Sourdough Starter

What to do when the garden is finished for the season?   How about filling the kitchen with the smell of baked goodies?  Perhaps rolls, yeast bread, or sour dough bread?  Someone around this forum recommended King Arthur website.  Whoever that was -- Thank You!  I have been enjoying it ever since. 

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2012/04/05/creating-your-own-sourdough-starter-the-path-to-great-bread/

Last night we enjoyed cinnamon raisin sour dough bread. Then sliced and toasted with butter, delicious stuff!

LM, I book marked this a while back. Winter is a perfect time to start this project. Thanks

Started

Nice !  Have cool temperatures at my house (68-70 degrees)so the bowl is on a folded towel sitting on a heating pad set on low with plastic wrap on top like yours . Do you also bake with the discarded starter?  Turns out I'm one of those who can't throw it away, lol.
This is my first time experimenting with sour dough.  I was surprised at the amount of discarded starter produced along the way, But very pleased to find another site with lots of baking ideas for the discard .  I'm trying out a recipe using 2 cups of discarded starter to make waffles this morning.  The 'big prize' of sourdough bread is probably still a couple days away.  Today is only day 6 since I began the original starter.

 http://sourdoughsurprises.blogspot.com/2013/09/sourdough-pancakes-and-waffles.html

p.s.
It was interesting to learn that starter can be kept alive and ready to use,  not only for years but decades!  I can't imagine doing that much baking..unless  I was getting paid for it.

Never done this before I know the starter was treasured by some of the pioneer women as they traveled west.

I'm now looking for whole wheat recipes that call for more than "1/2 cup" of whole wheat or even rye.

I'll keep my eyes open for any of those recipes.
My starter has slowed way down after bubbling so nicely.  Maybe it peaked and I was waiting and expecting more..?  Have to read about troubleshooting so this morning I put it all in the fridge.  I did mess up the 12 hour feeding regimen and twice it went to 15 hours or so.  So maybe that was part of it too. I'll probably call King Arthur's help line too.

I've been asking around for a sourdough starter for a while now after failing my first attempt at making my own a couple of years ago. Since you posted this thread I started looking for a gluten free starter and have found many thru google that use water kefir, which I already grow. Easy peasy! Although apparently it needs feeding 3 times a day but should be ready in 4 days or so. I don't know when I will begin a starter as I need to get some brown rice flour, but maybe it will be this week sometime.  I'll keep you updated.

CC
2nd row of vids, 3 one in is the best I've found so far:
http://www.glutenfreesourdough.com/video.php

It'll be fun to watch your progress.  I hadn't even considered a starter could be gluten free.  The learning never stops around here!

I'm glad you guys started this line.  I got some started about 6 weeks ago.   I'm using a/p flour.  I also set it in an east-facing window during the day.

I'm using the discards for bread & biscuits.  Or I'm giving it away to friends & students who want some.

Kefir water, huh?  I've heard about using yogurt and also potato water...  I've got recipes for those starters if anyone wants them.

It's been awhile since anyone posted in the bread thread.  So once I began the starter, I thought it might be fun to see if anyone else was doing this or was interested in trying.

Twice - late at night and sleepy - I accidentally fed bread flour instead of AP flour
  and briefly panicked til I found a page on the KA site (King Arthur) that said it was ok to use.

LM, So glad you posted that bread flour was okay. DH accidentally bought it instead of all-purpose. He was so happy that he found KA unbleached that he just grabbed it!

Yes lots of varieties of flour out there.

Well, my starter slowed way down. I thought it would peak with even more bubbles but it didn't. It has less bubbles. It's in the refrigerator till I can get back to it and restart it again. I think it has to be fed a minimum of once a week to keep it alive.

At the moment I'm in the middle of making a family favorite. 100 pierogies. (potato filled dumplings) Then I'll get back to the sour dough starter. Anybody still having success with their starter?

Llama Mama, Trade you a recipe for Basque sourdough pancakes for your pierogies recipe.  BTW, the best way to keep your sourdough starter up and running is to use it...regularly.  Pancakes are a good, quick way to use/refresh your starter.  Nonna

I used the discard for a second bowl. However, I covered the second bowl with a doubled tea towel and it got a hard, dry crust, so I tossed it. Right now, I have my first test recipe, English muffins, rising after spending the night in the frig. The "starter" is still doing good.

Sure Nona I'd love your Basque pancake recipe!

I downloaded Traditional Ukrainian Pierogies from here because it tasted just like my grandmother's.  She arrived to Ellis Island from Kiev, Ukraine in 1901.

http://www.theblackpeppercorn.com/2013/09traditional-ukrainian-pierogies

This recipe makes about 45 pierogies.

