Sourdough Beginner - Tips?

[Alix]

I’ve been doing some bread baking lately and have decided I want to try my hand at sourdough. I’ve looked into how to make a starter, how often to feed etc.

What I would like from you wonderful bakers are your favourite recipes and any tips and tricks for when I get there. I’m going to get my starter going on Tuesday so I can do the bread on the weekend.

Question: Once I have a batch of starter most of the sites I’ve read say I only need about a tbsp to get the bread going. So theoretically, the batch of starter could last a loooong time. Correct? And is there a point where I need to feed it again when it’s getting low?

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Actually, you need to feed it on a regular basis, otherwise it will die. If you are not using it and replenishing, you need to halve it occasionally and toss one or give it to a friend with instructions on how to use it. Keep it covered with cheesecloth when you have it sitting out, keeps bugs out!

 

[CharlieD]

I am not sure that you will be able to bake bread on weekend if you start the starter on Tuesday. It takes good two weeks to get a strong starter.

 

[GimmeAnother1]

I am about there also. Was gonna try this

https://youtu.be/sTAiDki7AQA

And watch this

https://youtu.be/BJEHsvW2J6M

 

[GotGarlic]

Actually, you need to feed it on a regular basis, otherwise it will die. If you are not using it and replenishing, you need to halve it occasionally and toss one or give it to a friend with instructions on how to use it. Keep it covered with cheesecloth when you have it sitting out, keeps bugs out!

I've read there are things you can make with the discard, like crackers and a few other breads.

I tried to make sourdough once and it grew right out of the container! Freaked me out and I never made it again [emoji38] I should try it again.

 

[bethzaring]

I keep my starter in the refrigerator and the original starter came from King Arthur flour. Sometimes it has set for months in the frig but has responded well to feeding. My favorite recipe is Bread Machine Sourdough Bread from the King Arthur website. I add 2T wheat gluten to that recipe. I use that same recipe and add 1/4 c. dried onion, 2 T. dried parsley and 1 t. oregano for an herbed bread. I also use the whole wheat sourdough bread recipe from KA. My starter came with a recipe book and I use the pizza crust recipe from that booklet. Also google Grandma's sourdough biscuits by pollen for an excellent biscuit recipe. The recipes I use call for 1 cup to 2 cups of fed or discard starter. I have yet to try "Classic Sourdough Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls" recipe. I've never used a recipe that only calls for 1 T starter. Most recipes call for freshly fed starters.

I love chemistry in the kitchen and thought I did not like the taste of sourdough, so I have come to this ingredient late in life! Good luck!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Sour dough is best started in sumer, when there are wild spores of yeast strains floating around in the air. It is the wild yeast that makes good sourdough. It can withstand more acidity than can comercial yeast.
The yeast eats the sugars and starches and give off CO2 and acid. It is the acid that makes it sour. When the starter is added to bead dought, that same yeast multiplies quickly, and does the same thing to the bread dough as it did to the flour, thus leavening with CO2 and giving acid to the dough.

Feeding the starter is required as the yeast needs food, just like you and me. It's a living organism.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I've read there are things you can make with the discard, like crackers and a few other breads.

I tried to make sourdough once and it grew right out of the container! Freaked me out and I never made it again [emoji38] I should try it again.

Yeah, I saw that last night on one of the videos, wish I had known about it, when I was still baking.

 

[HeyItsSara]

You can buy a really good starter from King Arthur

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I am so lucky to have a Boudin SF bakery here in San Diego. It's a 10 mile drive each way, but they have a great selection of different sourdough baked goods, and a 2 pound loaf only costs $5.79. I have a rewards card that gets me a free loaf every month, too!

 

[GotGarlic]

I am so lucky to have a Boudin SF bakery here in San Diego. It's a 10 mile drive each way, but they have a great selection of different sourdough baked goods, and a 2 pound loaf only costs $5.79. I have a rewards card that gets me a free loaf every month, too!

"Only" $5.79 for a loaf of bread?!? O. M. G.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

It IS a 2# loaf, GG, and Boudin Bakery is famous for their sourdough.

Looks like you haven't stooped to buying store bread in a while.

 

[GotGarlic]

It IS a 2# loaf, GG, and Boudin Bakery is famous for their sourdough.

Looks like you haven't stooped to buying store bread in a while.

Yeah, I saw that, but still - OMG. The no-knead bread dough in my back fridge is getting sourer by the day

 

[taxlady]

Yeah, I saw that, but still - OMG. The no-knead bread dough in my back fridge is getting sourer by the day

More motivation for baking your own bread.

 

[Alix]

Hey all, yes I know you need to feed regularly to get it working properly. Once you have it going though you can refrigerate and keep indefinitely, pulling out what you want and feeding it to get it up and working again.

I will get it up and running this morning and hope for progress. Wish me luck and thanks for the tips!

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

"Only" $5.79 for a loaf of bread?!? O. M. G.

I guess you don't go to the store much, do you? These prices are from Wally World, which is pretty much the cheapest place to buy groceries (You should see the bread prices at Whole Foods!):

Sunbeam® Large Enriched Bread 20 oz. Loaf - $2.22
Wonder® Classic White Bread 20 oz. Loaf - $2.58
Sara Lee Original Artesano Bakery Bread 20 oz Loaf - $2.68
Home Pride® Butter Top® Wheat Bread 20 oz. Loaf - $2.78
Nature's Own® Honey Wheat Bread 20 oz. Loaf - $2.93
Generic Freshness Guaranteed Sourdough Bread, 24.3 oz - $2.98
Oroweat Whole Grains 100% Whole Wheat Bread, 24 oz - $3.18
Dave's Killer Bread® Organic Bread 20.5 oz. Loaf - $4.56

Of course, you can always buy the Great Value bread, white or wheat, for a buck a loaf, but I wouldn't feed that crap to the sea gulls!

 

[GotGarlic]

I guess you don't go to the store much, do you? These prices are from Wally World, which is pretty much the cheapest place to buy groceries (You should see the bread prices at Whole Foods!)...

Of course, you can always buy the Great Value bread, white or wheat, for a buck a loaf, but I wouldn't feed that crap to the sea gulls!

Correction: I don't buy bread in the store much. I have a bread machine and a bucket of no-knead bread dough in the fridge. For the price you paid for one loaf, I can make a half dozen loaves and/or rolls, breadsticks, etc.

I went into Whole Paycheck once, walked around looking at the prices, and walked out without buying anything. Never went back.

 

[4food]

Hey all, yes I know you need to feed regularly to get it working properly. Once you have it going though you can refrigerate and keep indefinitely, pulling out what you want and feeding it to get it up and working again.

I will get it up and running this morning and hope for progress. Wish me luck and thanks for the tips!

Yea, your starter will never die. place it in the fridge, live it alone, then feed it again a few month later, about a week before you need it, and here it goes again.

But starters are only worth it if you are making bread on a regular basis, if not, go with a poolish.

I used to make great pancakes with my over flow starter.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Very interesting. I guess I should Google sourdough starter? Feed it? Feed it more flour?

 

[letscook]

One of my youtubers that I watch The kneady homesteader at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy1lD60lpac64VnqMusOBtw has been doing a whole series on this m just recently. She starts off at day one and shows up to the 10 day and then show some bread recipes with it. You might find her interesting. I had a question on one of the videos and she answered in a reasonable time. Hope this helps. Good luck.