Sourdough Starter

[mctmatt]

I created my Sourdough Starter on July 1, 2007 and have been keeping it active ever since with refrigeration and once a month feeding. I learned that it is not a crime to pour a cup or two cups of starter away if no one wants any and it is time to feed the starter. Basically I learned that I don't feel the need to bake something every time I feed my starter. The older this starter gets the better it gets. I have made breads, pizza dough, pancakes, waffles, sourdough biscuits which are a big hit and homemade sweet rolls. I have given some to other family members and they have also enjoyed the above items. Creating a sourdough starter is very easy and maintaining it is also easy. Once a starter is created and maintained it will last as long as you want it too. There are stories of some starters being used that were created over 200 years ago and passed down to family members who now value it as a family treasure. I created my Starter with 1/4 cup of all purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon of sugar, and 2 full Tablespoons of warm Spring Water ( Some tap water is treated with a lot of chlorine which can prevent your starter from well becoming a sourdough starter), I have no problems at this point using my tap water to keep my starter active you might just need to experiment. The container you will need or use can be plastic or glass, but aluminum cannot be used. Stir the above recipe together and let it sit at room temperature with no lid or just a paper towel on top of the container. The next day you might see lots of tiny bubbles forming which means that good yeast is forming but most likely you want see any activity until day 3. You will need to feed your starter so do the exact same recipe and measurements as above stir and leave sitting at room temperature. On day 3 you should see some activity with the tiny bubbles. Today (Early Morning) measure out 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/4 cup of warm water. Stir together and leave sitting at room temp for 24 hrs. On Day 4 you might see larger bubbles forming and the starter might have risen some in the container. Today you will pour 1/2 cup of starter into a measuring glass. Now discard the remaining starter. Wash and dry the container then pour the remaining starter back in. Add 1/2 of flour to the starter, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/4 cup of warm water stir and let sit at room temp. Day 5 early morning you should see a frothy starter that has increased in size. Give it an early morning feeding of 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 cup of warm water and stir. Leave at room temp till that evening. Now discard half of the starter (1 cup) and then add 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 cup of warm water and stir. Leave sitting out at room temp. The next morning hopefully your starter has doubled in size if it is sluggish just allow it to sit for another 12 to 24 hrs without any feeding. If the starter has doubled then again repeat with discarding half of the starter and feeding just as the above. That evening discard half again and same feeding. The next morning keep 1 and 1/2 cup of starter, then feed with 1 and 1/2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and 3/4 cup of warm water and mix together. Leave out at room temp. The starter should have doubled in size and is probably ready for use at this point. You can choose to bake or refrigerate your starter. If you refrigerate then for the first month you will need to discard half, and feed your starter once every 7 days. After that time period you can then feed it every 3 weeks. Do not be alarmed if liquid forms on the top of the starter and even if the liquid turns black. This is called "Hooch" you can choose to pour it off or just do like I and stir in back into the starter before I discard any and repeat my feeding. I try to maintain at least a 3 1/2 cup amount of starter as some recipes will call for 2 cups. That leaves me 1 1/2 1/1cup left to feed and build my starter back to the 3 cup amount. I do this by just adding 1 1/2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of sugar, and 3/4 cups of warm water and then stir and let sit at room temp for at least 24 hrs before I sit back in the refrigerator. I encourage others to try your hand at creating your own starter and maintaining it as it really is something unique and makes wonderful baked breads and other baking items. The longer you maintain it the more of a treasure it will become not only for you, but your entire family and extended family as you will be able to give them a cup of the starter instead of discarding it and who knows a hundred years from now they will be talking about that starter which is still being used that was created by one of their relatives many, many years ago.

[Chevyguy]

Thanks for the information Tom, I've been thinking about doing this for the dutch ovens.