-For the authentic taste I was looking for I also add either 2 tablespoons of cream cheese OR 2 tablespoons sour cream to the dough.

-And instead of cheddar cheese mashed into the potatoes, I use 8 ounces cream cheese, because that's how my grandmother made it.

-Finally, fresh made pierogies only need 2-3 minutes in boiling water, never any longer!   You can also freeze them raw (don't boil first) in a single layer for about 2 hours then throw them in freezer zip lock bags.  About 50 fit into a gallon zip lock bag.  I got two bags in the freezer.  

Please Enjoy and if you have any questions please ask!
LM

Llama Mama, My dad always said to keep the pancake turner at hand so you can slap these very light 'cakes back on the griddle should they start to float away. 

Basque Sourdough Pancakes

Old Idaho recipe, given many years ago to my parents by a Basque friend of theirs

 

2 cups sourdough batter

2 eggs, well beaten

3 Tblsp melted fat (butter, bacon fat, etc.)

1 tsp soda

1/3 – 1/2 C sugar (Basque sheepherders eyeball, rather than measure their sugar)

 

1.         Mix soda with the sugar, set aside.  Stir beaten eggs into sourdough batter, then add the fat.  Mix well and set aside until griddle is ready. 

 

2.         Preheat griddle and just before baking the pancakes, stir the soda/sugar mixture into the batter.  Let foam up a bit, ladle out batter and bake as usual.

 

3.         Don’t forget to “feed” your sourdough starter before returning it to the refrigerator.

mmmmMMMMMmmmm....  Will have to try this!

I noticed that you don't let the starter sit on the counter overnight before doing these.  Interesting... 

I've always been told to take a cup (or 2) out, feed it well, let it sit overnight on the counter, then use the recipe calls for and put the rest in with your starter in the fridge to feed it.

AtlantaMarie, You are correct, I sent in only the recipe for the pancakes.  When giving the recipe out in print form, there are additional directives at the bottom of the page, thusly:


Note:  Feeding or refreshing your sourdough starter just means adding more water and flour to the batch than will be needed for the next morning’s pancakes.  For instance, for the above recipe, remove your starter from the refrigerator the night before, place it in a mixing bowl (washing up the container in which you keep the starter).  To the starter in your bowl, add 2 cups flour and enough tepid water to make a slightly thick batter.  Cover the bowl and keep it in a warm spot overnight.  The next morning, remove the 2 cups sourdough batter from the bowl to make your recipe.  The rest of the starter goes back into your sourdough crock and into the ‘fridge to await the next baking experience. 

 Just remember to use your sourdough at least once a week to keep it at its best.

Thanks Nonna.PapaVino.  Good to know!

I have a confession to make...

I'll feed my starter in the morning & set it in an east-facing window to warm during the am. 

Well....  I left it there for four... five... (or so!) days w/out doing anything to it. 

I got it last night and found that there was a hardened crust over the top.  Once I got that off, the dough underneath had a NICE sour smell to it.  Better than it's been since I started it.  And it was fine. 

Fed it, gave it a little sugar to jump-start things and it looked great this morning.

Angel biscuits & bread coming up...

Marie, that poor cat in your avatar looks like it already ate the bread and biscuits.

I haven't started my gluten-free sourdough starter yet. I'm thinking of using some Bob's Red Mill gluten free bread mix that I already have in the cupboard. It comes with a packet of yeast so I'll used kefir instead of yeast. Maybe I'll start that right now. I'll let you know how it goes.  If it doesn't seem to be going well after a couple of days maybe I'll let it crust over like Marie did and see what's underneath.

CC

I've been using sourdough since I was a teen--the Basque pancakes were the first.  When I married and moved to the old home place in Texas, where the nearest grocery store was 30-45 minutes away, sourdough bread became almost a necessity.  In wintertime, the sourdough crock sat in a cool place in the kitchen and was used every couple of days, being "fed" and moved to a warm spot each time bread was needed.  Guess what I'm saying is that a sourdough starter isn't a fragile thing, it's amazingly tough.  When in Alaska, I heard of an old-time miner whose mule slipped over a cliff and was killed.  The miner carefully climbed down to the mule to salvage his gear.  Part of the salvage included carefully scraping the sourdough from the broken crock off the mule's hide.  Guess his nearest grocery was even more than 30-45 minutes away!  Nonna

CapeCoddess wrote:Marie, that poor cat in your avatar looks like it already ate the bread and biscuits.

Nope, just the 20 lb turkey!    Hope it brings everyone a laugh.  We all need some humor in our day!

It looks like a catducken.

OH MARC!

Eeeeeeewwwwww!

It kinda does tho...