Anyone have any experience with sourdough starter?
- Thread starter pnj
- Start date
Make it! Easy to do - patience to get it right.
Also - a fun way to make 'sourdough' overnight is the 24 hour bread.
STARTER:
"Make your starter in a glass container and store in the refrigerator after fermentation has occurred."
INGREDIENTS
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour
DIRECTIONS
In large non-metallic bowl, mix together dry yeast, 2 cups warm water, and 2 cups all purpose flour and cover loosely.
Leave in a warm place to ferment, 4 to 8 days. Depending on temperature and humidity of kitchen, times may vary. Place on cookie sheet in case of overflow. Check on occasionally.
When mixture is bubbly and has a pleasant sour smell, it is ready to use. If mixture has a pink, orange, or any other strange color tinge to it, THROW IT OUT! and start over. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered until ready to bake.
When you use starter to bake, always replace with equal amounts of a flour and water mixture with a pinch of sugar. So, if you remove 1 cup starter, replace with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour. Mix well and leave out on the counter until bubbly again, then refrigerate. If a clear to light brown liquid has accumulated on top, don't worry, this is an alcohol base liquid that occurs with fermentation. Just stir this back into the starter, the alcohol bakes off and that wonderful sourdough flavor remains!
Also - a fun way to make 'sourdough' overnight is the 24 hour bread.
STARTER:
"Make your starter in a glass container and store in the refrigerator after fermentation has occurred."
INGREDIENTS
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour
DIRECTIONS
In large non-metallic bowl, mix together dry yeast, 2 cups warm water, and 2 cups all purpose flour and cover loosely.
Leave in a warm place to ferment, 4 to 8 days. Depending on temperature and humidity of kitchen, times may vary. Place on cookie sheet in case of overflow. Check on occasionally.
When mixture is bubbly and has a pleasant sour smell, it is ready to use. If mixture has a pink, orange, or any other strange color tinge to it, THROW IT OUT! and start over. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered until ready to bake.
When you use starter to bake, always replace with equal amounts of a flour and water mixture with a pinch of sugar. So, if you remove 1 cup starter, replace with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour. Mix well and leave out on the counter until bubbly again, then refrigerate. If a clear to light brown liquid has accumulated on top, don't worry, this is an alcohol base liquid that occurs with fermentation. Just stir this back into the starter, the alcohol bakes off and that wonderful sourdough flavor remains!
No-Knead Bread (24 hour bread)
Word of warning - you WILL fall in love with this bread and will want to make it all the time....mmmmmm, if I hadn't just made a fresh rye loaf, I'd go start this now....
Ingredients:
3-cups all purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
cornmeal or wheatbran or flour as needed
In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water (lukewarm), and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably 18 at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees (I always pop the bowl up onto the fridge to ensure it stays toasty warm).
Dough is ready with its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotten town (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel (hah! you will say...what seam?) and dust with more flour, bran, or cornmeal. Cover with another cotten towel and let rise for another 2 hours. When ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
At least half an hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8- quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under the towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; It may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Yield - One 1 1/2 pound loaf.
Word of warning - you WILL fall in love with this bread and will want to make it all the time....mmmmmm, if I hadn't just made a fresh rye loaf, I'd go start this now....
Ingredients:
3-cups all purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
cornmeal or wheatbran or flour as needed
In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water (lukewarm), and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably 18 at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees (I always pop the bowl up onto the fridge to ensure it stays toasty warm).
Dough is ready with its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotten town (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel (hah! you will say...what seam?) and dust with more flour, bran, or cornmeal. Cover with another cotten towel and let rise for another 2 hours. When ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
At least half an hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8- quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under the towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; It may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Yield - One 1 1/2 pound loaf.
How'd your sourdough turn out pnj? I made my first starter yesterday, but did something a bit different. I heard a friend's grandmother talking about getting yeast to bake with from a local (now defunct) brewery. One of the aspects of homebrewing that intrigues me most is how different strains of yeast give very different flavors to beer otherwise made with the same ingredients. One yeast I've come to really like is called "London ale." I started thinking that the woodsy, fruity taste typical of this yeast might taste good in breads. So, instead of adding dry yeast to my starter, I poured in the dregs of a bottle of porter I made several months ago and added a tsp of honey to give it a bit of sugar to start on. So far, so good. It's bubbling away happily. Hopefully I'll be baking with it next week.