Clayton

[mctmatt]

It really is easy to do and just remember you need a warm room of at least 70 degrees are higher to get the starter active. Since you live in Oregon Clayton you will be interested to know you can an original 1847 Oregon Trail Starter for free at http://www.carlsfriends.org basically you just send a self addressed stamped envelope and the starter comes in a dried form flakes with instructions on how to reactivate. I wanted to create my own and so I did not do this, but at some point I might. I did pour a small amount of my starter onto some waxed paper one time and let it dry. The next day I just folded up the wax paper with the dried on starter and stored it for about 3 weeks. I did not know if it would reactivate, but low and behold I poured a little warm water onto the dried starter flakes with just a little sugar and it activated with no problems.

[Alacrity59]

I failed dismally the last time I tried this. Time to try again. Great post.

[_JP_]

I've simplified the process greatly. Two cups flour, two cups warm water, and a couple teaspoons of dried yeast. Let 'er rip for two days, at which point it has soured and is ready to use. Feed as needed with equal parts water and flour.

Or, you make process as involved as you want and experiment with all sorts of variations.

[Alacrity59]

I've been trying to catch the wild yeast from the air

[mctmatt]

I used the sourdough starter last Saturday to make a few sourdough pizza crust. They turned out excellent and in one of the recipe I used a little beer and man did that starter blossom it was great. The recipe was : 1 1/2 cup of Sourdough Starter (substitute 1/2 cup of starter for 1/2 cup of beer for the sourdough beer crust)

1 1/2 cup of bread flour or all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
mix together and then knead the dough and let rest for just 30 minutes or you can let rise which will take about 2 or 3 hours or until it has doubled in size. Roll out dough and you can Pre-bake dough in oven set at 450 degree for 3 to 5 minutes then pull out drizzle more olive oil onto crust and load with favorite toppings place back in oven at 450 degree and bake. I usually start watching mine real close around the 15 min mark.

[mctmatt]

With the recent sourdough threads I decided to bring this post back to life as others might enjoy it. My original sourdough starter began actually in 2003 and I kept it up until 2005 at which time I dried 2 1/2 cups onto wax paper by spreading it real thin. Then I scrapped off the flakes and sealed them with my Vaccu Sealer and gave it as Xmas gifts to my sisters and nieces. Well in 2007 my sister still had hers and gave it back to me. I used the dried flakes to restart the above starter. It worked great. The above instruction on creating your very own starter is the original starter. I reactivated the dried flakes with warm bottled spring water and sugar with just a little flour. The mixture was active and full of nice bubbles within 20 minutes without adding any additional yeast.

[YetiDave]

It's interesting reading the various different techniques that people use to catch and cultivate those wild yeasts and bacteria :smile: the starter I used was really simple - in a clean jar add 20g of plain flour, 20g of wholemeal (it tends to contain more of the wild yeasts and lactobacillus than white flour) and 40ml of water, mix well and put the lid on the jar and leave it on the counter. After 24 hours throw away about half then top up with the same ratio of wholemeal, plain and water, mix and repeat this process every 12 hours for the next week or two. I ended up with a very useable starter within a week and I've had it going for a couple of months now, keeping it in the fridge and feeding it every few days

[mctmatt]

I feed mine now about once a month. It will get some dark water on the top which is called Hooch. I use to pour it off then stir my starter, but now I just stir it up pour a 1 and 1/2 cups into a clean container then add 1 and 1/2 cups of flour, 1 cup of warm water and sometimes a little sugar. It begins to start bubbling in less than 2 minutes and the smell is wonderful. I let it sit at room tempt for 24 hrs. Within 12 hrs I will repeat the above process pouring out 1 and 1/2 cup and pour out or use the remaining if I choose to bake a pizza or something that evening. I re-feed the 1 and 1/2 cups of starter and let it sit for the remaining 12 hrs then I stir it down put the lid on very loose and put back in the fridge. I try to keep at least 3 cups of Starter in the container at all times as a lot of recipes call for at least 1 to 2 cups of Starter. Take a look at this link it is some good info. http://www.sourdoughhome.com/starterprimer.html

[Deltaboy]

My mother got sour dough starter that goes back to her Greatgrandmother who got is going in 1950.

