There are three sub-headings next to this drop down. Once you've read the information below click on the links to pop over and check out the recipes!
Check out the Concepts of Sour Dough in the "That's Good To Know" section for an in depth look at sourdoughs. As I commented in that section...
"There are as many stories about sourdough as there are bakers! Some will tell you that it's only sourdough if... and others will tell you that's a load of... "Sourdough has to be done just so." I've found that there are several ways to make a reliable sourdough starter and that you can make many types of sourdough products. You can approach sourdough baking in a very scientific way, but you can also just throw it together and be done."
There are a few types of starters - Sourdough, Fresh or Sweet and Friendship starters.
Fresh or Sweet starters (I use the names interchangeably) are used and refreshed as soon as the yeast is active(bubbly) in the flour and water mixture, usually within a day and sometimes as short a time as 2 or 3 hours. There is no sour tang and only a little "yeast" taste to products made with this type of starter. (Information on Biga are covered in a separate page - here)
Friendship starters are usually make with a fresh or fairly mild sourdough starter and have milk and sugar or honey added to it. This type of starter is used to make sweet breads and cakes. The name comes from using part of the starter in a cake, refreshing or feeding the starter left over and then sharing both a portion of the cake and starter to a friend with a recipe or two and a note to pass it on to someone else. This type of starter seems to make the rounds every few years and then sinks back into obscurity until "discovered" again by a new set of bakers.
Sour starters are allowed to sit for several days and up to a couple of weeks to develop a relationship between the yeast present in the flour and water mixture with beneficial bacteria that are attracted to the happy environment that the yeasty beastys inhabit.
Fresh or Sweet starters (I use the names interchangeably) are used and refreshed as soon as the yeast is active(bubbly) in the flour and water mixture, usually within a day and sometimes as short a time as 2 or 3 hours. There is no sour tang and only a little "yeast" taste to products made with this type of starter. (Information on Biga are covered in a separate page - here)
Friendship starters are usually make with a fresh or fairly mild sourdough starter and have milk and sugar or honey added to it. This type of starter is used to make sweet breads and cakes. The name comes from using part of the starter in a cake, refreshing or feeding the starter left over and then sharing both a portion of the cake and starter to a friend with a recipe or two and a note to pass it on to someone else. This type of starter seems to make the rounds every few years and then sinks back into obscurity until "discovered" again by a new set of bakers.
Sour starters are allowed to sit for several days and up to a couple of weeks to develop a relationship between the yeast present in the flour and water mixture with beneficial bacteria that are attracted to the happy environment that the yeasty beastys inhabit.
I like to keep about three cups of sourdough starter on hand. When I feed and water an inactive starter that has been sitting in the refrigerator or one that's been sitting on the counter I stir in any liquid that has risen to the top (even if it's dark in color) and add in the room temperature water. Once that has been mixed in, I add the flour. Do not worrying about lumps.
If you have made up your sponge and then get interrupted, put the sponge in the fridge and pull it out an hour before you are ready to start mixing up the dough. If you forget it you will now have a large amount of starter. When this happens to me I offer my extra starter to friends, family and co-workers.
Some recipes will call for a little bit of sugar or honey added to the flour/water mixture when you first start up the sourdough starter. Once your sourdough starter is bubbling away nothing but flour and water are added to it! The exception to this rule is the Friendship Starter which is a sweetened starter that contains milk and sugar.
If you have made up your sponge and then get interrupted, put the sponge in the fridge and pull it out an hour before you are ready to start mixing up the dough. If you forget it you will now have a large amount of starter. When this happens to me I offer my extra starter to friends, family and co-workers.
Some recipes will call for a little bit of sugar or honey added to the flour/water mixture when you first start up the sourdough starter. Once your sourdough starter is bubbling away nothing but flour and water are added to it! The exception to this rule is the Friendship Starter which is a sweetened starter that contains milk and sugar.
Where there is a recipe that can be used with multiple starters they are listed more that once. Different starters have different flavors and actions that will make a difference in the end product. So go back up to the drop down or the click on the links above and bake.
I started two jars of sourdough, one with yeast and one without. On Day Four I had an active sour starter from the jar that had yeast added. Not shown is that the jar without yeast was bubbling along nicely on Day Six.
If I begin a sourdough project January, which is a very dry time of year for Tucson, it can take three or four days before a starter without yeast to start it with to have a nice froth of bubbles on the top, when I start a jar of sourdough in July or August I often have bubbles in 12 to 16 hours. It takes another two or three days to develop a nice tang but you can start baking with it once you have an active starter.
If I begin a sourdough project January, which is a very dry time of year for Tucson, it can take three or four days before a starter without yeast to start it with to have a nice froth of bubbles on the top, when I start a jar of sourdough in July or August I often have bubbles in 12 to 16 hours. It takes another two or three days to develop a nice tang but you can start baking with it once you have an active starter.