Sour Dough Bread... an adventure.

[gingerpeach22]

May I join in? When I was a teen, I decided to capture wild yeast to make my own sourdough starter, but the maid smelled it in my bedroom and threw it away, ha ha. I've had starters on and off for fifty years or so. Made Valentine hotcakes with heated real maple syrup on warm hand-made plates on a day when it is about thirty below zero. Did that ever feed the body and spirit! I grew up with my mother's sourdough buckwheat pancakes and used to have a white flour starter and a buckwheat starter. It is really excellent tasting. Do any of you have advice on buckwheat starters - feed it white and buckwheat? What texture are your pancakes? Mine are thin and sort of elastic.

 

[AlabamaChickenLady]

Quote:

Please tell us more 'O wise one. Teach us so we may learn from your wisdom!!

Do you have any of the great, homemade, feed the spirit, recipies to share with us?

 

[vfem]

I have no gone the pancake route... but MAN do want to now!!!!

I did make a batch of sour dough rolls yesterday, and they actually came out right.

Last time, I figured out my extra sour note problem... I forget to only use 2 cups of the started sponge, because I set aside a whole cup of my starter at first, then made the sponge and I was only supposed to use 2 cups of that to make the whole batch... instead I used ALL of it.

I was disgusted with myself on that one. The chickens however devoured them all like they were a gourmet treat.

My daughter told me yesterday's rolls were amazing!

 

[PeepsInc]

I'm sort of acclaimed for my sour dough at work. I'm a baker by trade. I have 3 different sour dough starters.
In a sterile container with a loose fitting lid:

1) Mix 1 cups flour (wild yeast is in all flour) & about 1/3 Cup of bottled warm mineral water.
or
2)3 organic purple grapes, 1 Cups flour, about 1/3 cups warm mineral water. Remove the grapes after 12 hours.
or
3) My Favorite: 4 organic apple slices (from the wild apple tree in the woods behind my house) 1 cups flour about 1/3 cups warm mineral water. Make sure apples slices are covered with batter so they don't oxidize. Remove apples after 8 hours

The best time of year to start a sour dough starter is the spring or rainy season. Thats when there is the most wild yeast.
You have to keep the starter in an area that stays around 70 degrees F.
For the first 4 or 5 days you will feed your starter every 8 hours . Add 1 cup of flour to the approx 1/3 cup of warm mineral water every 8 hours or so. After about 3 days you will notice gas bubbles forming.
(Water should be between 70 & 75 degrees F). If you have your own well & have never dumped bleach in it, you can use your own water. Just make sure you allow it to sit over night before you use it. Add the water until it resembles pancake batter.
After 3 to 5 days you will see lots of bubbles & your batter will have grown to about 8 to 10 cups worth. This is when you start to throw out half of your starter, every time you feed it.
If you have 8 cups of starter throw out 4 cups. Then add 4 cups of flour & about 2 1/2 cups of warm mineral water. (Until like pancake batter)
Do this every 8 hours until your starter is 7 or 8 days old. Aways watch for molds growing on the side walls. If you see mold throw out your batter & start over. To prevent molds, around day 5, I put half my starter in a sterile container. Keeping the side walls clean is key. Or the starter thats left there dies, & gets crusty.
By day 8 you can refrigerate your starter which will slow it's growth. That will allow you to feed it about every 3 to 5 days with out starving it.
The feeding process is always to remove half the starter, then add equal amount of flour as starter & between 5/8 & 2/3 of the about of warm mineral water to flour.
By day 8 you can start to use the starter to bake breads, pizza's, rolls what ever you can conger up.
You can freeze your extra starter or share it with a friend.
You can even save just a cup of starter in the frig to feed. & keep some in the freezer as back up encase you forget about the 1 in the frig & it dies.
The more mature your starter gets, the better it will taste.

 

[gingerpeach22]

Wow, Peeps. That is some regimen - a devoted sourdough cook! I fed mine yesterday, made pancakes, got it out last night, fed it again and put into a warm place. It was bubbly this morning and I scalded jars & put enough starter in each to give as gifts (covered with plastic stretch wrap), and used a cup in a recipe one of the BYC contributors has one a sourdough thread. It's the one which uses applesauce (no oil), brown sugar, and 1/4 t soda.