[mctmatt]

My mother got sour dough starter that goes back to her Greatgrandmother who got is going in 1950.

Now that is a treasured heirloom and I hope you keep it going. I bet it makes wonderful sourdough bread.

[zethreal]

Do you have any sourdough bread recipes that use this starter? I've made "Amish Friendship Bread", but never sourdough. This does sound interesting though!

[YetiDave]

Do you have any sourdough bread recipes that use this starter? I've made "Amish Friendship Bread", but never sourdough. This does sound interesting though!

Any sourdough can be made from any starter, but I've had really great success with this recipe http://artisanbreadbaking.com/bread/sourdough/

[Deltaboy]

Now that is a treasured heirloom and I hope you keep it going. I bet it makes wonderful sourdough bread.

It does Momma make hot rolls and sourdough Loafs. It is a family treasure.

[fchan]

Thanks for posting this. I tried a few years back with moderate success but the work involved was not worth the yield. I've had more practice lately and can make a great loaf of bread so maybe its time to revisit making my own starter :)

[FunnyHoney]

Every Sunday, I make sourdough pancakes and that allows me to feed the starter once a week. It's a nice schedule. My wife calls it "my pet".

[the_edski]

I always tell myself I have to try this, time to write a note! P.s...when I hear "bread starter", I automatically think of this passage from "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain. Don't click if you dislike harsh language.
Link (http://books.google.com/books?id=cocVLbFkgyQC&pg=PA235&lpg=PA235&dq=bourdain+feed+the+bitch&source=bl&ots=3wPkVJWAYq&sig=riKyECVWGVF-6uhlURDyXPAcywY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=g_1sULP7EYKFyQHXqoCoAg&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=bourdain%20feed%20the%20bitch&f=false)

[macjager]

We made a sourdough starter back in 1996 using organic grapes water flour etc and it's been going since. We dried it several times before moving, and it seemed to come back even stronger. The recipe we used for this starter and for bread comes from the La Brea bakery bread book, once you have mastered the recipes (and the sourdough starter has had a few weeks of feeding...and throwing the book down the stairs to teach it who is the master...) the breads are fantastic. To anyone contemplating making a starter and then baking from it, I wholeheartedly recommend that you give it a try.
On a related note, you can purchase old sourdough starters on the Internet from places like the Middle East etc, which have a very long history with sour dough starters.

Cheers

george

[fchan]

Thanks for the recipe George. If I have to start fresh again, I will try the grapes and flour method.

After a bit of reading, I found that whole grain flour is also great to start a starter with. The reason behind that is there are more microorganisms in the whole grain flour. The idea is to do the first 5 or so feedings with whole grain flour and then phase out to white flour to wean off adding unwanted new organisms to the mix.

So far its gone 100x easier than the first try I had with just white flour, water, and sugar. The skins in the grapes from your recipe would also have the wild yeasts tp make a good starter too.

[mctmatt]

George I watched a YouTube video of this method when I first started to research making my own starter, and Ed any reference to Anthony Bourdain gets a big thumbs up by me. Back to the use of grapes, my understanding is that you can use several different types of fruit and you can also use potato too. I started out by using organic bread flour, but living in a small town I eventually was forced to use just regular Gold Medal or Pillsbury unbleached All Purpose flour. Probably not the best to use, but it was available and it has worked pretty well. Suppose to be cold this weekend might be a great time to make some bread. When I do make bread I have had great results with letting the bread rise in an unused bathroom where I have filled the bathtub with steaming hot water and letting the in wall gas heater run for a short while to provide a warm room. I just set the bread which are in bread pans onto a couple of TV trays and let them rise. They really grown with the warm moist air.

[BobS]

Every Sunday, I make sourdough pancakes and that allows me to feed the starter once a week. It's a nice schedule. My wife calls it "my pet".

Can you share the recipe for the pancakes? Does it involve starting on Saturday night?

