Sourdough!

[RoadKingLarry]

I've got a hankering to do some more baking. I really like good bread. Good bread does NOT include anything I can buy off the shelf locally.
Several years ago I bought a couple of sourdough starters from these folks - http://www.sourdo.com/ Sourdough International .
I had bought their "South African" and their "Giza" Cultures I used the South African culture for several years with pretty good success with whole wheat bread. Got busy and the jars with the dormant cultures got pushed to the back of the fridge for a year or so. I tried to reactivate one but it was no go, I'm pretty sure they had frozen at least once.
I'd never opened the Giza starter and it had lived in the butter compartment of my fridge for 5+ years.
Started activating it last week. I now have two active cultures going. I haven't had time to bake any bread yet but today I made a batch of sourdough pancakes.
They were GOOD!
If you want to try your hand at sourdough I can recommend Sourdough International's starter cultures. Their book is also worth a read, available hardback and on Kindle.

[Ben]

Ha - good timing on this subject. My standard bread for the last couple of years has been from the artisan no-knead recipe that adively gave me. It's delicious, easy to bake bread.

However, I've been ordering some German bread from Germandeli.com, a lot of it for my dad, but for me too. It comes frozen and or parbaked. Still tastes good, but I've been wanting to see if  I could replicate some of the recipes - specifically for steinofen brot (stone oven bread), which calls for sourdough in the mix. I've never done sourdough, but am wanting to try. I shall be monitoring this thread. :)

[zxcvbob]

I had a sourdough starter a few years ago that was wonderful.  I grew it from scratch using just rye flour, all-purpose flour, and water.  Put it in the fridge at the beginning of summer, thinking I could revive it in the fall when ready to start baking again.  It died.  I've tried several times to grow another one, using the same flour, and I can get it going but the new cultures have no tolerance for salt; just the little bit of salt in the bread knocks it out.

I should probably try again with a fresh bag of flour.  Or maybe culture the bugs on some whole brewers malt.  Maybe put a pinch of salt in the initial starter to select for more salt-tolerant yeast and bacteria?

When I was baking, I made a very wet simple dough and put it in a greased Corningware casserole.  Rose and baked it in that.  I think I had the lid on for the first half of the bake but don't remember for sure.

[MillCreek]

My wife and I don't eat enough bread/pancakes to warrant keeping sourdough alive, but I sure do miss sourdough pancakes.  I have never found a sourdough pancake mix that is worthwhile.

[K Frame]

If you need to preserve a sourdough starter, you can spread thin layers on wax paper and freeze it, then transfer it to a container and keep it for up to a year, I think.


Starters in the fridge need to be fed, and old starter removed, every week, otherwise they create so much alcohol that the yeast dies and there's no reviving it.

[Ben]

So any recommended directions, or good links to directions, for attempting a starter?

[K Frame]

https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/sourdough/how-to-obtain-sourdough-starter/

Directions are basically the same no matter what.

You're attempting to capture wild yeast. You can do it with flour, rice, peas, potatoes, basically any thing that will sustain a yeast spore.

[Ben]

Cool, thanks Mike.

[zxcvbob]

So any recommended directions, or good links to directions, for attempting a starter?

From memory:
Mix equal parts by weight, flour and dechlorinated water (bottled water, or tapwater plus a pinch of vitamin C or filtered thru a carbon block).  Cover loosely to keep the fruitflies out.  That's pretty much it.  I'd use whole wheat flour at first, then feed it with all purpose.  Rye flour works better than wheat flour for getting your starter started.  When it smells sour and is bubbly and has a layer of thin liquid on top ("hooch") it's time to feed it more water and flour.  You'll probably have to throw some away to keep the amount reasonable, otherwise with the feedings it will double every few days.

Once it's healthy, storing it in the fridge really slows it down; feed it once every week or so.

Do a search for "Carl's sourdough starter".  You should be able to get a culture sample for the cost of a stamped self-addressed envelope.  I've never tried it 'cuz I like doing things myself.

[K Frame]

You can also use commercial yeast to make a "sort of" sour dough starter.

You mix in commercial yeast with what you'd normally use to capture wild yeast spores, only refrigerate it from the start.

Over time it will develop a tangy flavor that will impart a nice, but mild, flavor to your bread.

I kept one of those going for over a year when I was regularly making my own bread.

[MillCreek]

^^^Hmmm, now doesn't that sound very interesting.

[K Frame]

I think that method was featured in one of Alton Brown's shows on bread some years ago.

[RoadKingLarry]

1st loaf of sourdough for the season.


Tried some this morning. Pretty good.
I think my dough was a little slack and might have benefitted from a little longer on the 2nd rise but overall I'm happy.

[K Frame]

OOOoooohhhhh!

Yummy!

[RoadKingLarry]

Made French toast with the last of it this morning. nom, nom, nom...

[Ben]

Reviving RKL's thread.

I'm finally getting around to doing my first sourdough starter. I have seen an interesting internet argument regarding using metal vs non-metal bowls and utensils for the starter. Some argue that metal will react with the starter and ruin it, while others say they see no difference between metal/non-metal.  What say you guys?

Until I read that, I was going to use a stainless steel bowl (which is what I use for most mixing) until the starter was ready to refrigerate, then stick it in a glass container.

[zxcvbob]

It probably doesn't matter.  So why not use a glass bowl or a wide-mouth canning jar and eliminate the risk, though slight?

[Ben]

It probably doesn't matter.  So why not use a glass bowl or a wide-mouth canning jar and eliminate the risk, though slight?

I probably will, just for safety's sake on the first batch. However, had I not stumbled upon "Do not use metal!" in one of the recipes I perused, I never would have known, since none of the other recipes mentioned anything. Had I not seen the one recipe, I'd have just defaulted to my stainless bowl.

[K Frame]

The traditional keeper for sourdough starter has either been a stoneware crock with a lid or a glass jar with a bail lid. You don't want to seal it tightly, no matter what you use, or you could end up turning it into a bomb.

I know a couple of people who use Mason jars with one of the plastic keeper lids and a turned just enough to keep the lid on, but not seal it.

I've never heard the prohibition against using metal. Obviously you wouldn't want to use something reactive like cast iron, copper, or aluminum.

I always used a plastic container with a lid.