Sourdough efficionados, a few questions I can't find the answers to...

[miss_thenorth]

I have successfully made a starter, and now english muffins. They look beautiful, but I have to wait for hubby to wake up before I get feedback on the taste (gluten intolerant and low carbing it)

But I have afew questions that I can't seem to find the answers to anywhere. Hopefully you can help.

I don't know whether I did the muffins right or not, they look good, but all night, I kept wondering (as the dough was on the counter overnight) .

What i did was, when I separated the starter--(as in take out half and then feeding the original)--I used the half that I removed to make the dough. But then I got to thinking about having read about making the sponge first. Was what i made to sit on the counter overnight the sponge?

Also, it says to keep your starter in the fridge once it is good, and feed it once a week. Is that recommendation only if you plan on baking once a week? And the stuff you take out is what you use to make the loaf? What if you plan on making bread every other day? Is it best to leave it on the counter?

And why do some recipes call for two cups of 'sponge' and others only one?

And why do some recipes call for added regular yeast?

Can I bake this bread in a regular loaf pan? (for standard sized sandwich bread) And also do any of you have a good sandwich bread recipe?--white or WW, it does not matter.


My basic plan is to, if ds likes the bread, ( but I also plan on using it for other things like the english muffins and pancakes etc) is to bake every other day, as needed.

It was overwhelming at first, and I am starting to comprehend the whole thing, but I still have these few questions, hope you don't find them silly and too noobie-ish .

 

[Dace]

Who knew SD was so danged complicated!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Or am I just making it complicated, as is my nature.

I have sourdough blueberry muffins in the oven right now. It is such a shame that I can not eat them. I must really love my family alot.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

What i did was, when I separated the starter--(as in take out half and then feeding the original)--I used the half that I removed to make the dough. But then I got to thinking about having read about making the sponge first. Was what i made to sit on the counter overnight the sponge?

Also, it says to keep your starter in the fridge once it is good, and feed it once a week. Is that recommendation only if you plan on baking once a week? And the stuff you take out is what you use to make the loaf? What if you plan on making bread every other day? Is it best to leave it on the counter?

And why do some recipes call for two cups of 'sponge' and others only one?

And why do some recipes call for added regular yeast?

Can I bake this bread in a regular loaf pan? (for standard sized sandwich bread) And also do any of you have a good sandwich bread recipe?--white or WW, it does not matter.

How did all the muffins turn out (english & blueberry)?

You want to bake with your starter about 8-12 hrs after feeding, but I have waited nearly 24 hrs without a problem. I will do a feeding, pull out a little bit for sticking in the fridge after 2 hours, then use the remainder of the starter within the next 24 hrs.

What you make to sit overnight is most likely a sponge, but I think the definition of a sponge is starter+flour+liquid (no oil, salt, sugar, etc.). You do NOT have to make a sponge to bake with sourdough . . . some recipes you can just mix everything up and knead it right away. I do always make a sponge if I am converting a regular recipe to sourdough, but I don't think it is absolutely necessary.

If you just want to bake once a week, then keep it in the fridge. This is just for convenience. You could also keep it on the counter and keep it fed daily and only bake with it once a week, but you will end up with a lot of waste. If you bake more often, as it sounds like you intend to, then it makes sense to keep it on the shelf and keep it fed daily.

Like I mentioned, usually you want to use the starter 8-12 hrs after the last feeding, but you can probably get away with 24 hrs, although it may take longer for the dough to rise initially.

Just follow your recipe. Some recipes probably benefit from extra starter to increase the concentration of sourdough bugs in the dough and give you a quicker rise. Either that or the volume of the entire recipe may be larger and require the larger amount of starter (just like a large recipe that uses yeast may require twice as much yeast to get started). Also, some types of bread (with bulkier ingredients) may require more leavening power.

I'm not sure, but I think adding yeast is just like carrying insurance. I don't think it is really necessary, but if you are in a hurry or don't trust the starter to work, then it may be useful.

Yes you can bake in a regular loaf pan. You can either convert a favorite sandwich bread recipe to sourdough or you can try the Basic White Sourdough recipe that BBH posted in another thread here. I really like the Basic White Sourdough for a lot of purposes, including sandwiches.

Did that answer your questions?

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

I have successfully made a starter, and now english muffins. They look beautiful, but I have to wait for hubby to wake up before I get feedback on the taste (gluten intolerant and low carbing it)

Sorry your not going to get anything more than the wonderful smell!

What i did was, when I separated the starter--(as in take out half and then feeding the original)--I used the half that I removed to make the dough. But then I got to thinking about having read about making the sponge first. Was what i made to sit on the counter overnight the sponge?

Sponge is as mentioned the starter with flour and water or milk left usually overnight, sometimes just a few hours. When you put all the ingredients in it's not sponge. Follow your recipe, they vary, some call for sponge some don't.

Also, it says to keep your starter in the fridge once it is good, and feed it once a week. Is that recommendation only if you plan on baking once a week? And the stuff you take out is what you use to make the loaf? What if you plan on making bread every other day? Is it best to leave it on the counter?

