To get started though, you need a liquid yeast. I recommend King Arthur's brand. However, there are others out there via Sourdoughs International or Carl's Friends. I was lucky and received a wonderful starter from my sister in Ohio for Christmas. However, when you order a starter, follow the instructions from the person/company you got the starter from to maintain the starter and sometimes you have to nurture the starter before you can actually use it for sourdough making.
I store my starter on the top shelf of my fridge in a mason jar.
I "feed" it once a week (every Friday). When you hear the term feeding, I mean, this is a living yeast, so the recipe to feed is basically allowing the yeast to eat and stay yeasty (kind of smells like beer)! I also recommend doing this first thing in the morning, explanation coming up!
The starter feeding recipe is:
1 cup of starter
1/2 cup of room temp water (72-75 degrees F)
1 cup flour (I recommend bread flour, but all purpose works)
It really comes in handy if you have a basic KitchenAid mixer, but if you don't or don't want to spend the money on one, this is easily done by hand. When I did mine by hand I'd use a potato masher to mix rather than a whisk. It's just easier to clean.
So this is what your finished feeding should look like after you've just mixed it.
Once you've mixed your monster, I usually transfer it to another mixing bowl other than my KitchenAid mixing bowl as I have baked oatmeal to make the next day (Saturday) in my routine of housewifeyness.
Cover it tightly with saran wrap, or if you're oh so lucky like me, and live in a dry environment, I use press n seal because saran wrap just doesn't like the Vegas desert!
Let this bad boy sit for 4-6 hours. I like to let it sit and eat for 6 hours, more fermentation and I have more time to do other things.
Alright, you've let it sit, have a peek!
Your starter should look bubbly and fizzy, and smell like beer.
So now, just put the saran wrap/press n seal back on, tightly, and stick it in the fridge.
As I mentioned before, hopefully you did this in the morning. Leave this bad boy on the top shelf in your fridge until the next day/morning.
Day 2
So, good morning, firstly!
Taking the starter out of the fridge, you're going to want to stir it a bit. You might have a pinch of yellow juicy film on top. That's good stuff. Stir it until it's all mixed.
Put 1 cup of the starter in your mason jar, make sure not to tighten the lid too tightly, but just enough it doesn't make your fridge smell like beer, y'know? Keep it on the top shelf of your fridge until next week!
Next take out 1/2 cup of the starter and set aside in a small bowl, and either empty the contents of your starter into your sink running hot water and with the garbage disposal running, or if you're so inclined to share your awesomeness, give 1 cup to a friend, relative or whomever as a gift!
So now, as in the picture to your right, basic tools. If you're doing this by hand, again, add a potato masher to these tools.
To save money, I just reuse the press n seal I used on day 1 for the starter, so just set it aside.
Put the 1/2 cup of starter in your mixing bowl and get ready for the next step: making the sponge!
Recipe for the sponge:
1/2 cup starter
1/2 warm tap water (80-85 degrees F)
1 cup of flour (again, i'm using bread flour, all purpose works)
After it's mixed, however you mixed it, this is about what it should look like. Less liquid, teeny bit more solid and way sticky.
Cover the bowl tightly with the saran wrap/press n seal you set aside, and let the sponge sit for 2-3 hours.
** I have granite counter tops, which run cool, so I use a oven mitt to sit the mixing bowls on at all stages of making this sourdough just to keep the temperature of the dough at room temp. (72-74 degrees F)
2-3 Hours have passed, it's dough time!
This part requires much patience.
Dough Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups or 2 cups of water
4 3/4 cups of flour
2 1/2 tsp of salt
and the sponge
Sift your flour first. I use a hand held colander, if you don't have a screened (like your window screens) colander, just measure your flour one cup at a time and then shake the flour out of the cup.
Pour your water in with your sponge along with the salt. By hand, use your potato masher in a deep big bowl and carefully mix the two together until they're completely mixed. Wear an apron or clothes you don't mind getting messy! If you're using a KitchenAid mixer, put your dough hook on and keep the speed on low. You may be tempted to speed it up a notch, but you'll find out mid-way through adding flour your mixer is hot to the touch. So keep it on the lowest speed.
Alright, so now you're going to start adding the flour. Whatever mixing method you're using, add 1/4 cup at a time.
By hand: You will know when you can no longer use the potato masher. At this point you're going to get your hands dirty. Don't forget to take off your rings! I'd say use gloves, but when I tried gloves it was near impossible to mix because the sticky dough stuck more to the gloves than it stayed in the bowl.
With a KitchenAid mixer, it's important to have a spatula nearby. I've seen so many bad reviews on the KitchenAid classic mixer in regards to bread simply because they didn't read the owner's manual. Common sense comes into play here as well.
The picture on the left is me mixing the sponge with water. A failed experiment, just stick to the dough hook or you'll get splashed by dough goo!
Every other time you add 1/4 cup of flour, use the spatula to clean off your dough hook and scrape the inner sides of the bowl. Towards the end of mixing, your KitchenAid mixer may get more hot than you're comfortable with. Unplug your mixer, drape a towel over the top and use an ice pack to cool the motor for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, use a wet but wrung out towel to cover the dough so it doesn't stiffen. I've only had to do this twice mainly because our A/C was off and the mixer naturally got hotter than it normally should. Fun times.
After all the dough has been mixed in, either by hand or mixer, separate the dough into two equal parts.
For me, this bread means weekly bread. My husband takes sandwiches to work and we use the other loaf for dinners.
So I put one dough ball into a loaf pan, and the other in a bowl. Spray your bowls, pans, whatever you use (not a flat cookie sheet, some kind of bowl or bread pan so it rises upwards, not outwards) with some sort of non-stick spray. I always use Pam's extra olive oil spray. Then put the two dough balls in their respective containers.
Spray the tops of the dough balls with your non-stick spray, and then cover tightly with saran wrap/press n seal.
Let it rise for 3-5 hours.
Once it has risen for 3-5 hours, put it in the fridge overnight.
Day 3
Good morning again!
It's baking day!
Sometimes, but not all the time, my dough will continue to rise in the fridge. Go ahead and take both dough pans/bowls out and let it sit at room temperature for 3-4 hours.
Baking:
400-450 degrees F
20-30 minutes
If you're making a bread loaf in a loaf pan, use a sharp long knife and cut the dough length wise about 1 inch to 1/2 inch for breathing in the oven. With your round loaf cut the same depth, but in a cross as shown in the picture.
The degree and time variance is for altitude. I'm approximately 2000+ miles above sea level. So I bake at 400 for 23 minutes. The lower the altitude you're at, the higher the baking temp and the longer you bake it. Vice-versa for higher elevations.
I did get a good picture of our dinner loaf, but my husband quickly took away my pan loaf ;)
The dough will be hot out of the oven (duh you know, right?), but let it sit on the counter or a rack for 30 mins as it's still cooking on the inside. After that, Bon Appétit!
Happy Baking! :)
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