[YetiDave]

I'd imagine you'd need to grow a little more of your starter if you've not got much of it, Bob. 50-100g of starter in 200g of flour and 200ml of water left to stand for 8 hours should give you plenty

[macjager]

We have always used regular unbeached flour and the outcome has been wonderful, in fact we did so much baking for a while that we would buy the commercial sized bags of flour from Costco, 50lbs if I remember correctly! Now we are using 5 lb bags, infrequently I am sad to say...time to get back at it!

Cheers

George

[mctmatt]

Sourdough Pancake Recipe:Rich Sourdough Pancakes:

3 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups Sourdough Starter
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter melted
Beat eggs in a medium bowl. Add milk and sourdough starter.
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar;
add to the egg mixture, mixing well. Stir in melted butter.
Lightly grease a hot griddle. Drop the batter by 1/4 cup onto
the griddle and cook until light brown, turning once.
Makes 6 servings.
These are the best pancakes! The extras freeze very well and taste delicious heated in the toaster.

Followed by Sourdough Waffle Recipe:

2 (or more) cups of starter
1 Tbs. sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt.
2 Tbs. veg. oil
mix well, set aside.
From this batter, spoon out what you need for the waffle into a mixing bowl.
In a shot glass, mix 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and a small amount of water, stir to dissolve the soda. Then gently fold this into the mix. It will start to become light and airy. Pour onto waffle iron (or griddle for pancakes). These will be very light.
Repeat the shot glass/soda mix for each waffle.
The soda controls the lightness. If very sour, use a tad more soda. If you use too much soda the waffles will taste somewhat bitter.
It’s great with pure maple syrup.

[zethreal]

Sourdough Pancake Recipe:Rich Sourdough Pancakes:
Makes 6 servings.
These are the best pancakes! The extras freeze very well and taste delicious heated in the toaster.


I think I can honestly say that I have never made "extra" pancakes... I didn't know they existed. Great recipe though! I'll have to try it sometime. Do you know if you can (or should) substitute buttermilk for the normal milk or do you think it would be "too much" with the sourdough starter mixed in?

[mctmatt]

These are Alaskan Sourdough Pancakes:


Ingredients:
2 cups sourdough starter (http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/SourdoughStarter.htm) (http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/SourdoughStarter.htm), room temperature*
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg (http://whatscookingamerica.net/eggs.htm) (http://whatscookingamerica.net/eggs.htm)
4 tablespoons olive oil (http://whatscookingamerica.net/OliveOil.htm) (http://whatscookingamerica.net/OliveOil.htm)
1/2 teaspoon salt (http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/Salt.htm) (http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/Salt.htm)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon warm water
* The night before using your sourdough starter, remove from refrigerator and let come to room temperature. Then feed the starter with flour and water.
Let this sit eight (8) hours or preferably overnight. It is now ready to use in your sourdough pancakes! How to feed and maintain your Sourdough Starter (http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/SourdoughStarter.htm).

Preparation:In a large bowl, add sourdough starter, sugar, egg, olive oil, and salt; mix well; set aside.
In a small bowl, dilute 1 teaspoon baking soda in 1 tablespoon of warm water. Important: Only add baking soda/water mixture to the pancake batter just before you are ready to cook the pancakes.
When ready to cook your sourdough pancakes, fold the baking soda/water mixture gently into the prepared pancake batter (do not beat). This will cause a gentle foaming and rising action in the batter. Let the mixture bubble and foam a minute or two before using.

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Heat up a lightly-greased griddle (I like to use my cast-iron skillet griddle (http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/CastIronPans.htm)) until fairly hot; then pour the sourdough pancake batter onto the griddle. For each pancake, pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup sourdough pancake batter onto hot griddle. I have that using my soup ladle makes the perfect size pancakes.
Cook the pancakes 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown and bubbly. Remove from heat and serve.
Serve with your favorite toppings.
Yields 4 servings.

