Sourdough Starter And Sourdough Bread Recipes

SOURDOUGH BREAD STARTER

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water, rest for ten minutes.
• Mix in flour, sugar& remaining water.
• Allow to stand, loosely covered, in a warm place for 3 or 4 days. Use a large (preferably ceramic) bowl as it will rise considerably.
• Every time the batter is used to make a product set aside 1 cup to be used as a"starter" for another batch.
• Keep covered in the fridge (a pint jar works nicely).
• To make it into a basic batter again, add another 2 cups flour& 2 cups warm water and allow to stand at room temp overnight It is now ready to use, but again reserve a cup of the starter.

SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Day 1: Add 50 grams whole wheat flour, 50 grams bread flour, and 100 grams warm water to a clear lidded container with a capacity of 1 pint or more. Mix until there are no dry spots. Scrape down the sides of the container with a spatula. Cover with a lid.
• Use a rubber band or piece of tape to mark the mixture level. This will allow you to track any movement (eventually it will grow!) Set the starter in a warm spot. Let sit for 24 hours.
• Day 2: After 24 hours, open the container and look for signs of fermentation in the form of bubbles on top, volume growth, and/or a funky, slightly sweet acidic smell. If you see some of these signs, proceed to the next step. If not, cover the starter again and let sit for another 12-24 hours, until these signs appear. If the temperature in your house is cool, it may take a bit longer.
• Once the starter has gotten a bit bubbly and funky, it is time to discard and feed. Discard all but about 25 grams (2 tablespoons) of starter (see Note below on how to minimize waste!). Add another 100 grams warm water and stir to dissolve the remaining starter. Add 50 grams of bread flour and 50 grams of whole wheat flour and stir until there are no dry spots. Cover and let sit in a warm spot for another 24 hours.
• Days 3-15: Repeat the feeding process every day for 7-14 days. Eventually, a few hours after feeding, the starter will begin to grow, almost doubling in size, then deflate again. Once your starter is rising and falling regularly, it is in a good place.
• To test the readiness of the starter, do a float test: Fill a cup with cool water. Use a clean spoon to take a scoop of the starter (be careful not to stir the starter and deflate the air bubbles that make it float) and carefully plop it in the water. If it floats, it is gassy and alive and ready to make some bread! If not, don't despair, it can take a while to get going. Either wait longer if it has only been a few hours since feeding, or if it has been closer to 24 hours since feeding, discard and feed again.
• After passing the float test, the starter is ready to use for baking! You may find you like to use your starter when it is young, only a few hours after feeding when it just passes the float test. At this point it will smell sweet. If you want a more sour taste, use the starter 6-12 hours after feeding, when it will be more mature and smell a bit more vinegary and funky. This is up to you!
• Mold: If you see any fuzzy moldy spots on your starter that are black, red, or blue, unless it is very easy to scrape them off the top, unfortunately you need to start over. Sometimes, a while after feeding or being in the refrigerator, the starter will develop a dark, clear liquid on top. This is called hooch and is harmless. Just pour the liquid off!
• Flour: Use what you have. If you only have all-purpose flour, you can use that. If you only have bread flour, use that. If you only have whole wheat flour, you can use that, just know that you may need to feed more often because it gets funky more quickly.
• Discard: It may be tempting not to discard most of your starter every time you feed it because you don't want to waste, but we discard for a variety of reasons. We are giving the starter a lot of fresh food and water to eat. If we don't discard, the starter will retain a lot of that funkiness and also eventually grow to be huge if you just keep adding water and flour to it. I like to discard into another container and keep that container in the refrigerator until I need it for other baking projects. You can fold the discard into banana bread, pancakes, cookies, etc.
• Storage: Once your starter is up and running, you can either keep it at room temperature and feed it daily, or store it in the refrigerator. To store in the refrigerator, do a regular discard and feed, then place in the refrigerator. A day before you want to begin making bread, pull the starter out and let it come to room temperature. Then, discard and feed as usual.
• Scaling: This starter recipe calls for equal amounts of water and total flour by weight. You can scale this recipe up or down as needed, depending on how much starter the recipe you are going to make calls for.
• Enjoy!

SOURDOUGH STARTER

Steps:

• In large non-metallic bowl, mix together dry yeast, 2 cups warm water, and 2 cups all purpose flour and cover loosely.
• Leave in a warm place to ferment, 4 to 8 days. Depending on temperature and humidity of kitchen, times may vary. Place on cookie sheet in case of overflow. Check on occasionally.
• When mixture is bubbly and has a pleasant sour smell, it is ready to use. If mixture has a pink, orange, or any other strange color tinge to it, THROW IT OUT! and start over. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered until ready to bake.
• When you use starter to bake, always replace with equal amounts of a flour and water mixture with a pinch of sugar. So, if you remove 1 cup starter, replace with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour. Mix well and leave out on the counter until bubbly again, then refrigerate. If a clear to light brown liquid has accumulated on top, don't worry, this is an alcohol base liquid that occurs with fermentation. Just stir this back into the starter, the alcohol bakes off and that wonderful sourdough flavor remains! Sourdough starters improve with age, they used to be passed down generation to generation!
• Use this starter to make the Sourdough Chocolate Cranberry Cake, and the Sourdough Chocolate Cake.

