In an effort to be healthier and increase my consumption of prebiotics I turned to sourdough bread. This is reported to be healthier bread as it is more digestible and has more nutrients. Also, it has wonderful flavour and texture.
However, in an attempt to be healthier I was making my own bread at home. So now, how to introduce sourdough to my home baking. After some research I now have John Dough living in my fridge! Don’t worry, I feed him regularly to keep him alive. I have also put him on ice from time to time when I’m away from home for a lengthy time. John is my sourdough starter. The starter is a mix a flour and water which is fermenting and is used to help your bread rise. Maintaining a sourdough starter can be a wonderful journey. I don’t think I’m alone in experiencing the immense pleasure of being a feeder and watching the sourdough develop and ripen into a sour smelling mass of frothy goodness. Admittedly, like a chocoholic who dreams of diving into a chocolate fountain, as a bread lover I dream of diving into the warm, moist, frothy starter.
It's easy to make a sourdough starter.
Ingredients
1 cup of bread flour per feeding
½ cup tepid Water per feeding
Method
Mix 1 cup of flour with a ½ cup of water. You can use any flour except self- raising, so wholemeal, rye or strong plain flour. You want the consistency of a thick batter. Put the starter into a clean jar [glass or plastic] with a clean covering/lid that allows for breathing. Leave the jar in a warm room [about 21°C] [I Ieave mine on the kitchen counter]. You should see some bubbles after a day or two.
Once you see bubbles [fermentation] you can start your feeding. Now feed this ½ cup starter with a cup of flour and ½ cup water. You should see it bubbling again after 12 hours or more.
After about 5 days you should be understanding your sourdough starter feeding routine. If John outgrows his jar, just discard some of it before feeding. Once your starter can double in size within 6-8 hours of feeding time, it’s ready to bake with. In the above photograph you can see that John has doubled from the black pen mark on the jar. He's ready to bake.
To maintain your starter
After baking, keep ½ cup of the starter and discard or use the rest [sourdough pancakes anyone?].
Keep ½ cup starter reserve in the fridge, feeding once a week. Take it out the fridge one or two days before you next bake and give it some feeding.
Repeat. You can keep your starter going for years. This can be a lifelong commitment but a beautiful, and tasty, relationship.
Helpful hints
Brown liquid sometimes forms on top. Don’t worry, it’s just hungry. This is called hooch which is the alcohol produced by the fermenting yeast. You can just mix this in and feed your starter as usual. If there is very dark hooch on the starter that has been ignored for far too long [naughty owner], maybe pour it off before feeding.
You can use this starter to seed another starter with different flour.
You know the starter is alive and healthy when it has a sour smell, so give it the sniff test.
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