Sourdough Bread Starter help.

[pckouris]

What I am doing is a first for me.
I am doing starter for sourdough Bread.
I followed the directions, but after a night of sitting out in a warm place, the dough mixture rose! It filled the whole bowl and the kitchen towel kept in! I didn't read anywhere in the directions where it warned the mixture would rise.
Is this correct?

 

[kadesma]

Pete,
the day iI started my starter, It surprised my by almost going over the bowl it was in, so I transfered it to a larger one,after the initial rise and feeding it the next day it settled down and bubbled and did it's thing..

kadesma

 

[pckouris]

Well thanks, that makes me feel better!
Tomorrow it's going to be three days so I am going to bake with it.
Will let you know how it turns out.

 

[Constance]

Pete, I used to keep sourdough all the time. If I were you, I'd give a new one a week at least, before you use it. You want it to actually get sour.

 

[kadesma]

Well thanks, that makes me feel better!
Tomorrow it's going to be three days so I am going to bake with it.
Will let you know how it turns out.

Pete I left mine over a week and each day it got more sour..The bread when I used it was really nice. While it didn't taste just like the San Francisco sour dough I love, it was very good..I now realize that yep the water in SF is what does the trick..I wish you the best of luck and enjoy your bread

kadesma

 

[pckouris]

Okay. I will keep the batter for a week. I shall stir it everyday, right?
This batch tasted just great, but the crust was not slick and shiny and brittle. But I have to admit the taste of the bread waqs very good.

You know, I have to tell you guys, I guess I am going to go the traditional way of baking and buy a mixer. I have been using my bread machine for the dough mixing and then I handle it by hand from there. What do you think?

 

[240brickman]

Pete, did you use a commercial yeast for your starter? or did you just allow natural, airborne yeasts to land in the starter?

When I made my starter a few months ago (the first one I'd attempted in many years), I didn't add any commercial yeast during any part of the recipe. I just "fanned" the starter (with a piece of folded paper, a magazine, whatever was handy) when I began the starter, and again each day when I stirred it. (I'm told) this will force a whole lot of the little airborne critters into the mixture.

The natural yeast spores take longer to collect (and to become "active"), because they're fewer & further between than in a packet of commercial yeast. BUT they have the advantage of not being bred/developed to provide a standard leavening performance, or to yield a "neutral" flavor.

It took my starter about 3 days to show signs of life (at the end of day 2, I began to worry, in fact). But by the evening of day 3, I had a beautiful, beige-colored sponge which obviously teemed with life. It had a very distinct, sour-yeast aroma (not unpleasant). I added 1 more cup (each) of flour and water, and allowed the starter to continue growing for another 3 or 4 days.

By the time I got around to making & baking...it worked beautifully. My very first loaf came out a bit dense and moist in the center, but that was totally my fault...I allowed the dough to rise too much the second time around. But the second loaf (and subsequent loaves) had that distinct sourness, and a light but chewy texture. It occurred to me after a while to brush the loaf with some water, about 3/4 of the way through baking. Made the crust more chewy, less crispy (which I like). I suppose that brushing with egg would work, too, but that would be REAL chewy.

Anyway...I hope this helps you out.

--J

 

[240brickman]

BTW...I can't see why a Bread Machine wouldn't work perfectly well (for the kneading, anyway). I burned mine up (literally) a few years back, and I haven't used one since then. But before I killed the thing, I thought it worked great!

--J

 

[kadesma]

Pete, I do everything with my hands..I have a breadmachine that is what my late daduse to call a dust catcher..I much prefer doing it all my self. It makes you feel quite the baker even tho I'm not..On the sourdough you made was it a french loaf or more a sandwich type bread? When I make french, I baste it with a mix or cornstarch and water sometimes. Most times because I have a hearth kit, I just spritz the oven 3 times in the first 10 min of baking and it gives me a crispy crunchy crust. Also, the directions for my starter has me stirring twice a day..Hope this helps a little.

kadesma

 

[pckouris]

I used commercial yeast.
And I made loaves this time. Next time I will try baggettes.
I also brushed the tops with water and put a loaf pan full of ice cubes in with the bread.
I put photos on my last message, but only three uploaded. I had two other closeups. (I don't know how to make them smaller.)