If you put it in the fridge it only needs to be fed once a week. So it's easy care, but I found that it did not stay as sour for me as I like. On the counter it should be fed once a day and you don't have to discard any if you want to build up volume as needed for the baking days. Generally you use some after 12 to 24 hours after a feeding so if your baking every other day just use some and feed the leftovers, then feed the leftovers again on your non-baking day. Those 2 feedings will bring your volume back up. I only discarded if I got the volume too high that I would not use it, rare, somehow I always found something else to bake.

And why do some recipes call for two cups of 'sponge' and others only one?

And why do some recipes call for added regular yeast?

Just the recipe, try it out and change it if you want.

Can I bake this bread in a regular loaf pan? (for standard sized sandwich bread) And also do any of you have a good sandwich bread recipe?--white or WW, it does not matter.

Any pan will do.

 

[miss_thenorth]

How did all the muffins turn out (english & blueberry)?

Sourdough Blueberry Muffins (courtesy of Sourdough Home)

Ingredients

1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
1 cup sourdough starter
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar or fructose
1/2 cup blueberries

Method

Preheat oven to 425F.

Combine dry ingredients in small bowl. Stir in blueberries. Combine wet ingredients in medium bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet ones.

Mix quickly and spoon into 6 muffin cups
Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes.

I baked these for 16 minutes and they were burnt, so I will be adjusting the bake time

Ds just came home from his second day of highschool, and had a muffin. He had to cut off the burnt parts but thought they were awesome. So, it's keeper recipe.
Hubby is on night shift so he hasn't come up to have breakfast yet. I will update after he tries them and then post the recipe if they are good. They look fabulous.--Ds would try one but he still has to finish his lunch from school.

Sorry your not going to get anything more than the wonderful smell!

I have to agree!! This is my fourth time trying to make a starter this year, and I tried twice last year before it got too cold in the house to do it.

My winning, no-fail method was 1/4 rye flour, 1/2 cup WW flour, 1/2 cup water. Fed twice daily. I switched to white flour two days ago. So, it took 8 days. I started sept 1, and baked with it for the first time today.

Yep, I think you answered all of my questions. I'm sure everything will even out as I get some experience under my belt. I am going to make bread next, but probably not until Friday.
Thanks all!!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Okay, the english muffin verdict is in. Hubby loves them! I had a nibble (hopefully I don't suffer for it, I had a nibble of a blueberry muffin too). the english muffin does not taste like store bought at all, but imho, they taste much better.
The kids want the english muffins for breakfast tomorrow, but to see if ds tolerates sourdough well, I will be making SD pancakes on Friday also. He always got a gut ache after eating regular pancakes.

Sourdough English Muffins


The Night Before:
(Recipe from: Bake Your Own Bread & Be Healthier-Stan & Floss Dworkin)
1 C starter
2 tablespoons honey
2 C reconstituted powdered skimmed milk (or whole milk)
4 C unbleached white flour
Mix starter, honey and milk in mixing bowl until smooth. Add 4 C flour, 2 C at a time, and mix in. There's no need for gluten development now, so do not whip-just get all the flour thoroughly wet. Cover with clean towel and leave at room temperature in a draft free place.
The Next Morning:
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1-2 C unbleached white flour
2 tsp sea salt
cornmeal for sprinkling.
Stir down mixture (it will have risen considerably). If it has risen too high and fallen, no problem, just stir down the rest of the way. Sprinkle a scant teaspoon baking soda and 2 teaspoons sea salt over the surface of the dough and work in.
Flour your board with 1 C flour or more (up to 2 C), until dough is medium stiff - enough to roll out. Once you have enough flour in (I go by feel-never too dry and always moist) and the dough longer sticks to your hands, give it a 5 minute kneading.
Get 2 baking sheets or jelly roll pans and line with waxed paper-sprinkle corn meal over both.
Flour board again and lightly roll dough to about 1/2-inch thick. Take a 3 inch round cutter ( a bit larger diameter, different shapes, OK) and cut as many rounds as you can-rolling the left over dough out and cutting more until the dough is all used up. Try to keep them very uniform in thickness and diameter.
As you cut each round, place on cornmealed wax paper-don't allow raw muffins to touch--they will stick. When all rounds are cut, sprinkle corn meal over tops of muffins.
Allow to rise in warm place, covered, for about an hour or until risen again.
Now Comes The FUN Part!
Preheat a griddle (I used a non stick T-Fal 12 inch griddle pan) with a TINY bit of butter, until butter sizzles. Use a low flame or heat setting so the inside of the muffin bakes and outside does not burn. Pan bake one side for about 4 minutes and turn. Squish down a bit with spatula and pan bake other side for about 4 minutes. Turn only once so be sure the one side is cooked before turning. While you can skip the butter if you have a non-stick skillet, they won't taste as good without it!
They look like store bought, and taste supreme!


(not sure where I got the recipe from)

edited to add--I used a cast iron pan, and from previous experience I did NOT, and would not recommend -that you butter the skillet.--you will set off your smoke alarm

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Thanks for posting the recipes. I'll have to give them a try. I'm glad you have had some resounding success!