SOURDOUGH STARTER

Steps:

• Day 1:To begin your starter, mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water in a jar or, better still, a plastic container. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, semi-uncovered, at room temperature for 24 hrs.
• Day 2:Mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water and stir into yesterday's mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, semi-uncovered, at room temperature for another 24 hrs.
• Day 3:Mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water and stir into yesterday's mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, semi-uncovered, at room temperature for another 24 hrs.
• Day 4:You should start to see some activity in the mixture now; there should be some bubbles forming and bubbling on top. Mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water and stir into yesterday's mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, semi-uncovered, at room temperature for another 24 hrs.
• Day 5:The mixture should be very active now and ready for making your levain (starter). If it's not bubbling, continue to feed it on a daily basis until it does. When it's ready, it should smell like yogurt.
• You now have a starter, which is the base to the bread. You'll need to look after it, but naming is optional! Keep it in the fridge (it will stay dormant) and 24 hrs before you want to use it, pour half of it off and feed it with 100g flour and 100g water. Leave it at room temperature and it should become active again. The longer the starter has been dormant, the more times it will need to be refreshed - the process of pouring off half the starter and replacing it with new flour and water - to reactivate. If your starter is ready to use, a teaspoonful of the mixture should float in warm water.The starter can now be used to make white sourdough bread.

SIMPLE SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• Add all ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook.
• Turn the mixer on 1-2 (never higher than 2 or medium-low) and let the mixer knead the dough for about 5 minutes. The dough will be sticky and doesn't quite form a ball. (If making by hand, knead for about 10 minutes.)
• Turn off the mixer and scrape the dough into a medium bowl that has been lightly coated with oil. Cover with plastic and set aside for about 3 hours while the dough rises.
• After 3 hours, turn the dough and gently start folding up the sides. Grab the dough at the side of the bowl and lift up and towards the center of the bowl. Press down, turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat this several times.
• Cover again and let it rise for an additional 2-3 hours. (This will depend on the temperature of your home. A warmer kitchen will need less time.)
• After the 2 hours, lightly dust your countertop with flour. Press the dough down with your fingers then start pulling up the sides and pressing into the center. You may need to add more flour as this can be a loose dough. Keep pulling up the sides and pressing into the center then flip the dough over. The top should be smooth. Dust with more flour and set the dough onto a piece of parchment paper. Score the dough with a knife.
• Place a Dutch oven (make sure you have a lid) into a cold oven and heat to 450°F. Once heated, carefully remove the hot Dutch oven from the oven. Remove the lid and set it somewhere heat resistant. (I set the lid on my stove.) Pick up the parchment paper with both hands and place inside the Dutch oven. Carefully replace the lid.
• Place into 450°F oven and bake for 15 minutes.
• After 15 minutes, carefully remove the lid and bake an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the top is nicely golden brown (don't worry if it is darker brown, you just don't want it burnt) and when you tap on the top the bread sounds hollow.
• Set Dutch oven to the side and leave the bread alone for about 15-20 minutes.

SOURDOUGH STARTER AND SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• Day 1: mix 1/2 ounce flour (about 1 tbsp, packed) and 1 oz water (2 tbsp) in a pint jar. Cover with plastic wrap. (Do not cover tightly at any point in the process.) Stir well several times through the day.
• Day 2: no feeding, just stir whenever you think of it.
• Day 3: add 1 oz flour and 1 oz water (2 tbsp of each) and stir whenever you think of it.
• Day 4: Add 1 oz flour and 1/2 oz water. This now brings the flour and water amounts to a 50/50 ratio, or 100% hydration in bakers' parlance. Continue to stir as often as you think of it.
• Day 5: add 1 oz flour and 1 oz water (2 tbsp of each) and stir whenever you think of it.
• Day 6: add 1 oz flour and 1 oz water (2 tbsp of each) and stir whenever you think of it. By now, you should be seeing plenty of bubbles, but don't worry if you don't.
• Day 7: add 1 oz flour and 1 oz water (2 tbsp of each) and stir whenever you think of it. If you like your sourdough a little more sour, stir LESS often; the bacteria will only produce acid when deprived of oxygen.
• Day 8: add 1 oz flour and 1 oz water (2 tbsp of each) and stir whenever you think of it.
• Day 9: Assuming your starter is bubbling vigorously, you're ready for your first harvest! Remove 1/4 lb (4 oz, 1/2 c) of starter to a bowl, add 2 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp water, stir and cover with plastic wrap. Add the usual 1 oz flour and 1 oz water (2 tbsp of each) to the jar.
• Day 10: Feed starter again with 1 oz each flour and water. To make bread: Transfer prepared starter to the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook, then add bread flour and water. Mix on medium-low until elastic, about 5 minutes. Add salt and oil and mix until combined. Form into a ball and place into a oiled bowl. You can let it rise 2-3 hours and bake today, refrigerate overnight and bake tomorrow (let it come up to room temperature, 2 hours or so, before proceeding). Form into desired shape and let rise about 1 hour; slash top in desired pattern. Bake in preheated 350F oven. Bake about 40 minutes until golden brown and hollow-sounding when thumped in the bottom. Cool completely before slicing.
• Day 11: if you continue to bake regularly, you can feed your starter every 1-2 days with 1oz each flour and water, then harvest 4 ounces to cook with. If you don't need to bake that often, refrigerate the starter after a last feeding. It will keep at least a month in the fridge, but can last up to 3 months with proper care. Bring up to room temperature, and feed as usual for 3 days before harvesting to bake.

