[Homesteadingfamily] [a forum] Re: Sourdough

I make whole grain breads and Italian type bagettes and such, all the
time..and I am gonna try your pointers with this "Sour Dough Starter"
hints....sound like it would work, to me!thanks~ Deb

--- In Homesteadingfamily@yahoogroups.com, "Paw Possum"
<chief.possum@...> wrote:
>
> Hi there,
>
> I agree that the first writer's instructions for a sourdough starter
are
> not going to produce anything like San Francisco sourdough. The
second
> writer (Linda) is correct but somehow this is not enough information
for
> most people who have not spent years in San Francisco's bakeries. I
> have experimented with sourdough and have some suggestions for getting
> your initial sourdough starter, started and getting a nice flavor much
> like the SF sourdough has.
>
> A successful sourdough starter is often many, many years old, perhaps
> even as much as 100 or so. After this length of time, your starter
will
> likely be similar to the San Francisco culture, but of course each
> culture will be somewhat unique due to the variations in climate, etc.
> The trouble is really how to get a new or young culture to produce a
> tasty bread similar to the old culture.
>
> After doing extensive reading, I learned that such a starter culture
as
> the old San Francisco culture contains lactobacilli bacteria and in
fact
> that particular lactobacilli is named lactobacillus sanfranciscensis,
a
> particular variant of this lactic acid producing bacteria culture. So
> when we leave the flour and water mixture out, open to the air, we're
> hoping to catch both a suitable wild yeast that is active enough for
> levening and also tastes good as well as a lactobacillus that has
> similar taste qualities to the SF strain.
>
> We _might_ get lucky but there are possibly several things working
> against most people. Perhaps it's November in northern climates and
> there just are no yeast spores floating around in the open air, due to
> the cool, dry air in heated homes. San Francisco is surrounded by
salt
> water, it's a mild climate, and every day at 2:30 pm the wind shifts
and
> the fog rolls in. You can set your watch by it. It has it's own
unique
> micro climate and your home is probably not much like it.
>
> So really I find the best thing you can do is to do this step when the
> air in your home is moist and warm (in the spring). Once your
fledgling
> starter culture starts to bubble, then you've caught a wild yeast but
> that's not the end. You need a lactobacillus bacteria as well. Where
> can you get one that has a great flavor? Well, yogurt has it. So
> cheat. Take a spoonful of your favorite plain yogurt and add it so as
> to innoculate your starter with this culture.
>
> Now, you've got the essential culture components but what you still
> don't have is the proper acidity so that only the correct yeast and
> lactobacillus grows and not bad things like mold for example. How can
> you get the acidity? Add vinegar. I like to go to a store that sells
> organic products and buy a cider vinegar that has a mother in the
> bottom. I shake this vinegar up and put a spoonful into the young
> starter to give it the right acidity and also it adds a little of the
> mother and that helps the starter culture.
>
> Lastly, maybe a slight shake of salt into your starter but not much.
> Now, it's bubbling and it also has all the right stuff in it to
produce
> a nice flavored bread.
>
> From here, you can follow other people's recommendations on how to
> remove half your starter after 2 weeks in the refrigerator and replace
> it with water and flour. I prefer flour that doesn't have additives
> such as unbleached flour.
>
> Alternately, you can do like I do. I leave my starer in a loosely
> covered jar on top of the refrigerator or on a high shelf to stay nice
> and warm. Every day, I add a spoonful of flour and if it needs it, I
> also add water. This should be like a batter. When I get too much
> starter, I use a cookie sheet and some baking rings to make English
> muffins from 100% starter. They are really wonderful, ... nice and
> sour. Just add your spoonful of flour to feed it before using it for
> the muffins. Then put your baking rings on a cookie sheet and fill
them
> half full with this starter. Let it rise until it's full, level with