 

[subfuscpersona]

just want everyone to know I'm a dedicated lurker in all these threads on sourdough and starters - never made it - want to learn!

Keep those questions and answers coming - and thanks to all.

 

[philso]

sourdough

i've used a number of sourdough starters over the years.

- yes, when you add more water and flour after using, they will rise. one thing you can do is to keep it rather thin, so that the bubbles will collapse before they rise too high. also, unless you are planning on using your starter the next day, there's no need to let it sit out over night. once the initial "romance" wears off, you'll probably only end up using it once or twice a month. if you get really tired of sourdough and find that you're not using it even once every month, but want to keep the strain of yeast you have, you can freeze some or spread some out on a cookie sheet or some baking parchment, let it dry, and crumble it up into a ziplock bag. store it in your fridge.
- there's no need to stir it every day, unless you need to keep it from rising too much. add a little more water if that's a problem.
- while water quality and taste can affect your bread, the strain of yeast used in san francisco sourdough is different from the strains used in other sourdough. the type, variety and ratio of wheat(s) used also affect the taste and texture.
- there are packaged starters available for san fransico, yukon, french, etc. which you can probably find on-line. here's a link for starters: http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/land...earch&ref=pub1
- if you want to be adventurous and start one "wild", there are a couple of ways to go. you can just mix up some flour and water and let it sit out until something starts growing. no need to fan, there are plenty of spores floating around. i've had both interesting and nasty results with this approach. the other approach is to use something that already has benign strains of yeast. i had good results once by finely grating potato skins into the flour/water mix. you could experiment with things like freshly milled corn, grape skins, etc. i've always wanted to try using the murky stuff at the bottom of an unfiltered, microbrewed beer. "wild" strains take quite a while to get going.
- starter are very forgiving to work with. i've let them sit 2 or 3 months and still had them be active. that said, it's a better practice to just pour some off and feed it about once a month, if you're not going to be using it.
- personal favorite: sourdough buckwheat pancakes. make a thin batter using about 1/2 buckwheat flour, add an egg, salt, and sugar. let sit until bubbly (overnight?) and use without further mixing. great with butter and real maple syrup.

 

[DinaFine]

The idea behind sourdough is to catch the right kind of yeast from the air that gives the bread the distinctive sour flavor and makes it rise as was done before the advent of bakers yeast. The first one I made, i started out with a little whey which came from separated milk. It took a week or so of adding water and flour and letting it ferment to smell pleasantly sour and be very bubbly. You use 3 or 4 cups in a recipe and put one cup in a closed glass jar in the refrigerator. The next time you want to bake, add two cups flour and 2 cups water to the starter and ferment overnight. Then you start over again.

I'm always looking for more whole grain sourdough recipes. If anyone has a good one, appreciate it.

 

[htc]

Pete, hope you don't mind me popping in on your thread and asking questions.
I've never used a sourdough starter. I have just made the starter and plan on letting it sit for a week before I use it. I do have a question though. After the week is up, can I go ahead and use the starter? So if my recipe calls for 1c sourdough starter, I can just measure it out? Do I feed what's left of the starter then?

Thanks!

 

[DinaFine]

Your starter should be nice and bubbly and smell pleasantly sour before use. Take one cup out and refrigerate it in a glass jar. The next time you want to use it, just add more flour and water, let it ferment, and then you are ready to go again. Starting a culture can be tricky, there are lots of different kinds of wild yeasts in the air. If it smell bad, you will know the difference. I never had one turn colors, but I have read that you can take a tablespoon out, discard the rest and add more flour and water to it to ferment again. I started a fine culture with crushed grapes and rye flour. You have be sure to stir and add more flour and water everyday for a week or so, and also transfer mixture to a clean container.

Sourdough starter can be stored in the refrigerator for along time without going bad. I had some stored for at least a couple of months and it was fine when I took it out and used it again.