BASIC ALL PURPOSE SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• See the videos and photos above for target dough consistency, expansion during the rising periods, and shaping and scoring techniques.
• Early in the day, build 100g sourdough starter by feeding 30g starter with 35g flour and 35g water. Allow this to ripen over the next 3-6 hours. When the starter is at least double in size, it is ready to use in your dough.
• Mix the dough ingredients together in a large bowl. Cover, let the dough sit for about 15 minutes, and then stretch and fold the dough, forming it into a smooth ball.
• Cover the dough and let it rise (bulk ferment) until it has almost doubled in size. At warm temps (low 80s) my dough doubled in 4 hours. Colder dough may need twice or more that time.
• Flour your work surface and scrape your dough out of the bowl and onto the flour.
• Shape your dough into a boule, sandwich loaf, or whatever shape you prefer.
• While the dough rests on it's seam for a minute or so, flour your proofing basket. If you don't have a proofing basket, you can use a colander or bowl lined with a well-floured tea towel. If using a loaf pan, oil it or line it with parchment paper.
• Place the dough in your proofing basket seam-side up, or in your loaf pan seam-side down.
• Cover and let the dough rise again (final proof) for about 30 minutes at room temperature and then refrigerate the dough overnight (8-16 hours). You can also leave the dough at room temperature for longer (1-2 hours) and then bake it without the refrigeration stage. For baking in a loaf pan, let the dough rise almost completely before refrigerating it (1-2 hours) or bake it same-day.
• Artisan Style Bread Baking Instructions
• Preheat your oven and baking vessel at 500F for 30 minutes.
• Flip the dough out of the proofing basket and onto a sheet of parchment paper or the base of your hot baking vessel, score, cover, and return the vessel to the oven.
• If your baking vessel is a ceramic cloche, bake at:
• 500°F for 20 minutes, lid on
• 450°F for 5 minutes, lid on
• 450°F for 5-10 minutes, lid off
• If your baking vessel is cast iron, bake at:
• 500°F for 15 minutes lid on and then place a baking sheet under the cast iron on the same shelf
• 450°F for 10 minutes, lid on
• 450°F for 5-10 minutes, lid off
• When baking is complete, the bread should have an internal temperature of at least 205F and it should sound hollow when you knock on the bottom of the loaf.
• Loaf Pan Baking Instructions
• Preheat your oven to 375F for about 15 minutes.
• Brush the top of the dough with water and place it in the oven on the middle shelf.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes, turning the pan halfway if the bread is browning unevenly. To firm up the bottom and sides of the loaf, take it out of the loaf pan for the last 5-10 minutes.
• When baking is complete, the bread should have an internal temperature of at least 200F.
• Brush the still-warm crust with butter or oil to keep it soft.
• Ideally, these loaves should cool for about 2 hours before slicing but I completely understand if you want to dive right into your steaming bread.

SOURDOUGH STARTER

Steps:

• In a covered 4-qt. glass or ceramic container, mix flour and yeast. Gradually stir in warm water until smooth. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel; let stand in a warm place 2-4 days or until mixture is bubbly and sour smelling and a clear liquid has formed on top. (Starter may darken, but if starter turns another color or develops an offensive odor or mold, discard it and start over.) , Cover tightly and refrigerate starter until ready to use. Use and replenish starter, or nourish it, once every 1-2 weeks. To use and replenish starter:Stir to blend in any liquid on top. Remove amount of starter needed; bring to room temperature before using. For each 1/2 cup starter removed, add 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup warm water to the remaining starter and stir until smooth. Cover loosely and let stand in a warm place 1-2 days or until light and bubbly. Stir; cover tightly and refrigerate.To nourish starter:Remove half of the starter. Stir in equal parts of flour and warm water; cover loosely and let stand in a warm place 1-2 days or until light and bubbly. Stir; cover tightly and refrigerate.