> the top (doubled in bulk). Then bake at 400F until done.
>
> With your culture fed every day, it will be very active and will make
a
> nice bread pretty fairly quickly. Still, sourdough takes time to
> develop the flavor and it's also slower to leaven than regular
> commercial yeast. My favorite way to make bread with this is to use a
> standard bread machine set to "dough." It generally takes two cycles
to
> get the dough active enough and having a nice flavor. Sometimes if my
> starter culture has been refrigerated, I sometimes have to run it
> through 3 cycles. So make a dough with one cycle and when it's done,
> just reset it for another dough cycle and let it run again.
>
> Then once your sponge (dough rising in a bowl) becomes very active,
then
> you can make any loaves you like. Shape the loaves, let it rise in a
> warm spot, then bake it. If you like the SF sourdough style crusty
> bread, you can follow the instructions given by the previous writers
for
> the pan of water, etc. Some folks instead just take a mister filled
> with water and open the oven door occasionally and give it a mist. By
> varying this amount and frequency, you can make it have the crust you
> like. Practice makes perfect. I personally don't like crispy crusts
> like this but to each his own.
>
> Some people bake bread in a basket or slash the dough on top. This is
> all part of the bread maker's art. Crusts too. I just prefer a nice
> flavor with a chewy crust, but that's me.
>
> Good luck. I hope this is clear but you can write to me off-list if I
> don't see your queries on list.
>
> -Paw, Doomer in Chief
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/brierpatch/
>
>
> --- In another forum, "Lynda" wrote:
> >
> > This won't make a sourdough starter. This is a biga. The way
Italians
> > generally start their bread. the recipe that follows is also an
Italian
> > bread recipe.
> >
> > A true San Francisco sourdough starter is unbleached flour and water
and it
> > is set out for days to gather yeast from the air. Generally a crock
is
> > used.
> >
> > The bread itself is flour, water, starter and salt. That's it.
> >
> > To get a good crust, preheat your oven to 450. put a pan under the
rack you
> > are going to bake your bread on. When you put the loaf in the oven
(on a
> > cookie sheet), dump 4 or 5 ice cubes in the tray. Turn the oven
down to 425
> > for about 15-20 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 400 and
continue to
> > bake (the time will depend on your location, type of flour, and
where you
> > are from sea level). A real sourdough bread can take up to 60
minutes to
> > bake.
> >
> > I was born in San Francisco. Grew up around the city and had the
good
> > fortune to have spent a lot of time in the kitchens of some of the
great
> > restaurants in the city.
> >
> > Lynda
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "bina...."
> >
> >
> > > Sourdough Starter
> > > 1 pkg of yeast
> > > 1 Tbsp sugar
> > > 2 cups of warm water divided
> > > 2 cups of flour
> > > Disolve sugar and yeast into 1/2 cup of water. Stir the remaining
water
> > > and flour. Add yeast mixture and mix thouroughly. Let stand
overnight in
> > > a warm place.
> > > To replenish add equal parts of water and flour to the starter. So
if you
> > > use a cup of starter you put in a cup of replenishments.
> > > Keep in fridge.
> > >
> > >
> > > San Fransico Sour Dough Bread
> > >
> > > Mix 1 cup of starter and flour, and let rise overnight in a warm
spot.
> > > About 85 degrees is perfect.
> > > Add 1 cup of warm milk and stir a little then add 1 Tbsp of sugar
and 1
> > > tsp of salt. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time to form a managable
dough.
> > > Knead 10 to `15 minutes until silky and smooth. Let rise in a
greased
> > > bowl about 6-8 hours till at least double. Punch down and shape
into a
> > > french loaf for a finer bread rise twice in the bowl before
shaping.
> > > Let loaf rise, slash the top, brush with egg wash . Bake at 400
degrees
> > > for 25 minutes. Bread is done when it thumps hollow.
> > > Placing a pan of salted water on the bottom rack to give a more
chewy
> > > crust.
> > >
> > > No more buying yeast.
> > > Cheers
> > > Bina
>

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