Sourdough Bread Tips Needed

[barbszy]

Anyone else like to bake sourdough bread?

My family and I really like the taste, but I am not very good about keeping up the starter, and then it dies on me....:( Any tips on doing a better job with that?

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Do you keep it in a dry warm place Barb as well as covered?

[cat lover]

I've done sourdough breads in the past but haven't gotten back into making a "starter"since we moved. When I did have one going it was just getting into the routine every day of taking care of the starter and baking bread. I would do that every day when I came home from work, that was my rule; starter was first and then whatever else needed to be done. Of course it always seemed easier in the winter when you didn't have outdoor things to be done. I think I've just talked myself into getting another starter going! LOL

Barb, do you do a potato sour dough starter? We like potato bread very much!

[barbszy]

No, I just use a regular starter. We love the recipe; it's from a bed-&-breakfast cookbook my parents picked up while traveling.

But it's "taking care of the starter" that kills me. What do you do to maintain it?

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Barb, I grew up with the sourdough all my life and did it for a bit when my kids were little.

This is what I remember. You have to keep it kind of covered. You need a few slits for the gasses to escape so you don't have an explosion. The reason for the covering and the warm dry place is that too many or much temperature changes will kill it. Once it's it frothy, do you regridgerate it?

Also, are you feeling it properly?

Good luck!

[cat lover]

Here's the one we like:Potato Sourdough Starter

4 cups unbleached flour
2 tbsp salt
1 pounds sugar
4 cups lukewarm potato water

Boil some potatoes for supper or any meal and save the water and use it lukewarm with enough unbleached flour to make a thick batter without yeast. Let it stand a day or two till it smells right. Then store it in the refrigerator. Remove a cup of the starter from the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature.

Feed what you took out with 1 cup flour and 1 cup water. Feed the remaining starter with the same before putting it back into the regrigerator. Let the starter do its thing. It will become bubbly and foamy. Watch for its "peak" which usually happens 8-10 hours after you've fed it. I keep mine at 75-85 degrees (we don't have AC so that isn't a problem) Then I make my bread during the peak while its active. Dump the rest of the starter back into the mother pot.

I guess when I have one going I just make myself get into a routine. I always found a routine when I worked of that was the first thing I did when I got into the house was to take care of it, think of it as like one of those eggs kids get sent home with; you "have to care for it" Don't know if that helped you or not, but hope so!

[DeBora4BobbyL]

I guess I like the plain regular sourdough myself.

[barbszy]

The recipe I have calls for the starter to be kept in the fridge once it's "established." It stays in a big bowl for the first few days until it sours, and then goes into a sealed big glass jar in the fridge.

My problem is that I forget about it! I know that if I don't do bread with it I have to dump some out and feed it with fresh flour & water every few days. But I'm not too good about doing that!

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Barb, do you think that you might be forgetting to feed it? That would kill it. If I remember correctly, it has to be fed every 24 hours.

[cat lover]

Well I'm not sure abut how to "remember" doing that unless you "make" a routine of some sorts that would work for you. I found that the daily care for it became easy when I associated it into my daily routine. Hope maybe you'll find something that will work for you!

[sharlibird]

Barb, this may be easier to remember...this recipe only needs to be fed once a week...
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/recipes/bm-start.htm

[cat lover]

I took a a quick peek at that and it sounds like giving a try; it would make things easier for sure!

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Thanks Charlene. All this talk of sourdough reminds me of my childhood when my grandmother and mother were all exchanging sourdough starters. People just don't don't that so much these days.

[barbszy]

Charlene, I'm definitely going to try this out. Once a week is something I can handle! Thanks :D

[cat lover]

I'm goping to try using my potato water in this and see if it resembles my sourdough potato dough we like.

[DeBora4BobbyL]

I was thinking how we have to remember to take vitamins, schedule pap smears, take medications, feed the animals, and on top of it, remember to feed the dough! lol :D

[sharlibird]

You're welcome, Barb...glad I could help. I actually ran across this one when I was looking for recipes for another member who wanted to use her bread machine for other uses than bread. Funny how things work out, huh?

[barbszy]

I started the starter the other day. It's sitting on my kitchen table in a big pottery bowl, covered with a towel.
This morning I peeked at it and it had this nasty crust all over the top. I took off the crust with a spatula and tossed it, and stirred the batter.
Do you think it's still OK? Or should I dump it and start ALL over?

[cat lover]

ummm, did you use a damo towel over it and keep it damp? I usually have to redampen mine a lot because we do't have AC, so this not damp enough may have been what caused it to crust over. Ususally they haven't gone ad unleas it gets a pink or orange cast off color. What does anybody else think?

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Barb, I don't remember that happening. Maybe someone else knows. Keep us posted as I am curious.

[barbszy]

All righty!

I took off the crust and pitched it, and covered as cat lover suggested.

Refrigerated it for almost a week as we were going away. Then I "fed" it with the 1 tbl each water & flour and let it sit a day on the table.

Last night I took a cup of it to make my bread, replaced what I used and let it sit over night. I put it in the fridge today.

The recipe I use calls for starting the bread overnight and then finishing it the next day. It makes 3 loaves. I did 2 regular loaves and 1 baguette. So far I have tasted the baguette and it is GOOD though not very tangy. Maybe the starter will sour a little more over time.

BUT--thanks for all the help! A once a week feed is something I can manage.

[cat lover]

Great! Boy wish I could have a bite! LOL

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Wow Barb, that has been a work in progress.