Bread!

[Kittish]

Forgive me, but I just have to brag a bit. I just made my first ever loaves of sourdough bread using a sourdough starter I cultured myself. No commercial yeast at all.

And it is YUMMY!!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Nothing like home made sourdough. Yum! Back when I used to bake, I had a perpetual sourdough culture in a gallon jug with a fementation lock bubbling merrily in the top in my kitchen. Try making a loaf of garlic bread with it sometime!

[Kittish]

Oooh, garlic bread with homemade sourdough. Yea, that would rock. My friends already think I make the best garlic bread ever using storebought bread.

I really really hate when it comes time to dump some of my culture down the drain. But I don't really know anyone locally who bakes who would appreciate a cup or so of my starter. And even if I did, I'd quickly run out of people to give some to. Guess that just means I'm going to have to make a LOT of bread and pancakes and other goodies to use as much of this culture as I can. Fun thing is that it'll just keep getting better and better the longer I keep it going.

I may try my hand at drying some of the culture, so I can send it to out of state friends and family.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Start a loaf like normal, and then when you're ready to let it do the last rise, roll up some garlic and butter into the dough when you're forming the loaf.

Don't add it before the dough has risen a couple times. Garlic is antibiotic and will kill your yeast and give you flat bread if you're not careful how you add it.

[thansal]

That sounds awesome

Both the fresh home made sourdough, and also pre-made garlic bread.

I was all happy because the chair of my department gave us secretaries each a loaf of bread he makes himself for administrative assistance week. It's a white bread with wheat germ added and it's delicious toasted up with some butter and spread.

[MaggieTheCat]

Start a loaf like normal, and then when you're ready to let it do the last rise, roll up some garlic and butter into the dough when you're forming the loaf.

Don't add it before the dough has risen a couple times. Garlic is antibiotic and will kill your yeast and give you flat bread if you're not careful how you add it.

This sounds amazing. But, is it good with something besides sourdough bread? My husband doesn't like sourdough and I don't have a starter to make any.

(I admit, I could make my own starter, and if I made homemade sourdough, he'd probably like it better than anything storebought he's tried. But I thought I'd ask anyway...)

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Oh, sure, yeah. Just do it with a normal Italian or French bread recipe. My warning about the antibiotic properties of garlic apply to that, too. But I basically got the idea of doing that from a regular bread recipe that I adapted to a sourdough.

NOTE ABOUT STARTER: We don't need no stinking starter. Flour, water, yeast. Something big enough to use as a fer mentor. A cap or lid with a cotton stuffed hole in it, or a bung with a fermentation lock (available at vinting supply houses). I used a cider jug and wine bubbler, and that's way fancier than anyone would need. I used that because I had it on hand. But a very large mason jar with a hole punched in the lid, and a cottonball stuffed into the hole works fine.

No fancy supplies or equipment needed. The dough gets it flavor through fermentation and bacterial action. The older it gets, the better it gets.

[MaggieTheCat]

What kind of starters do you guys make? I admit, I am intrigued and want to make my own now. I've seen a couple different variations. One that's just flour and water. One that adds active dry yeast to the flour and water. One that uses potato flakes instead of flour. One that uses flour AND fresh mashed potatoes.

Also, regarding feeding, do you dump some of the starter and then feed, or keep it all and continue to feed it? One recipe said to feed water and flour every day for a week, another recipe said to dump half the starter every day and replace with even parts water and flour until it gets foamy.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

I have to be careful about how much sourdough I eat-- my mom can't have any. (Allergies) It seems to be across regions, brands, and even natural (like Kittish's).
She's also allergic to melons, green tomatoes, penicillin, and... something else. Thankfully, all mild to moderate ingestion allergies.
This is such a science experiment...
EDIT: I wonder if she'd be allergic to beer/local/homebrew...

[Kittish]

My starter is the simplest one of all. Start it off with a cup of flour and a cup of water mixed together in a glass or ceramic or plastic container (I use a big plastic bin). Cover it loosely with whatever you have to hand. I just have the lid to the bin I use sitting on the top of it. In a couple of days you should start seeing bubbles rising. Add more flour and water. It can be anything from half a cup of each to a cup of each. From the second through the 9th or 10th day or so, it's easier on you if you toss half the starter right before you feed it each day. If you don't, you very quickly wind up with a container FULL of thick, bubbly batter like stuff.

