An introduction to sourdough
Copyright, 2009, Terry Turner
Here I offer you some simple, quick, and easy sourdough methods that will enable you to start cooking with sourdough starter next week.
The whole concept is quite simple: Just mix flour and water and let it sit around while it “catches” wild yeast form the air and begins the process of souring… if you can do that, you can easily become a sourdough cook and you will be a celebrated member of your family forever afterwards (if they ever get to eat a few of your sourdough products).
Since most commercial breads and tortillas, especially white bread and tortillas, are so nutritionally bad, I want to urge all mothers and fathers to consider learning how to easily make good and nutritious bread for themselves and their families.
A. Really easy starter
2 cups of flour with enough water --- use the best water available to you; chlorinated water will slow the process or might kill it entirely ---- to make a thick batter. A few chunks won’t hurt the batter. It doesn’t have to be absolutely smooth.
Set this in a warm place for around four to five days until you note the typical aroma which is a sort of beer-like yeasty aroma.
I suggest using something like King Arthur or Hodgson Mill flour for all such recipes, unbleached of course in all these recipes. In your beginning project use just one flour, for instance a good Hodgson 50-50 bread flour. Later you can add things like a bit of rye, whole wheat, etc.
In all recipes use no metal. I use a gallon glass jug for the starter and I usually triple the recipe given here, but then I make bread around six loaves at a time so I use more starter than some people would need.
You can use any plastic, glass or ceramic container but no metal or coated containers as they are kill yeast. Begin your project by sterilizing the container with boiling water after it has been cleaned. Assuming you care cleaning with soap, after through rinsing you can further neutralize the soap on the container by giving it a light rinse with baking soda and water.
Do not use any metal spoons, use only wood or plastic because metals kill the yeast.
B. Really easy starter with milk.
Same as above but use milk instead of water.
C: Really easy starter with potato water
Boil some potatoes for your breakfast, lunch, or dinner…. Boiled potatoes mashed up with a diced jalapenos and a bit flour then fried in butter make a great addition to eggs for breakfast; or they are great taken alone, sort of like potato pancakes. You will need to boil the potatoes so you can reserve the potato water.
In the olden days this was a common way to make some sourdough starter. Just take a cup of unbleached flour and add enough of the potato water to make a thick batter. This will usually “make” in a day or two; that is it will produce the characteristic aroma.
D. Biscuit recipe for beginners
Once you have sourdough starter you need to make something. I am presently perfecting sourdough croissants, but for you early effort I suggest this easy recipe to begin:
1 cup sourdough starter 1/2 cup real butter
2 cups flour (not bleached) 2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup condensed milk 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
Note: You can use any milk; you can substitute water for milk; I suggest a good non commercial sea salt. In practice I usually add a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, of ginger, and of black pepper to my own biscuit mix. You may wish to skip the spices so that you can figure out seasonings at a later date.Stir all together. Pat out on flat, generously floured surface. Cut out biscuits --- a Vienna sausage can is a good sized for a cutter; and place about one inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheet or your favorite biscuit pan. Arrange the pan immediately over a pot of boiling water, let the water continue to boil; cover the biscuits with a soft clean towel; let the biscuits rest and rise for about 20 to 30 minutes; you can then brush the tops and sides, if you like, with melted butter; immediately remove them to the hot oven which was preheated to 400 degrees f. Bake about 12 to 15 minutes…. Don’t trust a timer, look at the biscuits if you are not certain how fast or slow your oven is. Cook until golden brown.
I imagine you understand that you could skip the boiling water step and go straight from the greased cookie tin to the oven All cooking is about choices, preferences, and time. If you have time you could do extra folding and buttering when preparing the dough which would make the biscuits flakier, more like croissants. But I suggest starting easy and creeping up on the more complex projects.
E. Maintaining sourdough starter
Once you have successfully made sourdough starter recipe, store it in the refrigerator, loosely covered, in your jar or other non-metal container. Crocks would be splendid but I do not use one at present.
Replace the amount of starter you use. Most recipes call for 1 cup of starter; replenish it by adding 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup warm water to the remaining starter. Return it to the refrigerator. Should you need more starter, add the flour and water first, and let it ferment for 24 hours.
Eventually a dark liquid will collect atop your starter. This is called the hooch. Just stir it in. Hooch, which is sort of beer like is, I think, the origin of real beer.
Caution
If your sourdough starter or hooch starts looking pinkish or orange color, throw it away and start over as this means that something bad or nasty has started growing in your starter. If you come home and find your starter preheating the oven, it's time to call the police.
Once a month, transfer your starter to a fresh clean container. You will discover sourdough is a bit messy, but it is well worth the trouble.
Sources: If you type in “sourdough bread recipes” in your search bar you will get tons of references. Just remember this. The idea of sourdough is to get your bread products to taste better and to rise naturally without buying yeast. Yeast costs, these days, about a dollar a pop and while it works commercial yeast does not produce the good stuff (probiotics) that sourdough does. I suggest, for the most part, that you avoid recipes which suggest commercial yeast. I do use yeast now and then when I need a quick and easy dinner roll but I start it, in any case, with sourdough.
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Quick, easy, inexpensive egg dishes
http://www.hmscrown.com/kings_kitchen/holiday_eggs/
