A Sourdough Starter

 

Sourdough Starter Recipe

A Traditional & Simple Recipe: Ingredients:

Depending on the bread you are making use a differnt type of flour: for an ancient bread use a spelt flour, for medieval bread use a wholemeal and rye bread flour and for a modern bread use a strong white bread flour.

• 200g bread flour (white, or wholemeal, or spelt etc.)
• 280ml of warm water
• two days of being left to gather airborne yeast
• 200g extra bread flour and 100ml of warm water added in after two days

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Flavouring The Ferment Starter:

Optional: To help ‘feed’ the yeast you can add a ‘sugary’ carbohydrate rich ingredient, which also flavours the starter, and therefore the bread you make with it. This is not traditional but in modern soughdough breads adding in a favouring as an extra food source is becoming trendy. In terms of the most authentic of the flavourings I would recommend a little addition of a local honey. Some famous bakeries have their own ‘secret’ ingredients added in to feed the yeast and flavour the sourdough.

Your choices could include:

• 1. either 1 tbsp of honey
• 2. or 1 tbsp of vanilla flavoured sugar
• 3. or 1 tbsp of natural yoghurt
• 4. or 1 tbsp of very fine chopped dried currants
• 5. or 1 tbsp of very fine chopped raisins in 1 tbsp of fresh orange juice
• 6. or your own ‘secret’ natural sugary additive.

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A Highly Recommended Recipe: Ingredients:

• 50g Spelt Flour
• 150g Strong White Bread Flour
• 1 tbsp of Local Honey
• 280ml of warm water
• two days of being left to gather airborne yeast
• 200g extra bread flour as above and 100ml of warm water added after two days

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Recipe Method:

First Stage: In a medium sized mixing bowl mix together 200g of bread flour and 280ml of water (and any additional flavouring, like honey, if used). It should come together into a wet dough (or a stiff batter). Leave the bowl to stand uncovered and undisturbed somewhere clean, dust-free and warm (about 25C) for two days. This will allow natural airborne yeast to settle on it, feed, and rapidly multiply to become a ‘ferment’ or ‘barm’.

This ferment should start to rise and get a slow-bubbling, frothy top (perhaps slightly brown in colour) – a ‘beer’ smell means it is fully ready with live yeast cultures. Note: The sourdough smell is a smell that would be recognised by any baker of the ancient world – any beery liquid that forms on the top can be simply mixed in.

Second Stage: After two days add in the extra 200g of bread flour and 100ml of warm water to stiffen the ferment into a less wet and more traditional moist dough, and to give the yeast extra food, (add in a little extra honey etc. if using it). Then leave uncovered for another 24 hours somewhere warm. This thicker (but still moist) sourdough mixture should increase in size with the carbon dioxide gas being produced by the growing yeast cultures – ‘puffing’ up the dough with lots of little holes – if not, and it appears ‘sluggish’, leave for another 24 hours uncovered.

Third Stage: After three days a properly made firm sourdough starter, with a thriving yeast culture, (giving the bread dough a honeycomb structure and a buttery colour) can now be used to make bread – it will remain potent for about 3 days and become more acidic/sour over time. To mature it: At this stage you can make bread with it, or cover over the bowl with cling film, pierce it for air holes, and place it in the fridge to mature for a day, (recommended) or leave for 2 days if you want a more sour taste to your bread.

Making a sourdough starter can at first be a ‘hit and miss’ process, particularly in winter, or in a cold room, (or too sterile an environment) you may need a small amount of practice to get it right.

Storage of The Sourdough Starter:

Note: Some bakers like to store and work with a firm, drier starter dough, others like to keep the starter dough very wet and runny, (called a ‘wet sponge’) – its your choice. Drier starter doughs can be more ‘sour’ than wetter ones but are probably easier to keep and handle.

You can keep the sourdough in the mixing bowl, (recommended if making several loaves a week) or put the sourdough in a non metalic container, with air holes in the lid, (make sure it is at least double the size of the dough added in to allow for the dough expansion) and feed it every 24 to 36 hours, if kept in a warm room, or fed every 5 to 7 days, if kept in the fridge.

A simple and cheap container for your sourdough starter can come from cuting down an old plastic waterbottle with a sharp knife, rinsing it out, and then folding over a sheet of cling film several times for a lid. Pierce the cling film lid in several places with a skewer for air holes and keep it in place with an elastic band or a thin piece of plastic coated metal wire. A more sturdy container can be made by purchasing a seal-able plastic storage jar and drilling a few air holes in the plastic lid.

Long term storage: If you want to completely slow down the fermentation process put your sourdough starter in an air-tight glass (not metal) storage jar, like a large preserving ‘kilner’ type jar, seal the lid and put it in the fridge. This will keep without feeding for about 6 weeks. When you want to use it discard all but 100g of the bottom of the sourdough and build it back up from there – place it into a bowl and add in 200g of bread flour, 200ml of warm water and leave it in a warm room for 12 to 24 hours before following the second and third stage of making a sourdough.

To understand how to feed the ferment read the next page.