(if you follow these instructions, you get exactly the amount of sourdough you need for the free recipes on your left)
“What is sourdough?”
Background:
The term ‘sourdough’ is one of the most abused terms in the baking industry. The ways the term is twisted and wrangled into half-truths and three-quarter lies, leaves the average customer confused and betrayed and rarely, if ever, do you get what you think you are getting.
Pure, authentic and natural sourdough is flour and water and absolutely nothing else. The flour will almost always be either rye flour or wheat flour, but whether rye based or wheat based, pure sourdough is flour and water and absolutely nothing else.
Given the right treatment, your water and flour mixture will eventually attract the natural yeasts that is in the air, all around you, and your mixture will start fermenting (bubbling) and your on your way to starting your sourdough.
Working with sourdough:
Working with sourdough is a slow and continuously evolving process. Think of it as a slowly spinning wheel that never stops (unless you manage to kill your sourdough). It is an art-form that takes skills and patience and yields far better results and satisfaction than you will ever get from any yeast dough. Sourdoughs, if treated properly, will last for years. The one I am personally using, now, today, can be traced back to the mid-80’es, when I was a baker in Denmark .
General method of using sourdough:
The very short version of how to work with sourdough, goes like this:
You have a small piece of sourdough; a handful or two is enough. It's what you refer to as a sourdough starter. Just a small piece to start a bigger piece with.
You throw a cup of flour and a cup of lukewarm water in a bowl at night, before you go to bed. Then you add your sourdough starter and mix it all up with your hands until it's smooth. Then you cover it lightly (clean towel or a glass lid with a vent hole, or something like that) and then you go to sleep.
Next morning when you wake up, you'll see it has risen to double size (make sure bowl is twice as big as your initial sourdough) and it's ready to use.
But before you use your sourdough to make bread with, take your initial handful or two of sourdough off your new big one, and put it in a lidded jar, so you have a starter to start your next sourdough with. The two handfuls of starter you just took aside, you keep lidded in the fridge for next time. Keep that circle going (keep the wheel spinning) and you are always ready to rock.
And how do you get your initial sourdough starter?
You ask Brian. He'll give you one for free.
Or you can start one yourself, as per below. Don't trust your local baker to give you anything that actually works.
Start your own sourdough:
- Take 100 gr of lukewarm water and 70 gr flour, mix well, cover loosely with a clean towel and set aside in a warm place.
- 24 hrs later you throw out half (see foot note at bottom of page) and now you add 50 gr lukewarm water and 35 gr flour, mix well, cover again and set aside in the same warm place.
- Third day you do the same thing: Throw out half, add 50 gr lukewarm water and 35 gr flour, mix well, cover and set aside and wait for tomorrow.
This process you keep repeating. It may take 5 days or more, and it may come a lot sooner, but eventually you will see your mixture starting to form bubbles. That’s when you know you are on the road to success. The bubbles mean that the natural yeasts in the air has taken a liking to your little experiment and your fermentation has started.
Leave your starter on your kitchen counter, and once it has doubled in size (or thereabouts), you put it in the fridge. This is the starter that you started out with, initially. The one you start the bigger one with.
This is your basic way of working with sourdough and all you really need to know in the beginning. The important thing is to grab your starter off your sourdough in the morning, before you use to rest for bread. That way, you keep the wheel spinning.
Below I have added a couple of extra things to keep in mind. Stuff you really want to know... and keep in mind... because it's going to make everything a lot easier for you and is guaranteed to make you more successful. Understanding is key to succes, but it's not really all that difficult, so don't be intimidated. It's like riding a bicycle. Learn it, and you will never forget.
- Sourdough is controlled by (read: sensitive to) moisture level and temperature. Other than just not ‘feeding’ your sour, those two are your main reasons for 95% of all problems with your sour. Treat your sours well and they are very hard to kill. They will last you for years
- It's better (unless you are baking every single day) to keep your sourdough just a little bit more on the wet side (like runny toothpaste) and then store it (your starter) in the fridge.
Happy baking and if you got questions, you know where to find me.
Brian de Amorim
briandeamorim@gmail.com
FOOT NOTE:
People always ask me "why do i need to throw out half. Why don't i just leave it in?" Here's your answer:
You throw out half because the natural yeast cells have already consumed what nutrition is in the flower and you replace the nutrition poor flour with nutrition rich flower. In human terms, it's like getting a whole new meal put on the table, instead of everybody fighting over one clean bone where all the meat has been gnawed off: Somebody is going to die of starvation.
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