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sour dough starter

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1

Hi , Im making my starter in the hot water cupboard , Its sort of doing something which sounds very vague I know.Its 3 weeks old and is smelling nice and sour what should I be looking for to know when its good for baking? Lots of fermenting ? as in bubbles etc or something seeming more mild? thankyou.

..james.. - 2019-06-20 21:32:00
2

Here's some good links for you...
https://thestonesoup.com/blog/2010/10/11/rustic-sourdough-th
e-secret-to-making-amazing-bread-at-home-5-ingredients-simpl
e-baking/

https://www.somuchfoodblog.com/home/2018/11/12/easy-overnigh
t-rustic-sourdough-bread

http://www.baked-theblog.com/everyday-sourdough-bread/

https://www.homegrown-kitchen.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/
12/Homegrown-Kitchen_BONUS-recipes.pdf

The last one (above) has a link in it for the actual sourdough, but basically sourdough is something you really learn best by experience, failure and success.

If your mix is bubbling nicely and smelling sour but not "off", that sounds about right, so why not give it a go? Most experienced sour dough bakers have put notes in threads which you'll find up there on the left, if you put in sourdough, and select "one year" - and one thing hey all say (here and other online sites) is your first one might not be so risen.... but feed your starter for a few times, use it, feed again, and a really good base will eventuate.

Good luck......
(I'm starting another loaf tonight, hoping for a gradual improvement....)

BTW - this is the starter recipe I use, from Nicola Galloway (who does workshops)
https://www.homegrown-kitchen.co.nz/2012/10/03/part-one-sour
dough-starter/

Edited by autumnwinds at 10:34 pm, Thu 20 Jun

autumnwinds - 2019-06-20 22:23:00
3

On the other hand, I found some good recipes for using the sourdough starter, and have been trying these if the bread at the time hasn't been quite up to scratch, using the left over starter to start off another one.... that's apparently how you get to a "mature" starter..... and these recipes are also very good, along the way...

CHEESE & ONION SOURDOUGH CRUMPETS Makes 6 crumpets
• 300g sourdough starter
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 60g tasty cheese, grated
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• butter for frying
Put all the ingredients apart from the baking soda and butter into a bowl and mix well to combine.

Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a medium heat. Grease crumpet rings and then line them with strips of oiled baking paper. Put into the frying pan and put wee knobs of butter into each ring.

Sprinkle the baking soda over the crumpet mixture then mix well. You will notice that the mixture begins to froth up. Once this starts to happen, spoon a couple of tablespoons of mixture into the rings. Cook for about 10 minutes or until bubbles appear on the surface of the crumpets and they pull away from the baking paper. Remove the rings and baking paper and flip.

Cook for a further 10 minutes or until golden. Remove from the heat and let cool on a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Delicious cut in half and served with a fried egg, chutney or pickle, tomato and lots of fresh salad greens.

SOURDOUGH CRACKERS Makes 2 trays of crackers

Ingredients:
120g white flour
1 teaspoon salt, plus extra for sprinkling
4 Tablespoons sesame seeds or linseed
1 Tablespoon rosemary, finely chopped
200g active sourdough starter
60g butter, melted
olive oil

Method:
Put the flour, salt, seeds and rosemary in a small bowl and whisk together with a fork. Add the starter and the butter and mix again until the dough comes together. Cover and set aside on the bench overnight.
In the morning, preheat the oven to 160°C fan bake and line two baking trays with baking paper. Divide the dough in two and roll each piece out until very thin (dusting with flour if needed) to cover each tray.
Drizzle both pieces of dough with olive oil and with clean hands, rub it over the dough to evenly cover.
Using a large knife, cut the dough into squares or diamonds and sprinkle with sea salt before putting in the oven and baking until golden brown and crisp.
The time this takes to happen really depends on your oven and how evenly it cooks. In mine, I check the crackers after about 15 minutes and find they’re generally ready after about 35 minutes or so (total cooking time). If your oven is hotter or doesn’t cook evenly, the crackers on the edges of the trays might need to be removed earlier as they might cook faster, or you might need to turn the trays as they cook.

autumnwinds - 2019-06-20 22:33:00
4
autumnwinds wrote:

... but feed your starter for a few times, use it, feed again, and a really good base will eventuate.

