The Fresh Loaf

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Sourdough: 2 questions

CountryBoy's picture
CountryBoy

Sourdough: 2 questions

 

Sourdough: two questions

Question 1: Has everyone heard of this recipe?

Watching the Norwegian cooking show and  found this recipe suggested:

1-Organic apple peals mixed with water and sugar allowed to rest over night, then

2-Add rye flour and allow 3-4 days for bubbles to appear; feed regularly.

3-Mix with flour for the loaves and allow 2 hrs to rise and then bake.

Question 2:

How do I make a sourdough starter and keep it without using all the flour that is normally fed to it and thrown out over the course of a usual sourdough build. Flour in Westchester, NY is roughly $6.00 for a 5lb bag of KA flour so flour ain’t cheap any more.  So is there a cost efficient way to make and keep sourdough starter without all the feeding and throwing out of flour?

Thanks.

Country Boy

nicodvb's picture
nicodvb

day 1 mix 30 grams of yogurth + 20 gr of rye flour; stir every 8-12 hours

day 2 add 30 grams of yogurth + 20 gr of rye flour; stir every 8-12 hours. You will surely see the first signs of fermentation.

day 3, guess! add 30 grams of yogurth + 20 gr of rye flour. Most likely the starter will rise furiously and overflow the cup. After 24 hours add enough flour to make the starter stiffer, wait 1-2 hours and store in the refrigerator until you need it.

No need to refresh regularly, it's immortable! I refresh my starter only when it's about to finish. No waste, either: nothing is discarded.

Grenage's picture
Grenage

Or skip the yogurt/apples/vinegar/citrus/randomacidicliquid and just add water to flour.

You can limit waste by keeping very small amounts, and/or utilising the fridge.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

It's been a long time.  Welcome back!

Mini

CountryBoy's picture
CountryBoy

Hello to Mini

The one who has taught so many of us all about sourdough!

country boy

wally's picture
wally

Make a smaller starter if you aren't using it on a daily basis.  One-half cup total  So, you throw out less, and, if you refrigerate, you can get away with replenishing it maybe twice or even once a week.  Not so much waste, not so costly.

Larry

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

I now keep keep 90 grams of SD starter in the fridge and feed it once a week even if I am baking with it.  Feed 15 G of starter with 35 g of flour and 30 g of water.  Let it sit for 2 hours or so, until it increases in volume 50%, then add the remaining 10 g of flour and refrigerate.  I hardly ever throw any away.  I use 33% each rye, WW and AP for feed.  I then build the levain toward what ever I am baking by using 20 g of starter  and building it to what ever amount I need over (3) 4 hour builds where a progressive amount of flour and water is added to it with the last build establishing the final hydration of the levain.

All at Sea's picture
All at Sea

... yes, though not exactly that recipe, but many, many variations thereof.

Question 2: I think to answer that best, need to ask you a question - how often do you want (or think you want) to bake sourdough bread?

If your answer is only now and then, I would go with the yoghurt & rye recipe given above. And even consider making starter to order. It might be more economical than keeping one going for infrequent use.  Not so long ago,  I fooled around with a starter based on live yoghurt and stoneground rye and using that baked on the starter's third day of existence. (You'll need warm temperatures to achieve that speed of development). Because it's so quick to make and so active so soon, and because I don't want to bake sourdough more than once a fortnight - I don't bother keeping any starter at all.  Just run up a fresh batch 3 days before I bake.

All at Sea

 

 

richkaimd's picture
richkaimd

On your second question, I say why do you need to use a premium-priced flour for a sourdough starter?  You're making a starter only to carry flavor and yeast into your dough.  In my kitchen, I use the least expensive generic unbleached flour I can find.  I have not noticed that the function or taste of my sourdough starter suffers at all.  The price of 2 ten pound bags of white flour at Costco's is fairly low, so it's worth it if available to you and you've somewhere cool to store it.

Oh, yes, I've had good luck getting low prices on 4 gm protein flours (even King Arthur Bread Flour) at Wegman's in Pennsylvania.  Maybe you know someone who lives down there?

 

CountryBoy's picture
CountryBoy

Many thanks for help on economizing on sourdough starters..

CountryBoy