Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Sourdough Starter

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One of my favorite things to do, is bake bread.

I just love the whole process, the kneading, the baking and then knowing that when it's all done my family is rewarded with a loaf or two of the best tasting fresh homemade bread.

There really is nothing like a warm slice of bread slathered with butter, is there?

I've been wanting to make Sourdough Bread for such a long time but quite frankly, it intimidated me, I have looked through so many recipes and websites and they made it sound like you need some sort of degree in bread making to even attempt it.

So, it's been put off, for a really long time.

Until I got my first Homestead Blessings DVD's, the West ladies make it seem so so easy and after watching the video The Art of Bread Making, I decided that it's now or never.

If you've never made a Sourdough Starter for fear that it would be really hard or a difficult process, then stop that thought and get right in the kitchen with me.

Let's make some together shall we? What's the worse that could happen? It doesn't work? Then we'll start right up again, but imagine if it does, we'll all be eating delicious Sourdough Bread, Pancakes, Pizza Dough etc in a few days.

Making Sourdough
Credit: Homestead Blessings - The Art of Bread Making


• 2 cups of All Purpose Flour
• 3 tablespoons of Sugar
• 1 tablespoon of Active Dry Yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon of Salt
• 2 cups of Warm Water


Mix in plastic or glass bowl till blended. Cover with cloth and set in warm place out of draft. Stir several times each day. Let ferment 2 to 3 days.

To use, remove starter needed for recipe then refrigerate remaining starter. Replenish every 7 to 10 days by stirring equal amounts of water and flour. Let stand at room temperature overnight and return to fridge.


Some people use bowls and some use these big glass jars, that's what I'm using and besides I don't have a glass bowl big enough.
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The West Ladies advice using a plastic or a wooden spoon to stir the ingredients.
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In goes the tablespoon of yeast, I measured it out and it's exactly one of the little packets of Dry Yeast that you get at the grocery store.
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Stir the ingredients well.
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Cover with a cloth. I set mine on the window for about 10 minutes and with this Arizona heat it quickly expanded and bubbled up, so I removed it and it's now sitting on my counter.

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This is what it looks like two hours later, can you see all those bubbles?

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I'll keep you up to date on my Sourdough Starter, I'll even take photos every day to show you.

You may have noticed that usually they tell you it takes 7 to 8 days and you're adding flour and water every day to it and stirring and whatever.

Honesty, that put me off because with everything that I have going on during the day, I can bet you anything that I would totally forget about it.

This way, it seems a lot easier and shorter too, only 2 to 3 days. I can DO that.

8 comments:

  1. Gorgeous starter!! I would love to make bread for my daughter but I'm a bit afraid of yeast--I've heard some horror stories of how hard it is to use but you make it look easy!! I may just have to give it a try.

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  2. That looks so great. I have only done freindship bread starter but this looks like something I want to try. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. I look forward to seeing how this turns out for you.

    I bake all our bread items but have been reluctant to try sourdough for the same reasons you give. Too hard and too involved. Who has days to tend to the starter before you even get to bake anything? If this works well, it doesn't sound like it would too hard to do this!

    I can smell the sourdough English Muffins now...mmmm.

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  4. okay I always see recipes for sourdough starters, but never how to bake them.... do you have a recipe for that, because I don't want to just have a starter! :)

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing this! I too have been intimidated by sourdough starter, though my husband has done it a time or two. This actually looks "doable." Thanks again! I look forward to seeing more about it. :)

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  6. I love making bread... A fantastic book you should try is My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method
    by Jim Lahey,

    A fantastic not scary bread book. Give it a whirl..

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  7. One of my fellow Army wives does this too, its called friendship bread. Cause once its big enough you give it to a friend who can also continue the process making it larger or you can choose to bake it.

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  8. What size is your jar? I think I made and had this starter for years but let it go. The container I was using that is perfect has been allocated to something else.

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