.../

It takes quite a while for a starter to settle down and perform consistently. It's a matter of the various bacteria and yeasts coming into balance with each other so that they produce the right balance of carbon dioxide and lactic acid.. If you plan to carry on with your starter for a long time it is best to use pure water (bottled or distilled) as otherwise the chlorine, fluoride and other additives will contaminate your starter and it will gradually deteriorate.

davidt4 - 2019-06-21 10:27:00
5

Thankyou for your replies . I am going to set up another starter ,this time using filtered or boiled water and see if there is a more active difference. i like the idea of using left over starter for crackers and crumpets. If this all works out for me i can see it being a long term thing . Awesome!

..james.. - 2019-06-21 16:44:00
6

My loaves, made using this link...

https://www.somuchfoodblog.com/home/2018/11/12/easy-overnigh
t-rustic-sourdough-bread

I like this one, as it can be done in stages, once you get the hang of the timeline...

....turned out amazing, really surprised me, as the last lot weren't that great.
It just takes time and patience, I think. Oh, and using good fresh flour, and pure water. And a lot of love.....

Edited by autumnwinds at 7:07 pm, Fri 21 Jun

autumnwinds - 2019-06-21 19:04:00
7
autumnwinds wrote:

My loaves, made using this link...

https://www.somuchfoodblog.com/home/2018/11/12/easy-overnigh
t-rustic-sourdough-bread

I like this one, as it can be done in stages, once you get the hang of the timeline...

....turned out amazing, really surprised me, as the last lot weren't that great.
It just takes time and patience, I think. Oh, and using good fresh flour, and pure water. And a lot of love.....

.... and here's today's loaf, same recipe as yesterday, only I made one big Cobb loaf (2 pix).....
https://trademe.tmcdn.co.nz/photoserver/full/1072643479.jpg
https://trademe.tmcdn.co.nz/photoserver/full/1072643331.jpg

Now, for those who have failed in the past - SO HAVE I!
This must be my 7th or 8th go at a recipe for a sourdough starter, and finally - FINALLY - I've succeeded with the starter recipe above. This is my 5th or 6th loaf, now, so I'm starting to get the hang of it, and I'm loving these crusty, flavourful loaves.

So don't give up - just keep at it, and try, try and try again.... Good fresh (stone ground, if possible) flour, bottled water, time, cleanliness and most of all - patience! I never thought I'd get this sort of result, after so many failures, so I'm super-happy.....

(.... and my trusty National old breadmaker - like, 25 years old... - can have a bit of a retirement to the cupboard...)

Edited by autumnwinds at 3:00 pm, Sat 22 Jun

autumnwinds - 2019-06-22 14:58:00
8

My starter is now nearly 3 years old and in my case the starter as it has aged has gained a lot of strength. What I mean by that is that if I put it into hibernation it recovers much quicker than when it was younger. For the first 2.5 years I used 100gms of flour to 100gms of water , since then I have been using 70gms flour, 30gms Rye flour to 100gms of water. I think that maybe making it more robust, just my feeling.
Best move I made was buying a proofer, I tried a DIY proofer but have now bought a dedicated proofer. it is temperature controlled. I put that as the reason my spicy buns have excelled (normal not sourdough)

nala2 - 2019-06-24 10:18:00
9

put into word document

unknowndisorder - 2020-02-13 12:50:00
10

I've been making sourdough each week for about four months or so; finally got motivated despite the long list of instructions that usually come with it! I followed the King Arthur Flour website to get my starter going and make the extra-tangy loaf recipe found on the same site. https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sourdough-starter-re
cipe

As far as the starter goes, I didn't think it was working but gave it some time, fed it more often (2x daily) when it was slacking or smelling like nail polish remover; finally turned into a yeasty bubbly smelling mix at around 10 days in. I kept the lid loosely sitting on top but not screwed up (except when I put it in the fridge). I always follow the grams measurements, use artesian water (as it is available ear my work), rye and white spelt flour mix to keep it fed. Have fun with it.

fiction-addictn - 2020-02-13 13:43:00
11

Oh and I also use large loaf tins to keep them contained during the rise but lift the paper out onto an oven tray for baking. I put a small baking tray in the oven when preheating (217 degrees C) then put boiling water in just before I slash the loaves and bake as it creates a lovely steam oven (as I don't use a dutch oven/dish).

fiction-addictn - 2020-02-13 13:48:00
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