sour dough starter

[Beekissed]

The link I provided has some info on that...makes for interesting reading, that.

 

[moolie]

. . . the bacteria you want is what gives the sour taste, yeast alone won't. I would have to look up what bacteria it is exactly, as I don't remember off hand.

Breads made from sourdough aren't actually supposed to taste sour, they're just supposed to taste like bread. The sour taste that is found in grocery store sourdough breads is flavouring, not due to the store bakery actually baking with real sourdough starter. My Grandma baked sourdough bread and buns for years (many of those years in the oven of a wood burning stove) and it was just downright yummy home made bread--no "sour" at all in the finished product

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Well, the nice thing about sourdough is you have a choice, you can let it rise slowly (all day or longer) and get that sour flavor, or you can make it rise fast and have a sweeter product. Some like it sour and that is why they get into sourdough baking to begin with . . . that is what drew me to it initially. Now I just prefer to use the sourdough starter to buying packaged yeast, so I use it for all the breads I bake, sour or sweet.

 

[moolie]

Hmm, Grandma let her dough rise for quite a while the day before, then let the loaves rise overnight for morning baking--is that considered fast? I wouldn't have thought so, since when we do yeast dough we let the dough rise on average 1.5 hours, then the loaves for about an hour (but it all depends on room temp and humidity--hubs is quite particular about his dough).

Maybe it has to do with her starter? She brought it west to BC from Saskatchewan in the late 30s. For all I know, it's still going somewhere, as she often shared it with people. My Grandma passed away in 1986 when I was 15 so not yet into baking bread, otherwise I would have loved to have had a piece.

 

[Marianne]

Ditto on the rye flour, add some wheat flour, too. Then gradually cut back on those flours until you are adding just white AP. I had three different starters at the same time, and this one performed the best.

But I covered mine with plastic wrap. (and I really didn't care for the bread, either.)

 

[mrbstephens]

Does someone have a recipe for the starter? A step by step would be nice. And a bread recipe too? How do you store the starter?

 

[ORChick]

Does someone have a recipe for the starter? A step by step would be nice. And a bread recipe too? How do you store the starter?

I just spent some time looking through the site that Bee posted. Very informative, and should answer your questions. He's in Australia though, so, if you don't have the equipment or the desire to fiddle with his metric measurements, here is another site that I have found interesting: http://www.northwestsourdough.com/

 

[Beekissed]

From what I understand, it's one cup of flour to one cup of water....and let it work! I love this site because the guy seems like me....just matter of fact and no panic button installed in his head.

 

[ORChick]

From what I understand, it's one cup of flour to one cup of water....and let it work! I love this site because the guy seems like me....just matter of fact and no panic button installed in his head.

You're right, for the starter ... no major measuring involved at all. I was looking at the bread recipes, and got way ahead of the question . For the recipes you would need a digital scale ... which I have, but not everybody does.

 

[Beekissed]

I started a new sourdough with a cup of my whole wheat that I had ground from red turkey wheat. I started it a few days ago and it is working nicely, bubbling and getting that "cultured" sour smell as expected. I just have it in a large glass jar with a few holes poked in the lid....stirred it once the second day. I can't wait to try it in a recipe....I want to make some ciabatta rolls!