Cooking with Sourdough

One of my greatest joys is creating culinary delights for my family using my food storage. I have taught several classes on the subject and was recently asked if I would include some of my favorite recipes on my blog, so here we go!

I love cooking with sourdough. I use it on a weekly basis with a variety of recipes you probably would never consider using sourdough in.

Now if you don't happen to know someone who can give you an established starter then you can easily start your own. My starter is going on 10 years old.

SOUR DOUGH STARTER

1 Cup whole wheat flour

(whole grains have more wild yeasts in them)

1 Cup chlorine free water

1 Quart sized glass container

Mix well, cover with plastic wrap and put in an 85 degree area. Now comes the hard part, you must wait 24 hours. You want to see some bubbles, some signs of life. If you still don't see any signs of life, wait another 12 hours. If you still haven't seen any bubbles or signs of life, ditch the starter and begin again.

Once you do see signs of life, add another cup water and cup of whole grain flour. Cover the container, and put it back in the warm area.

At this point, you will need to feed your starter regularly every 8 to 12 hours to encourage the growth of the micro-organisms . You should double the size of the starter with each feeding. This will get out of control pretty quickly, so to keep from being overwhelmed by starter, go ahead and discard 1/2 the starter before each feeding.

Repeat this feeding cycle for several days. Within 3 or 4 days, you should have a very lively starter with lots of bubbles in the starter, and a layer of froth on the top of it.

If you look closely you can see a layer of froth on the top.

When you feed the starter, it will rise. It can take 3 to 6 hours to reach it's peak, depending on how active the starter is. Once it reaches it's peak, it will start to recede as the starter slows down. If you feed your starter and go to work, you could miss the starter's peak, and see a quiet starter when you get home. You might think nothing is happening as a result. If you look at the container that holds the starter, you will see that the starter has left streaks on the side of it.

When the starter is doubling in size, you are ready to start using it to make breads and other delicious recipes. At this point, you may start feeding it with whatever sort of flour you prefer.

Remember, if your starter can't double it's own size,

it can't raise your bread.