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sarea
I woke up today and it was overcast. Driving to work, it was 57°F. So I guess summer's over? It was a nice 3 weeks, I guess. /grumpy
Do you guys ever feel like maybe you have too strong a grasp of the written word, and it works against you? I don't mean that in a conceited way. I mean that I have lately experienced from multiple sources that people don't communicate clearly, so I 'misunderstand' what they MEAN even though I am correct in what they are actually SAYING. Does that make any sense? So many times I have to read between the lines or try and forget the actual meaning of what I'm reading, so that I can get what the other person is trying to get across. So I start responding to what they've written, and they're like, "Okay, but that's not what I meant." And I'm like, "Yes, but it's what you said." And they're like, "Well, I didn't know that by saying it like that you would take it to mean xxxx." And I'm like, "Well I took it to mean xxxx because that is exactly the meaning of what you said!" And on and on it goes.
The latest experience along those lines has to do with the sourdough cultures, and the directions I've been trying to follow. But I've realized that, despite it being an actual published 'expert' book and written by someone with a doctorate, it still needed a better editor. It's not that it's not in plain English -- that part is fine. It's the sentence structures that don't convey the true meaning of the words, making everything kind of muddled instead of clear. But the good news is, I think I've figured out what's going on with my cultures.
First of all, Dr. Wood lumps multiple subjects into the same section, so it's not always clear what he's referring to. And second of all, he doesn't take pains to make sure that the steps are clearly outlined.
For example, the following sentence: Feed every 6-12 hours, again with vigorous stirring until there is a layer of foam and bubbles on top about an inch or two thick.
Does this mean stir until there's the layer of foam and bubbles, or does it mean feed until there's a layer of foam and bubbles? All this time I've been under the impression -- due to the way the sentence is structured, and the punctuation -- that you're supposed to stir it to get those results. Dr. Wood also doesn't say plainly what "full activation" looks like or is; he just talks on and on until suddenly he goes, "After it's fully activated, put it in the fridge to slow the yeast metabolism." And I'm like, what? When and how do I know it's fully activated? I finally had a revelation last night. "Fully activated" *is* that layer of foam and bubbles! It doesn't come from stirring; what he means is to feed it until it forms that layer. It is ridiculous that the language was so convoluted that it took me this long to understand. And I have to wonder if I'm just stupid, or that the way I perceive the written word -- correctly, following all the rules -- actually worked against me. I mean, Joe Blow who I have seen writing in bread blogs and who has run-on sentences, and bad punctuation and spelling, not seemed to understand Dr. Wood just fine and got his/her starter activated just fine.
GRRRRRR!
Anyway, the same kind of 'misunderstanding' happened in the section on washing cultures. I think my cultures have been fully washed and purged of contaminants for several days now, but I kept waiting for something else to happen that he describes in the last paragraph in that section -- but it doesn't actually relate to what happened to my cultures! It's ONLY for cultures that need to be washed after long storage! Yet he never stops his first set of instructions to tell you that the next set is for another scenario; you're just supposed to understand. And as a novice, that is very difficult to do because you don't know what's going on, and stuff that is obvious to an experienced baker -- or scientist -- is not to you.
So the gist of what happened with my cultures is that I believe they were fully washed by the end of day #2 (that is when the activity level from the contaminant subsided, the hooch was consistently at the top, and the cultures started to get that nice sourdoughy smell), but I kept washing them because I kept waiting for a high level of activity that would make the culture "boom to the top of the jar." After multiple rereadings of that section, I finally realized that that kind of activity is for RE-activation for cultures that have been in long storage, and that all I really needed was some sign of life that the good cultures had survived. Which they had.
At that point -- and this is a step that Dr. Wood does not go into, but that I guess we are supposed to infer from the rest of the text -- you stop washing and start the feeding cycle until "there is a layer of foam and bubbles on top about an inch or two thick." Sheesh!! I could have been on that step days ago!! And instead now I'm just on Day #1 of the feeding cycle because I had again washed the cultures last night, which means that I probably won't be able to bake until the weekend. It also pains me to think of all the flour that I wasted in the last few days. Grrr.
There is one part that was clearly written that I do blame myself for skipping over or just not reading carefully enough: Activation is just getting the yeast started. Preparation is when you get the yeast ready for baking, and it has a high level of activity (doubling itself in 8-12 hours). I mistook activation for preparation, and he says at the outset not to mistake the two, so it's my bad on that. But honestly if the text following that was written a little more clearly it would really help novice bakers like myself.