When the maid threw out the evil-smelling starter I was starting by capturing wild yeast, I knew she wouldn't be around for a couple more weeks and began another one or two until it seemed right. Just think what a modern teen would be doing instead; texting, shopping, tv, etc. I'm glad I grew up in an old fashioned way where things were so darned quiet and boring that you had to entertain yourself.

I seem to recall that the whole reason for sourdough was that yeast wasn't available to trappers, people in covered wagons, etc. so they kept some starter made stiff with enough flour that it could be kept in a pouch around their neck until the opportunity arose to feed it, bake, and save for the next time. At least that's what we did when we crossed the prairie (just joking). History buffs, is that your recollection from reading memoirs? That's why I always question myself when using a starter where the recipe calls for additional yeast in the baked goods. Guessing that using only starter to leaven breads yields a flatter, chewier loaf without the umph of added yeast. I should go back through the recipes on the forum and try something without the extra yeast; there are worse things than flat and chewy, ha ha. Just say it was on purpose, heh heh.

 

[Scoop]

Sorry, just can't let this thread die! The bread is just too yummy!

I've got two loaves of bread on the second rise right now. I'm experimenting and trying to make one plain loaf and one loaf of raisin bread. Had a hard time getting the cinnamon and raisins to incorporate into the dough so I can't wait to see if it turns out. Oooooohhhhh, the smell is wonderful and it's not even baking!

 

[bigmike&nan]

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That's pretty much the jist of it - folks carried the starter around in a bag because yeast (as we know it) wasn't readily available. I'm sure what we call bread was a lot different back then.
As for ways to gift it - do what the fella I bought my 100 Year Old Alaskan Sourdough Starter does, take your starter and spread it out on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and let it air dry out. Not to worry, it's gonna be just fine. When it's dried crumble it into chunks and grind it up in the blender. Then you can give package it up any old way you choose... It'll be just fine. My starter came from Alaska by USPS and it took right off once I started it with a small amount of flour and water.

I'm not baking anything right now - I have so many bags of rolls in the freezer I can't give them away fast enough and don't know what's what in there. LOL
If I'm gonna bake it'll be to replenish the starter and use the "take out" portion to make pizza dough - we really love the way the dough comes out. My most recent pie (Valentine's Day): on the left side, my wife's favorite, sauce, cheeses, spinach, sliced tomatoes, red bell peppers and mushrooms with dabs of ricotta. On MYT SIDE: sauce, cheeses, pepperoni, red bell pepper and sliced mushrooms

This was a realllllllly good pie.

 

[vfem]

ooooooooooh, I made a yummy sour dough pizza (chicago style) the other night... everyone LOVED it!!!

Didn't think to take picture

Glad you guys are still rolling... I need to make another batch, I only have 1 roll left in the freezer.

 

[gingerpeach22]

I'm glad this thread is active. Someone must have added yeast and water to us. I'm really glad to learn how to dry a starter on parchment paper. I always wondered about the dry packages they sell to visitors here in Alaska or the Yukon. I've bought them before and yes, they work just fine.
Question about the fruit added to make starter posted awhile back. Are the grapes or apple slices to give a slow-release sugar for yeasts to eat as well as the flour?

I grew up on buckwheat sourdoughs, did google research but didn't find what I wanted. BUT - found my mother's recipe box and the recipe she used. All she did was make the usual sourdough starter with yeast, flour, & water but she used mostly buckwheat flour. I did it and it worked - thin, stretchier pancakes like other sourdough pancakes (as opposed to thick baking powder flapjacks). I was almost out of buckwheat flour when I got the starter out to feed it and used 1/4 th the amount with white flour for the balance. It was a mad foaming creature by morning and made excellent cakes. I should say that buckwheat is an acquired taste but it's so mixed with family history that of course, I love it.

The pizza dough is one I'll have to try - the photo and description make my mouth water.

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
I have a variation of Mark Bittman's no knead bread, posted on this thread using olives, proofing in the oven with the light on for heat.