[mctmatt]

I think I can honestly say that I have never made "extra" pancakes... I didn't know they existed. Great recipe though! I'll have to try it sometime. Do you know if you can (or should) substitute buttermilk for the normal milk or do you think it would be "too much" with the sourdough starter mixed in?

Making extra is like Bigfoot, some say it exist, but there is no physical evidence that it has been seen or done! I have used buttermilk several times instead of milk and the pancakes and waffles turn out even better! These are a big hit around the holidays especially Christmas morning when the family all arrives.

[_JP_]

These are Alaskan Sourdough Pancakes:


That is the same recipe that I have posted in the Official B&B Cookbook. Very tasty! Must use real maple syrup on those.

[YetiDave]

I just finished a plate of those sourdough pancakes and they were great :thumbup: the recipe's been written down, I'll definitely be making them again. They reminded me of Scotch pancakes, just need some raisins in the batter and golden syrup on top!

[mctmatt]

I am preparing to make the Sourdough Pancakes from the first recipe except I am using buttermilk instead of milk plus I am making a smaller amount since it is just me.

[mctmatt]

Wow, I forgot how great this pancakes are. You have to follow the recipe and sifting the flour with the other dry ingredients makes for a very light textured pancake. The batter is really really thick you could set a spoon into it and it will not move. I fed my starter over the weekend and put it to bed this morning in the refrigerator till it is time to feed again.

[Delbert Ealy]

Wild yeast accumulate on several wild fruit species, grapes, blueberries and juniper berries, and also on the bark of aspen. There is another species or two I have forgotten, but tossing a bit of any of these will get you fermenting. The starter does best when kept at room temps, but has to be fed every few days. The alcohol does accumulate and you should pour off the liquid every two weeks and replace with fresh water if you are not using it more often than that. You should never add raw honey, the bees add antibiotics to honey to keep it from rotting, if you want to use honey boil it first. If you get sick of feeding your starter you can pour it onto a clean flat surface a nd let it dry out, or you can freeze it. I have done both with success. A teaspoon of milk added to your starter will help attract the lactobacter ( I think that's the right one) bacteria responsible for the sour flavor of sourdough. I have made lots of loaves, as well as bagels and English muffins from sourdough starter. I have not made any in awhile though, have to find a nice mug and get some going(I like to keep my starter in those oversize coffee mugs).
The really cool thing about sourdough is that it reall only requires two ingredients, Flour and water, I usually added a bit of oil for richness, but it is not essential. I started making mine out of necessity, living alone and only$10 a week for food, made bread every other day. I found that a good spot is the top of the refrigerator, plenty of warmth and a fairly constant temp.
Ill let you know how it goes.
Del

[Alacrity59]

Does that mean I can swipe some yeast from the wine I make Del? I've tried making starter a few times over the years and never get it started.

[YetiDave]

Does that mean I can swipe some yeast from the wine I make Del? I've tried making starter a few times over the years and never get it started.

You wouldn't get the lactobacillus with it (or wild yeast if you use brewing yeast). Have you tried the method of making a starter just using flour? It's much more straightforward and worked for me first time - 20g wholemeal flour, 20g white flour and 40ml of water in a jar, mix and leave for 24 hours. Throw away half and replace with 10g wholemeal, 10g white four and 10 ml of water - repeat every 12 hours for about a week. If after the first couple of days you've not seen any activity then throw it out and start over

[Delbert Ealy]

Does that mean I can swipe some yeast from the wine I make Del? I've tried making starter a few times over the years and never get it started.
Yes you can, we tend to over complicate this whole sourdough thing, you may want to add the bit of milk I suggest to attract the lactobacter bacteria. There are thousands of different yeasts out there and part of the fun is the subtle flavor differences you get, so just know with the yeast you are using for wine may have a different flavor than some of the wild yeasts, but it will work. Keep in mind that yeast like it warm wet and with plenty of food, and they don't like to live in there own crap for too long.
I too have had times where starters that did not work well. Some of this can be environmental.
I generally make up a starter batch and leave it alone until I see some activity.
Del

[mctmatt]

I would think that you could add natural non flavored greek yogurt to boost the lactobacillus in your starter, but you should be able to get a good starter going with just warm water and flour. Go to youtube and do a sourdough starter search as they have several videos with good instructions and different methods.

