Sour Dough Bread
Source of Recipe
unknown
Recipe Introduction
Sourdoughs were originally produced by wild yeasts. The wild yeasts in the San Francisco area produce a unique flavor in breads. Some sourdoughs are over a hundred years old. The starter (or sometimes called a sponge) is a flour and water mixture that contains the yeast used to rise the bread.
You can buy dried versions and then activate them or you can make your own, catching the wild yeasts indigenous to your area. Ways to get some sourdough starter:
Get a cup of starter from a friend or another baker. You take a cup of the starter and add flour and water to make more of it. The starter can go on for years.
You can make a starter with normal packaged yeast you buy at the store (see recipe below)
Or you can buy a packaged sourdough starter mix at the grocery store or by mail-order.
List of Ingredients
Easy Sourdough Recipe:
2 cups white flour
2 cups water
1 packet of dry baking yeast Recipe
Mix the flour and yeast together in container, preferably glass or ceramic, that can hold two quarts and will take a lid. Stir in the water and mix well. Cover the container with a dish cloth and let it sit in a warm spot (I place container in my sink). The dish cloth will let wild yeasts pass through into the batter. The mixture should bubble as it ferments (this will foam up quite a bit). If sourdough spills out onto your counter, it is hard to clean off once it has dried! Stir it once a day. Let it sit out from 2 to 5 days. Then stir it, put a lid on it, and store it in the refrigerator.
As your starter sits in the refrigerator, a liquid will form on the top. It contains 12% to 14% alcohol. Stir that liquid back into the starter before using.
Your starter should be fed every other week. To feed it, remove one cup (use it in a baked item, give it to a neighbor, or throw it away) and replace it with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of unbleached flour. Let it sit out for a few hours; then refrigerate.
When you are ready to cook or bake with your starter, remove it from the icebox and pour it into a bowl. Let it warm to room temp. At this time, mix up equal parts of water and flour to equal the amount of starter you are going to need.
If your sourdough gets too sour, throw all of it away except 1 cup. Add 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of water to it, and let it ferment for a day or so.
If you will not be using your starter for some time, freeze it. Two days before you need to use it, let it defrost. Then feed it and let it ferment for a day.
NOTE: I find working with a sourdough starter can be very time consuming. Especially if you follow what most sourdough books say and feed them everyday. That's too much work for me as I already have a cat. You even need a sourdough sitter when leaving town.
Because I don't use my starter everyday, I store it, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to use. When I decide I want to use my starter, I then remove it from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature (usually I let it sit overnight on the counter). I then feed it with 1 cup flour and 1 cup warm water. I let this site 8 hours or preferably overnight. It is now ready to use in your sourdough recipes!
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