Love to make some whole grain sourdough dinner rolls if anyone has a recipe.

 

[htc]

Dina, how much flour/water should I add each day? I didn't realize I was supposed to do that.

 

[Mel!]

Sourdough

Your sourdough sounds perfect. It certainly is supposed to get big, like that. The more it expands the better. That will give your bread a nice texture.
Mel

 

[philso]

Dina, how much flour/water should I add each day? I didn't realize I was supposed to do that.

there's no need to add even more water and flour every day, whether you're you're using a commercially available package of sourdough yeast or trying to start one from the natural yeasts floating around in your kitchen or those located on the skins of potatoes, fruits, grains, etc., etc.

just start off with enough flour and water to make several cups of batter about the consistency of pancake batter. either use the package of commercial sourdough yeast, or add some potato peelings, organic dried corn, organic apple peels, grape peels, etc. or simply just let it sit out in your kitchen. store-bought sourdough yeast will start working about as soon as any regular yeast. peelings, etc. or pot-luck will take days, maybe 4 or 5 or a week or so. eventually it will start bubbling, all you have to do at that point is to decide if it smalls pleasantly piquant, or simply foul.

if you decide it's ok to use, take out a cup or two to start a dough, and replace enough flour and water to make up what you used. if you're planning on using the starter within a day or two, let it sit out at room temp. over-night. if you won't use it till like next weekend, just put it in the fridge.

 

[DinaFine]

there's no need to add even more water and flour every day, whether you're you're using a commercially available package of sourdough yeast or trying to start one from the natural yeasts floating around in your kitchen or those located on the skins of potatoes, fruits, grains, etc., etc.

just start off with enough flour and water to make several cups of batter about the consistency of pancake batter. either use the package of commercial sourdough yeast, or add some potato peelings, organic dried corn, organic apple peels, grape peels, etc. or simply just let it sit out in your kitchen. store-bought sourdough yeast will start working about as soon as any regular yeast. peelings, etc. or pot-luck will take days, maybe 4 or 5 or a week or so. eventually it will start bubbling, all you have to do at that point is to decide if it smalls pleasantly piquant, or simply foul.

if you decide it's ok to use, take out a cup or two to start a dough, and replace enough flour and water to make up what you used. if you're planning on using the starter within a day or two, let it sit out at room temp. over-night. if you won't use it till like next weekend, just put it in the fridge.

I quess everybody does things differently. I never used a commercial sourdough starter. The first one I did was started with water, whey and white flour. used 2 cups of liquid to 2 cups of flour. I remember now that I had to leave that mixture to start to ferment for a number of days, before touching it. I dont remember now, how many days it was, it may have been about 3, but anyway after it starts to bubble, I needed to check it to make sure that it was smelling sour and not spoiled. After it started to ferment, i stirred it down and transferred it to a clean container along with one cup of flour and one cup of water more. I did this in order to insure that the yeast would have more starch to feed on, rather than on itself which may make it spoil. For two more days I did this, and by then, I had 5 cups of sourdough starter. I took out one cup, put in a jar in the refrigerator, and used the rest to continue with the recipe.

Everybody has a different way of doing things, but this worked for me. I just use the refrigerated starter now, and add 2 cups flour along with 2 cups water, let ferment overnight. remove one cup back in the refrigerator and start again. I get very good results.

I have a rye starter, that I made with crushed grapes, water and rye flour. It fermented and was ready to use in just 3 days because rye seems to ferment much faster than wheat. I saved some starter and reuse it, but I read that many bakers dont bother to save the rye starter because it ferments so quickly.

I made a really good dark seeded rye last week. Does anyone have any recipes for light rolls using a sourdough starter?

 

[htc]

It's been a couple of days, how do I know if the starter spoiled? It doesn't stink, just smells like yeasty and a bit sour.

Here are a couple pics of it. I'm not sure if you can tell from the pic but it looks like the mixture kind of separated, with the liquid on top and flour on bottom. Is this supposed to do that? Thanks!