From: Betty Anthony
Your email on baking bread really got my attention
since I have just started baking bread again. I
like the idea of using 1 pkg of yeast when making
more than one loaf but even cheaper than that is
making your own sourdough starter and using it
instead of yeast.
Of course using commercial yeast
makes it rise faster but there is something about
making your own starter, nurturing it into a
healthy, working starter and then making a
delicious bread with it. My husband has begun to
crave San Luis Sourdough bread at $4.59 a loaf
which he will usually eat all of, if not in one
day, two for sure.
There are many places online to
buy starter from but there is even more places
that tell you how to do your own.
I started my own and then because it was not old
enough to be sour enough for my husband, I bought
one online. And as things usually go, by the time
I received the other starter my own was making a
pretty fair loaf of bread. I am now using my first
starter for the more sour breads and the one that
I thought would be really sour for the breads that
I do not want to be so sour, like cinnamon raisin
bread.
Here is the site that got me started but I just
love to do web searches and find more sites with
more recipes and more ideas for baking sourdough.
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Sourdough-Starters/Detail.aspx
I did the ‘no commercial yeast’ starter first but
also made another starter with the wild grape
starter recipe. I just used 2 cups of frozen
grapes from off my own vines and ran them through
my Vita Mix and then mixed with the flour. Within
two weeks I mixed my own two starters because I
had ended up with 3 in my refrigerator.
I keep saying that I am not going to be baking another
loaf for awhile but I keep making another batch.
It also makes the very best pancakes. I have found
that I can use the sourdough starter instead of
store bought yeast in recipes that calls for the
later. Next I am going to try the Amish
friendship bread that uses the same principle of
capturing the wild yeast in the air for the
starter but also uses sugar.
For those of you who have Dining on a Dime check out our Potao Flake Starter Bread (pg. 88). It similar to the Amish Friendship bread and is a really yummy starter that you feed etc. These starters are fun to do and I have done them off and on over the years but I must warn you you must not become emotionally attached to them.
I’m afraid I treated mine to much like a family member. I even called him Herman. I got quite stressed if I forgot to feed him and then if I didn’t get a chance to bake him I felt so guilty if I had to throw part of him out and when I really couldn’t use him any more what was I to do with him???? Let him die a slow death in the fridge or throw him in the trash to die an even more cruel death. I really was torn. : ) : ) Every since I had to kill my first Herman I haven’t had to many others. It was too emotionally exhausting for me.
Now you know I have gone off the deep end. : ) : ) But you would be flipping out too if you had just spent the last 2 weeks putting 2,000 eyeballs into gingerbread men and have another 1,000 to put in the next 4 days!!!!!
I just felt I haven’t been on the blog too much (I wonder why?) so wanted to pop in and say “Hi”.
Jill
I have never made a decent sourdough starter. It seems like the ones I have made and then used gave too much of a tangy taste to the the bread I made. I will have to try this one.
A friend of mine discovered she could spread out the starter and dry it. Then she powders it and seals it in ziplocs and sells it at the local Christmas fairs. It is packaged with directions for reconstituting and a recipe for sourdough bread.
Jill, I’d like to know how to purchase your gingerbread people if you sell to the public.
Sincerely,
Tami Tietsort
Tami I do sell to the public but I only once in awhile ship outside of Wichita because the cost to ship them is twice as much as what I charge for them plus I usually end up losing money because I don’t charge extra but it takes me sometimes 30 minutes to pack them up to make sure they ship ok without breaking which can be quite a challenge.
Jill
Hi, I was wondering where I can find a recipe for the homemade sour dough starter that you can dry and package? Anyone know? I would love to have that one. Thanks,Evelyn Simmons
I, too, would be very interested in the starter you can dry and package. Delores, do you think your friend would share the recipe and directions with you, and allow you to share with us?
If you have to dispose of “Herman” starter, so sad :(, it can go right into the compost pile. Those good enzymes help aide in decomposition.
You can get a starter from the following web page if you send them a SASE:
http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/
Their brochure also has instructions for drying. Basically, spread out thinly and let dry for a few days, then run through coffee grinder or similar.
hey Jill Don’t throw your starter away mix it with potting soil or clean compost in an open container then inn spring lightly scatter it over your garden or even make a tea.
My five cents (I’ve been making 99% of my bread from scratch, and make at least two loaves of sourdough every month.)
–I wouldn’t sweat it too much about using wild yeast for a starter. Even if you start the starter (how Zen…) with a commercial yeast, in a few months (especially with a “pancake” batter 166% starter, versus a doughier 100% version) your local wild yeast will have taken over anyway. (It’s very romantic that people in, say, Iowa, can talk about using a 200-year-old starter from France, but in truth, after a few weeks/months everybody winds up using their local bugs regardless.) The situation’s similar for potato or grape starters — after a few months, the local yeast take over. If you want to keep the flavor of a particular starter, you’ll need to refresh it with more potato or grapes every few months.
–I’ve never thrown out starter. I like mine quite sour, so I keep a batter-style starter, and feed it about 1/4 cup each of water & flour once a week, unless I’m baking with it. In that case, I feed it to replace what I’m using. Throwing out a cup every week (or, using that “discarded” cup of starter to make crumpets — yum!) will make it less sour, as can throwing out the “hooch” (the main source of the sourness) and replacing that liquid with plain water. There are probably as many ways to raise a starter as there are kids; in the long run, so long as you get enough bubbles to make the bread rise, and so long as you’re getting the flavor YOU want, you’re doing it “right.”
To clarify…
A “batter” starter is equal amounts flour & water by VOLUME, aka. 166% water to 100% flour.
A “dough” starter, aka. a “boss” or “grandmother” starter is equal amounts flour & water by WEIGHT, aka. 100% water to 100% flour.
When in doubt, do whatever you grandmother did.
PPS: Check out the FoodWishes “Follow the Sourdough” series on YouTube. He shows the whole process, including starting the starter (which still strikes me as Zen).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpeijFtGO1I&feature=related
To make sourdough crumpets, add 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt to one cup sourdough starter. Cook on a griddle, with rings if you have them. To make pancakes, add enough milk to make a thinner batter. Either option’s yummy.