Sourdough For Real - Getting The Hang Of It

   I've had a new lease on life when I realized that I could make sourdough starter for myself. Bread baking has new meaning and is better for us. I actually want to make bread again (it had gotten to be a big drag there for a while).

   My goal this winter was to work on whole grain sourdough bread. While I actually haven't arrived, I am real happy with my starter and our results. I bought a few books last summer to experiment with, but I really don't care for a lot of extra steps and fancily timed procedures. Let me work and feel with my hands, eyeball the the rest and I'm happy. Recipes make my mind wander and eyes blur. Really tho once you understand why you are doing something you don't really need a recipe!...unless you want to make the same thing next week! So, I do have a thickening black book of tried and true formulas, some copied and some of my own.

   Have you tried making your own starter? Piece of cake. Even my sluggishly slow starts make a fine piece of bread...it just takes longer. I don't know why, but some of my starts did better than others. I have one that consistently rises fast and vigorous: this one is my treasure -I guess I have thought about naming it.
 While I've been messing around with sourdough there are a few things I had to learn the hard way and a few things that turned out to not be all that important.

Temperature is a huge factor in the life of your starter. This summer was torture for me in my kitchen. It was 95 degrees with all the fans running and blowing. Every start I made did really well for one week of baking and then the next week it would turn my dough into a flat glob without any glutenous stretch or rising ability and tasted like salty chalk. The problem was the heat in my kitchen. The solution was: Store the starter in the refrigerator until 2 to 3 days (Monday) before baking began (Thursday). Once out of the refrigerator I set the starter in a cooler with a jar or two of ice to maintain a temperature of 70 to 75 degrees (about) until properly revived. Anything over 85 degrees will kill the starter and I don't know if it is come- backable.
 
 Keeping the starter is simply done in the refrigerator. That way it doesn't mold and I don't have to worry about maintaining the right temperature or feeding.  I understand that the starter can last for months this way. I have a cup stored in the freezer to see how it fares preserved this way. I haven't tried the drying and storing method.

To revive my starter I pull it out of the fridge, feed it with a dose of flour and water (on the thick side), let set out on the counter (in the winter - in a cooler with ice in the summer). 2 days of feeding twice a day and it should be ready to to use the next day. When my starter has doubled I feel like it is now strong enough to lift several pounds of whole wheat flour - which can be very heavy! I usually use it 8 hours after the last feeding. The smell should be good...a relative good, actually it knocks my socks off and has a wang, but to me, that smells good.  I take out what I need to use for my baking always saving back at least 1/4th of a cup. This saved bit gets fed and left out until a bit bubbly then stored back in the fridge.

Baking day usually starts 1. the night before when I put my ingredients together to work out overnight or 2. early the next morning to bake that evening. I started using weight to measure out my ingredients as this helps get more constistantly results.

My formula (recipe):
1920 g. flour white, combo of white, rye, or whole wheat.
1440 g. water (room temperature or cold)
2 to 3 TBS of salt
I mix this just until blended. Let rest for about 30 minutes.Over the next 2 hours, off and on, I knead it in the bowl (if  it isn't too full)  usually by the stretch and pull method for a few minutes, letting rest for a while , then stretching and pulling, repeating until the elasticity of the gluten makes a smooth unbroken ball. 
  When the dough has doubled divide into loafs (this formula makes approx 5 - 1.5 lb loaves) shape into rounds and let rise 1.5 hours to 2 hours. Do not over proof (means- rise too long- where if poked the dough heaves a sigh and sinks, never to rise again).

To prepare for baking: half way through the rising I preheat my oven and baking stone with an enamel roasting pan lid OR cast iron dutch oven with lid to 450 degrees. A hot oven is essential, even tho it seems wasteful to let an oven heat without anything baking, it does cook better.

Just before I'm ready to bake- within the 2 hour- 2nd rise, I do the final shaping to my bread on my heavily floured peal - this requires lots of practice. The short version: handle gently, fold into a baguette, boule, or batard, and pinch seams together at the bottom. This can sit on the peal until the oven is perfectly ready.

I slide the loaf (usually two at a time) onto the baking stone, quickly slash the top, place the lid on and shut the oven. Oh, and set the timer for 15 minutes.

After 15 to 20 minutes I remove the lid and let the bread finish baking until the internal temperature is over 190 up to 200 degrees 10 to 15 minutes longer.

Resist slicing until the bread has cooled at least 1/2 an hour, otherwise...you'll have to find out yourself.

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Frugally Sustainable #67