Sourdough Starter

In the town where we live, it's impossible to find a good baguette from a bakery.  The baker we did have (up until last summer) told me there wasn't a demand for baguettes here, so he wouldn't make them.  I was ruined years ago working as a server at a French brassiere in Minneapolis where Turtle Bread Company delivered fresh baguettes and pastries daily.  They were out-of-this-world.

I started researching sourdough starters after seeing a cinnamon roll recipe on the Food Network.  The woman sharing her recipe used a starter for all her bread making and had kept her starter alive since her wedding.  She had been given the starter as a gift.  That means this mixture of live yeast, flour and water had been living in her kitchen for 30 years.  It got me thinking.

Maybe that is the missing piece home cooks aren't aware of?  Maybe we need this yeasty concoction that has been festering for years to make a decent loaf of bread. 

Then I had twins.  Who has time to mess around with baguette baking then?  I didn't.  I do have a sweet tooth and I love to bake and those cinnamon rolls that I saw Paula Deen and her friend make seemed too interesting to pass up.

This starter is made the day before you plan to make cinnamon rolls, or whatever your fancy.  8-12 hours before, to be precise.  I have had success making a starter only 4-6 hours before baking too. 

*you can dig into Paula's recipes, but you won't find the starter there.  I happened to watch the episode and took notes while I watched.  The notes are crucial for the rolls to turn out.  But, this post is about starter.... 

Sourdough Starter 
printer friendly version
1 cup tepid water 
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp active dry yeast
pinch of sugar
1 quart jar - no smaller (always glass, never metal)
heavy rubber band
piece of heavy paper towel

Mix as you would pancake batter, just enough to combine.  The bubbling from the yeast will do the rest.  (I mixed mine in the pyrex, then dumped into a large, recycled marshmallow fluff jar)  NEVER ever EVER never NEVER seal the jar with a lid.  It will literally explode.  I'm serious.  The very first time I made this, I tried to put the lid on loosely...I barely released the lid and it shot off.  A thick paper towel secured with a heavy rubber band will allow the yeast to breath...gas to escape... and keep your starter free from fruit flies on a warm summer day with the windows open.  Set starter in a warm spot.  (I set the jar on the fridge where it won't be disturbed)

 

Use as desired 8-12 hours after mixing.  It's suggested if you wish to keep your starter alive {on the counter at room temperature} indefinitely that you bake with it weekly. 

MORE THAN YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT STARTER, but these are more so notes to myself:

Refrigeration slows growth.  Freezing will stop growth.  A warm, moist environment will produce the fastest growth.  You will notice rising times in breads vary greatly from Minnesota winters to summers (cold and dry = little bacteria in the air  vs. hot and humid = lots of bacteria in the air.  Yeast likes lots of bacteria in the air). 

To thaw, leave at room temperature for 24 hours.  Replenish thawed starter with 1 cup flour and 1 cup water.  Wait 8-12 hours before using. 

Replenish starter by adding equal parts water and flour to the yeast mixture.  It's not necessary to add yeast and sugar anymore.  If you don't use the mixture after 12 hours, when you do decide to use it, discard 1/2 the mixture, feed it, wait 8-12 hours and use.  Refrigerate the starter if you don't plan to use it in 8-12 hours.  You can also dehydrate your starter, save it dried and rehydrate when you want to use or pass it on to someone.  That's how it traveled long distances, long ago.  Interesting, huh? 

So, let's say you have a stash of starter in the refrigerator and it's been there for a week and you want to make cinnamon rolls.  The night before baking, take one cup of starter out of the refrigerator and put in a large jar.  Add one cup flour and one cup water (feed it).  Let sit 8-12 hours.  Use amount required in recipe, dump what is left back into the refrigerator stash.    

***Personally, I haven't found a need for a constant supply of starter thus far and get great results mixing a starter the day or evening before baking.  I dump the remaining 1/2 cup down the drain if I don't plan to make pizza or something that night.  Refrigerated starter starts to separate and a 'hooch' liquid forms from the fermenting.  Stir the hooch in, or pour some off and feed starter as directed.  (hooch pictured below)  At this point it has a beer-like odor.

                   

The mixture is 1/2 water and 1/2 flour, so decrease liquid and flour in recipes accordingly.  If you use a cup of starter in your pizza dough, you will decrease the water and the flour in the pizza dough recipe by a 1/2 cup each.  Starter is a fun ingredient to play around with when using yeast recipes!

Use starter in these:

...or baguettes, ciabatta, focaccia, CINNAMON ROLLS, pizza dough, dinner rolls, bagels, brown sugar-raisin bread, sourdough bread, whole wheat or white bread, or just CINNAMON ROLLS.