In a week or so you should start noticing that when you go to feed your starter it has a clear or slightly yellowish liquid on top, and you should be getting a definite alcohol smell. This is a good thing! Stir the liquid back in, pour off your extra starter and feed as usual. In a few more days it'll start developing the characteristic sourdough smell. That's when it's ready for use.

When you're ready to use your starter, feed it a few times, up to twice a day, WITHOUT throwing out any of it. You want to bulk it up because you're going to use anywhere from a cup to two cups of the stuff to make your bread or pancakes or whatever with. Be sure to feed your starter shortly before you use it, so the yeasty beasties are as active as possible.

Once your starter has reached the point where it's mature and ready to be used, you can put a proper cover on the container and put it in your fridge. Just take it out and let it come to room temp and feed it once a week or so, and also the night before you want to use it. Or you can just keep it at room temp and keep feeding it daily. But it's a lot easier to cope with feeding once a week once it's gotten to the mature stage.

ETA: RK, I don't think I'd have the guts to try a sourdough, or even any kind of bread right out of the gate without adding SOME kind of yeast to it, rather than depending on wild airborn yeasts from the start. Or am I misunderstanding what you meant about not needing starter? I certainly agree that commercial starters aren't needed, but I'm not about to give up my wild one.

[MaggieTheCat]

Awesome. Thanks, Kittish. I think I'll make some Starter tonight and then try to make some bread next week and see how my husband likes it.

[Kittish]

Keep in mind that your starter is going to get more flavorful the longer you keep it going. It should work fine for making bread after just a week, though it may not be all that 'sour'. The second week it will be.

Also, plan ahead and start your bread at least the day before you actually intend to bake it. Home cultured starter works just fine for causing bread to rise, but it's slower than commercial yeast. Your first rise should probably be overnight.

And here's the bread recipe I used for my sourdough loaves, it's from allrecipes which I've gotten tons of great recipes from :

1 cup starter

1 1/2 cups warm water (I've found that you don't really NEED a specific temp, something that's comfortably warm to the touch but not hot works just fine)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt (don't leave this out!)

1/4 cup granulated sugar (or you could use honey or brown sugar or molasses to change the taste of the bread slightly. Just don't use a no cal sweetener)

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil in mine, you could use canola or just vegetable or even melted butter if you wanted to)

6 cups flour (I prefer to use unbleached flour for white breads. You can substitute up to half whole wheat flour, but don't use more than half or your bread will be VERY dense and heavy)

Mix sugar, salt, water, and starter in a large bowl. Add flour a cup at a time. The last cup or two you'll probably have to work in with your hands, or a heavy mixer with a dough hook. Form the dough into a ball.

Either wash and dry the bowl you used to mix the dough or use a different one. Grease the bowl with oil (only a tablespoon or so) and put the dough in, turning the dough to make sure it's covered with the oil. Loosely cover, with plastic wrap or a dishtowel or whatever and let it rise overnight.

The next day, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Your dough should start feeling very elastic and be smooth surfaced to touch. Divide the dough (just use a sharp knife to cut it in half), form each half into a ball and put into greased loaf pans or simply onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Make sure each one has plenty of room to expand. Let them sit and rise again til doubled, probably will take 2 or 3 hours. You can't really rush this part. Cover them with a damp dishtowel if you're not using loaf pans, just remember to remove the towel before baking.

Bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for 40-45 minutes, til the bread is golden brown. Either have a pan of water on the shelf under your bread or spritz the oven a few times with a spray bottle of water to help keep the bread nice and chewy. If you prefer a crunchy crust, brush the loaves with egg white before baking and again halfway through.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Oh, yeah, sorry. What I meant was "you don't need to go out and BUY special starter or equipment." Unclear on that I realize. If you're baking bread, you have the makings of starter from scratch right there in your kitchen already.

I don't know where my starter recipe is. I'll look for it.

Mine had yeast and sugar (to feed the yeast).

Be aware that you must use a much larger container than you think. The stuff will foam up, expand, and blorf out of your lid if you're not careful. Getting what amounts to flour paste out of a fementation lock is quite a challenge.

[Aethian]

Up till the time I moved from the icky house to the trailer I had a batch of starter that everyone loved except the person who came from Cali. *shrugs*

[Sarlon]

I make free form artesian bread at least once a week....and its insanely easy.

flour, water, salt, and yeast.

no multiple risings, just rise over night in the fridge, and 40 minutes on the counter as your oven heats up.

that and served with the amish butter I get locally.....its no wonder the boys demand the bread for the gaming sessions.