Last week, my sister brought me some sourdough starter that a friend had given her. The friend says it's an old family starter more than 75 years old. I can't vouch for that, but I can say it makes some wicked awesome bread.
I'm not usually much of a bread person, actually. We are more of a tortilla family. But the bread I made with this starter was so delicious, so toothsome, so crusty and yummy, that I have been baking practically non-stop ever since.
I have a loaf in the oven right now. Probably I should go check on it.
5 comments:
FOUL TEMPTRESS!!!
Your bread looks wonderful, unlike my sourdough rye which looks more like a frisbee than bread. It grows in all directions but UP !
Hey Hi,
I don't remember how I found your blog but I liked it and linked to it! I want to know how one finds sourdough starter. We bake bread weekly, here. Toothsome sounds great!
Thank you Gail!
Unfortunately I don't know how to get starter except to ask around among baker friends or start some yourself! It's not hard to start, but it takes a while to get up to full strength.
Sourdough starter culture
This will take a few days, but is not at all difficult. It's quite amazing that with the repeated additions of only wheat and water, you will develop an active and living sourdough starter!
Day 1
Mix together 1 cup of whole wheat or rye flour with ¾ cup of water. Make sure that all the dough is wet into a ball. It will be stiff, but don't worry about it. Keep in a clean container covered with plastic wrap at room temperature.
Day 2
Mix together 1 cup bread flour with ½ cup of water. Add this mixture to the mixture from yesterday, and mix it all together. Yesterday's dough will likely be a little bit softer than it was, but there will not likely have occurred any rise. Cover with plastic wrap as before, and leave at room temperature.
Day 3
Mix together 1 cup of bread flour with ½ cup of water. Take the dough from the day before, and discard half of it. Mix the new and old dough's together. It will be getting wetter, and there will probably be some rise by now. Cover with plastic wrap, and leave at room temperature.
Day 4
Repeat the procedure exactly as from Day 3. A few hours after you have mixed the dough's together, your starter should have doubled in size. It is now ready for use.
Take 1 cup of your active sourdough starter, and, mix with 3 ½ cups of bread flour and 2 cups of water. Mix together well and cover with plastic wrap. After about 6 hours, the dough should have doubled in size, and become quite bubbly. It is now ready to use in a sourdough bread recipe!
Wow, I had no idea. I can do this!
My husband loves sourdough, so I am very grateful.
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