Sourdough - The Homesteading Gateway

Homesteading in the modern world helps connect you to your food sources. The kitchen becomes your most crucial room, second only to your pantry. We swallowed the red pill a few years ago and It's been an uphill battle to not sound crazy. Microwaves, plastics, and coated cookware are on the backburner. Now, Cast Iron, Stainless Steel, and Glass are what we focus on. I put sourdough discard in everything. I preserve food grown and harvested on our small slice of heaven. The changes were gradual, one at a time. The research was extensive because I never cared for more than a house plant and a boa. If there was ever a poster child for urban city dweller ignorance of homesteading, look no further. Trial and Error has been the best teacher. Failing where others succeed has been a series of humbling experiences.

None more humbling than cooking. So many ways so few things can go wrong. Temperatures, tools, techniques and types of ingredients play a crucial role in the outcome of any dish. Room temperature butter versus melted butter. Flour measured by grams versus cups. Simmer versus rolling boil. Subtle differences that can make or break your bake.

The magic behind kitchen cooking is none other than Science. For me, the most magical of any kitchen is Sourdough. Flour, filtered water, and salt mix with air, take some time, heat and humidity, to result in a loaf of the simplest nourishment known to humankind. After learning that store sourdough is not really sourdough, but a yeasted bread with a souring agent, such as vinegar, I took on the goal of making our own sourdough. As someone who was paid to cook for a living, my inability to create a starter hurt my soul. Hours of youtube and blog posts put my confidence fairly high up there. The first and second failures stung, badly. Everyone says how simple sourdough is, and I can't even mix flour and water right, cool.

After the second starter molded, I was ready to throw away my banneton , convinced it would never get use. My San Fran Bay hailing husband supported the decision, even though his taste buds revolted, hopes waning. Finally, I found Baker Bettie's playlist for starting sourdough from scratch, and the stars aligned. Each day, I prayed to the sourdough gods that this starter was going to make it to actively useful for a loaf. It finally happened! A pathetically underproofed loaf, that looked terrible. But, it was mine, baked in house, with a homemade starter. By far, the greatest and most rewarding accomplishment in the homesteading journey. A year later, the Starter has strengthened. The Loaves look better (most bakes.) The inlaws and neighbors ask for loaves. If it helps anyone take the jump into sourdough, read on for my process.

If you have dried starter, weigh it. In a glass jar, add equal weight of water to let sourdough flakes rehydrate a few hours. Let it sit first then stir a few times, with the goal to make a paste. Let's say you start with 25 grams of starter, 25 grams of water for a total of 50 grams. Leave it covered out on the counter overnight. Tomorrow, you're going to add 25 grams of flour and 25 grams of water, mix thoroughly for paste. The next day, remove 50 grams of the mix and put in a new jar. Add 25 grams of water, mix then add flour and mix again, let sit covered on the counter until next day. Repeat process for 2 weeks. You should start seeing bubbles in the mix. You'll know it's ready when the mix starts to get close to double in size in a 24 hour period. I set an alarm on my phone to remind me to tend to the sourdough starter.

If you want to start from scratch, buckle up. You are in for a ride. If it takes a few tries, know you're like everyone else!

To incentivize your starter, start with a whole wheat flour. 10 grams of both whole wheat flour and filtered water in a glass jar, mixed well, covered and left of the counter for 24 hours. Next day, remove and discard 10 grams of the mix, then fully incorporate another 10 grams each whole wheat flour and filtered water. Repeat this process for two weeks. After you see your starter double in size in the 24 hour period, you can start to slowing switch the whole wheat to white if you want. I did half whole wheat and half white for a week, then ditched the whole wheat. Your starter will eventually lose the whole wheat flecks.

Now, you've nursed your starter to lively bubbliness, you want to bake your first loaf. Measure 50 grams of starter, add 500 grams of water, and mix until there are just small clumps of starter. Add 750 grams of flour, and mix to a shaggy dough. Cover and let sit on the counter for 30 minutes. Sprinkle 10 grams of salt, and a small splash of water (a tablespoon or two) and fold your dough. I like to press my knuckles into the dough and thin it out inside the bowl, to roll up like you're making cinnamon rolls, then roll up the dough the opposite way. Let that sit covered for 30 minutes. Perform your stretch and folds to your preference. I like to fold one half over on the other like a book, press down to thin slightly, turn bowl 90 degrees, then repeat another fold in half like a book then thin down. Repeat 3-5 times, as much as your dough will allow. Let rest, covered, for another 30 minutes and repeat the book folding of the dough. Once the dough has been folded on 4 separate occasions, it's ready for the fermentation/proofing stage. I use a banneton with gluten free flour to separate. If you have a different preference, embrace it. We like sour sourdough, so we let the dough cold proof at room temp or garage temp, whichever is closer to 50ish degrees. Proofing will differ every time, but you want the dough to have doubled in size before you're ready to bake with it. Preheat your oven to 420. Put the dutch oven in to warm up. Dump the dough in the dutch oven, being careful not to burn yourself. (You laugh but I promise you it will happen eventually, give it time!) Score your favorite pattern. I do a shallow slice down the middle with smaller cuts on a 45 degree angle from the middle slice. Bake in the covered dutch oven for 30 minutes. Take the lid off and lower to 390, then bake for another 15 minutes. This will get you’re a golden brown loaf with 2 days of fresh bread!

A few recommendations that have helped me. I like to use a fork for mixing. I stir the water into the mix first and add flour after. A rubber band or hair tie around the outside of the jar, to see the growth of the starter, helps. You may think you'll remember exactly where it the top was but you won't. Save yourself the questioning. Also, throw out the discard for the first week because there is not enough bacteria to kill the risk of raw flour. After the first week, add it to gravies and sauces as a thickener or make some pancakes! After you've noticed the starter double in size over a 24 hour period, you should be good to start baking with your starter! Oh, and never use distilled water. No good bacteria left in there to help develop the lactobacillus in the starter. Extra oh! In the sourdough community, people like to give their starter a name, bread/dough/flour related and punny. Personally, I haven't settled on a name yet, so it's just "The Starter" but figure one out and have fun with it! If you want to add any inclusions, there are a few caveats!! Allium family inhibits proofing. If you want to add garlic or onions to your loaf, cook it first then allow to cool completely. Cinnamon does the same, so if you want to add cinnamon, I like to allow the loaf to proof to almost double, add the cinnamon and prep the loaf for bake and final proof. Use gluten free flour to dust your banneton so the sourdough doesn't stick while rising. For a more sour flavor, cold ferment the dough (keep it in the fridge or on our counter for a day to slow the growth rate.) We use a wax lined bag to hold the loaves. We like to bake 420 for 30 minutes and 390 for 15 minutes, this gives you a nice golden, but crunchy exterior, but will survive a few days on the counter before teeth breaking hardness sets in. Good Luck and Have fun!!