Sourdough Bread

[LaDeeDa]

Hi All,

I want to start making Sourdough bread at home and I have been told I need a starter culture to do so.

I know that there are a few different ways to do this and some of them can be a bit tricky.
Does anyone know a foolproof culture and bread recipe?

Thanks heaps

[Netix]

One of the other ladies on here has had a go, but I don't know how it has turned out, and some others have success. There is a short thread on it a few pages back, I am sure.

I googled "sourdough starter", and the fifth one down has a basic beginner how-to ("how to begin"), which we have both read, and seems helpful.

Good luck. I'm not going to make sourdough, as I don't think anyone else in this little black duck's house will eat the stuff.

[Bloom]

I make sourdough now and again. I make my starter with flour and water (just your normal homebrand white flour though jamie oliver says you "must" get organic stoneground stuff, it's worked with homebrand for me!)

I also "cheat" by adding some yeast to the bread when I'm mixing up the starter with the rest of ingredients. That way I get the sourdough flavour with an helping hand for the rise!

All the best - mine's always worked out so it's not tooo hard! Yumo!

[sunshine_sieben]

I know this thread is a little old, but I just wanted to chime in. I have just recently succeeded with making my very own sourdough starter culture from scratch and have been baking with it a few times. I have in the past used the once-off yeast type culture but was not happy with the result. true sourdough bread seems to keep longer before going dry and stale or even moldy. But, the once-off version is great and easy if you're after the flavour and only bake occasionally.

My method couldn't have been easier. I used two large bowls. On day one, I put 1 cup of rye flour and one cup of water into one of the bowls. I used filtered water (chlorine can kill the little critters, so let the water stand for a while before using it so the chlorine can evaporate) and organic rye flour, but I don't think it needs to be organic. I believe starters are easier to make with rye flour. You can later on change them over to either unbleached wheat or wholemeal flour.
This bowl was covered with a double-layer of muslin (to keep out bugs but let the mixture breath)

Then, every day for 7 days I added 1 cup of filtered water and 1 cup of rye flour while alternating bowls (so it goes into a clean bowl before every feed). I kept it covered with muslin. My bowls were big enough to take that volume. If yours aren't, you can throw some out before "feeding" your starter. After a few days you should start seeing bubbles and smell a pleasant sour, winey or beery smell. Mine worked very quickly. I had an active starter within 2 days, but kept going with this. if your starter starts smelling unpleasant or changes colour, you have to throw it out and start again.

On day 7 I baked my first bread and put some of my starter (a cup or 2) into the fridge in a jar with a hole punched into the lid)for next time. The rest i threw out.

It was very easy and I actually really like my starter. it has great flavour (although my first bread was a little too sour, but I have since learned how to reduce it) and rises well. For feeding my starter I still use rye flour, but the remaining flour I use for making the bread is unbleached wheat flour. I will at some point try a mixture of unbleached and wholemeall, too.

I can only reccommend making your own starter. it's actually fun and very satisfying. I love my little science project. I know a lot of people say it's very hard. But people who believed the earth was flat made sourdough without proofing boxes or fridges. So why shouldn't we be able to?
You might not be as lucky as I was and succeed on your first try. But don't let that stop you. It's not like you'rre going to throw away hundreds of dollars worth of stuff, just a couple of dollars worth of flour and water.

However, if you want it even easier and more foolproof, you can buy various starters online.. A place called Basic Ingredients Home Bread sells a selection of starters that you only need to activate. And I believe there are various other places. You could also go to your local bakery that sells sourdough and ask if they would sell you their culture. But don't hold your breath, they might be more interested in selling you their bread.

Good Luck!
Sasa