Do you guys ever feel like maybe you have too strong a grasp of the written word, and it works against you? I don't mean that in a conceited way. I mean that I have lately experienced from multiple sources that people don't communicate clearly, so I 'misunderstand' what they MEAN even though I am correct in what they are actually SAYING. Does that make any sense? So many times I have to read between the lines or try and forget the actual meaning of what I'm reading, so that I can get what the other person is trying to get across. So I start responding to what they've written, and they're like, "Okay, but that's not what I meant." And I'm like, "Yes, but it's what you said." And they're like, "Well, I didn't know that by saying it like that you would take it to mean xxxx." And I'm like, "Well I took it to mean xxxx because that is exactly the meaning of what you said!" And on and on it goes.
The latest experience along those lines has to do with the sourdough cultures, and the directions I've been trying to follow. But I've realized that, despite it being an actual published 'expert' book and written by someone with a doctorate, it still needed a better editor. It's not that it's not in plain English -- that part is fine. It's the sentence structures that don't convey the true meaning of the words, making everything kind of muddled instead of clear. But the good news is, I think I've figured out what's going on with my cultures.
First of all, Dr. Wood lumps multiple subjects into the same section, so it's not always clear what he's referring to. And second of all, he doesn't take pains to make sure that the steps are clearly outlined.
For example, the following sentence: Feed every 6-12 hours, again with vigorous stirring until there is a layer of foam and bubbles on top about an inch or two thick.
Does this mean stir until there's the layer of foam and bubbles, or does it mean feed until there's a layer of foam and bubbles? All this time I've been under the impression -- due to the way the sentence is structured, and the punctuation -- that you're supposed to stir it to get those results. Dr. Wood also doesn't say plainly what "full activation" looks like or is; he just talks on and on until suddenly he goes, "After it's fully activated, put it in the fridge to slow the yeast metabolism." And I'm like, what? When and how do I know it's fully activated? I finally had a revelation last night. "Fully activated" *is* that layer of foam and bubbles! It doesn't come from stirring; what he means is to feed it until it forms that layer. It is ridiculous that the language was so convoluted that it took me this long to understand. And I have to wonder if I'm just stupid, or that the way I perceive the written word -- correctly, following all the rules -- actually worked against me. I mean, Joe Blow who I have seen writing in bread blogs and who has run-on sentences, and bad punctuation and spelling, not seemed to understand Dr. Wood just fine and got his/her starter activated just fine.
GRRRRRR!
Anyway, the same kind of 'misunderstanding' happened in the section on washing cultures. I think my cultures have been fully washed and purged of contaminants for several days now, but I kept waiting for something else to happen that he describes in the last paragraph in that section -- but it doesn't actually relate to what happened to my cultures! It's ONLY for cultures that need to be washed after long storage! Yet he never stops his first set of instructions to tell you that the next set is for another scenario; you're just supposed to understand. And as a novice, that is very difficult to do because you don't know what's going on, and stuff that is obvious to an experienced baker -- or scientist -- is not to you.
So the gist of what happened with my cultures is that I believe they were fully washed by the end of day #2 (that is when the activity level from the contaminant subsided, the hooch was consistently at the top, and the cultures started to get that nice sourdoughy smell), but I kept washing them because I kept waiting for a high level of activity that would make the culture "boom to the top of the jar." After multiple rereadings of that section, I finally realized that that kind of activity is for RE-activation for cultures that have been in long storage, and that all I really needed was some sign of life that the good cultures had survived. Which they had.
At that point -- and this is a step that Dr. Wood does not go into, but that I guess we are supposed to infer from the rest of the text -- you stop washing and start the feeding cycle until "there is a layer of foam and bubbles on top about an inch or two thick." Sheesh!! I could have been on that step days ago!! And instead now I'm just on Day #1 of the feeding cycle because I had again washed the cultures last night, which means that I probably won't be able to bake until the weekend. It also pains me to think of all the flour that I wasted in the last few days. Grrr.
There is one part that was clearly written that I do blame myself for skipping over or just not reading carefully enough: Activation is just getting the yeast started. Preparation is when you get the yeast ready for baking, and it has a high level of activity (doubling itself in 8-12 hours). I mistook activation for preparation, and he says at the outset not to mistake the two, so it's my bad on that. But honestly if the text following that was written a little more clearly it would really help novice bakers like myself.
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no subject
Date: 2008-07-17 10:24 pm (UTC)I feel like that's happening to me right now.
Yay that at least you haven't failed to care and nurture your cultures! You were just obsessively cleaning them, like many new moms might.