Now for something different. This is for anyone who happened to get a sourdough starter from me. I’m actually trying to clear my backlog of sourdough so baking to give away.
Recipe
This is my recipe I used in the bread machine.
Add the follow ingredients to the bread machine basket in order:
200g water
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
Optional add in any extras – nuts, fruit, spices etc at this point. If it’s dried fruit you might want to add same or half the weight of the dried fruit in extra water and place it in the bottom so it can absorb.
250g wholemeal*
250g starter
*optional if you are timing it up for a long time I like to take out 50g of wholemeal and then after the starter I add 50g of plain white flour to give the starter something to ‘eat’ whilst it waits to cook.
Also note the ingredients are layered to keep the salt and sugar away from the starter because it will stop the rising process.
I put this in the bread machine and set it to
- wholemeal flour baking setting
- basic bake
- timer for the bread machine to time it to finish when you want to eat it eg same time we wake up.
Note if you want white bread just substitute wholemeal for plain white flour.
Here’s the recipe that had the most success from Charith my husband’s colleague who we gave a starter to. Note the original recipe is reversed with the flour on the bottom. I found this sometimes causes lumps of flour in the machine so reversing the layers seems to be more reliable. You also need to be careful to keep the basket straight so it doesn’t mix when you’re putting it in the bread machine.
However the real secret is a good active starter. Sourdough is really another art form to watch and know when is the right time to bake.
And yes I’ve been using my fountain pens and fancy shimmer ink in this notebook and using it to record my baking experiments scientifically with my observations. Wouldn’t recommend this paper as you can see there is some shading.
Feeding your starter
Here’s also a step by step guide to feeding your starter with pictures. I tend to do this 2-3 times before baking to make sure it’s really active. It should be doubling and be bubbly.
Bubbly starter too much to use so I’m going to feed it an spit it in the fridge
At this point you can pop it into the fridge to use next time. Or allow it to rise to double the size for the next loaf.
Tips for refreshing from dormant
So this batch I had sitting in my fridge for at least 2 months there was a layer of black grey fermented juice on top that I just poured down the sink then fed it with 20g flour 20g water let it rise then feed again using instructions above.
I had to feed the sourdough starter about 5-8x before it started doubling as normal.
Depending on the weather, temperature it would take anywhere from 1 (summer) to 4-6 hours (winter wit/without heater on) to rise so this is something you just need to check and see if it’s doubled.
You want to bake with it as it rises at its peak just before it starts falling down again. You can see it double the size and also when it starts to slide down a bit. If I’m a bit later I’ll adjust the recipe to swap out some of the wholemeal and sprinkle plain flour on top.
I made a loaf with it but it was pretty square and dense. Not great some would have thrown it out but I’ll still eat it. I had added currents and goji berries in it so it was like dense banana bread instead of raisen bread. Not fluffy but edible.
Fed it 2-3x more then it was ready for baking.
Update 13 hours later… Here’s the finished loaf
It looks like it worked out because it’s
- Size and shape – it is double the size of the starting dough and round (square or flat top means it hasn’t risen enough so need to work on the starter)
- Has a nice crust and is split (if it’s smooth it’s probably too dense)
- Bread looks soft not crumbly
Let it sit for at least 30 min before cutting it or taking the paddle out to allow the moisture to cool in the bread. If you cut it too early it will dry out and be more crumbly.
Rachel Fong Art 