber's used to be really great. Now they are still good, but pricey. There is a bakery in Orland Park near to the Trader Joes that is similar to Weber's put also pricey(just in case you are in that area).

Another good one near Weber's (Harlem and Archer) and they have a few other stores, is Oak Mill Bakery. I think the prices are a bit better. Racine Bakery is also very good, and the prices are also great. If you go to Racine on Archer, get the bacon buns and a 2lb loaf of rye. Can't go wrong.

brett05 said:

I had hardee's for the first time for breakfast. got the $1 bisquit egg, sausage, cheese. Did not like it very much. I have been told to try the burger.

Click to expand...

Hardee's burgers are ok I guess...I didn't find them to be anything special. I do imagine that they would be better than a breakfast biscuit sandwich though. The fries are pretty good imo.

Hardee's used to be a lot better. IMO, they are still living off the franchise name.

We need In and Out to come to IL.

Schlotzky's sourdough is delicious, but I think it does use yeast and sugar, so i think it falls into the category of "fake chewy" stuff. I still love it though.

Crystallas said:

We need In and Out to come to IL.

Click to expand...

omg yes

Crystallas said:

Yeah, I want to try this Panera bread. Maybe this weekend? We'll see. I can tell a real sourdough from a doctored one easily(and so can most anyone else who gets into sourdough). I got into sourdough because I cut sugar from my diet, also because I wanted some alkaline forming breads in my diet. When you look at the health benefits of sourdough, it makes a bread eater happy that they have a perfect compromise available to them, instead of cutting bread out of their diet.

As far as Weber's. Yup. I grew up in the Midway area, so I know all that stuff. Weber's used to be really great. Now they are still good, but pricey. There is a bakery in Orland Park near to the Trader Joes that is similar to Weber's put also pricey(just in case you are in that area).

Another good one near Weber's (Harlem and Archer) and they have a few other stores, is Oak Mill Bakery. I think the prices are a bit better. Racine Bakery is also very good, and the prices are also great. If you go to Racine on Archer, get the bacon buns and a 2lb loaf of rye. Can't go wrong.

Click to expand...

I agree the price has gone up but the quality has remained.

I'll check those other two

Yeah, okay, fair. The quality is still as good as ever. I'm just biased because everyone blindly supports Weber's, but they don't give business to other, equally good/better bakers with competitive or better prices. Then those good bakers close shop/change recipes to something cheap.

Off-topic, but what I'm talking about is that suburban mentality. Where the only businesses that survive, are trusted brands, not local. Weber's isn't a franchise brand, but they get the same favorable loyalty from consumers. I like unique and local places, some suck, others are the best. But that is part of the fun with exploring and expanding.
...then people with this suburban mentality wake up one day, and wonder why their town only has a walmart and a target.