[Delbert Ealy]

After reading and responding to this thread I decided it was time to play with sourdough again. I put together my starter yesterday (equal parts flour and water with a bit of milk as well) and stacked the deck a bit by grabbing some wild grapesand tossing them in. The wild grapes this year were very poor, I really only found a handful. Last year I got several gallons. anyway I tossed a few grapes in and already today I have some activity. I'll give it some time to work, but next week it looks like I'll be making some bread.
Thanks,
Del

[mctmatt]

Delbert, I will be eager to hear your results especially when you bake the bread.

[Delbert Ealy]

Delbert, I will be eager to hear your results especially when you bake the bread.


Tom,
I am eager too, now that I've got starter going I am really looking forward to getting some bread baked. I know the yeast is working, but the lactobacter usually takes more time to get going. I am also looking forward to some fresh bread. ;)
Del

[Delbert Ealy]

Baked the first batch today, a little heavy, but the flavor was excellent.
My oldest has been complaining about the starter for a couple of days, then today when the bread was baking she changed her tune. She says it smells sooooo good.
We had one loaf for dinner, the second will be for my lunch.
I may have over worked the dough a bit, but it wasn't really tough.
I think I will do more on friday.
Del

[mctmatt]

Sounds like you had good success. My sourdough bread always seems heavy or dense, but the taste is just wonderful. I will probably feed my starter this weekend and start getting ready for the holiday season. My two older sisters are wanting me to make sourdough biscuits for Xmas morning with homemade jam and I have gotten several request from their friends to give them a cup of the starter.

[YetiDave]

Do you 'grow' the starter at all before you use it? If I'm going to be making a 2kg ball of dough (3 loaves) I'll grow 100g of starter with an extra 100g of flour and 100ml of water for 8 hours before developing that further into the main dough. Overall the process for the bread I make tends to take around 24 hours. If it's too heavy it could be because because your yeast isn't active enough (or there's not enough of it) or you're not kneading for long enough. Try a 10 minute knead, prove for one hour, fold, prove for another hour, fold then work into loaves

[Delbert Ealy]

Dave,
I did the same thing including the ten min knead.
Del

[YetiDave]

Here are a couple of loaves from my 3 month old starter ready for a final 2-3 hour prove and baking. They're covered with black onion seed and dusted with sea salt and flour
http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii522/yetidave85/8E8A3CDE-4376-45EC-9589-9848C7BACB5E-2396-0000016F312410B2_zpse6e658fa.jpg

[mctmatt]

WOW! That is going to be deeeellllliiiicious!

[YetiDave]

I should've guessed... The long proving time of sourdough means that the plait was pretty much ruined, they just turned into nobbly looking baguettes, but they're very tasty!

[mctmatt]

You know Dave, the reason I enjoy baking bread is I have yet to make that one perfect loaf, but no one seems to complain when eating the bread loafs that are considered to be just good enough!

[YetiDave]

I think that just goes to show that even home made bread that's a bit rough around the edges is on a whole different level to your average shop bought stuff!

[jmwebster]

286706

I just got done baking my first sourdough. Followed Reinhart's instructions in BBA and used his basic sourdough recipe. Overall, pretty happy, and looking forward to the flavors developing as the starter ages (this was about 10 days after beginning the starter).

[YetiDave]

Nice! :thumbup:

[mctmatt]

Man, for a first time it looks like you hit a home run as those are some beautiful loafs.

[jmwebster]

Nice! :thumbup:


Man, for a first time it looks like you hit a home run as those are some beautiful loafs.

Thanks, guys! I've been making bread for about 18 months now. I have stuck with commercial yeast recipes until now.