Photos of Sourdough Bread

Shelene Wilhelm - over a year ago

EXPAND SOURDOUGH by FEEDING THE STARTER
The night before you want to bake:
To all the starter which is in the jar in the refrigerator, add 3 parts flour and 2 parts water ... e.g. 3 c. flour and 2 c. water. It should be the consistency of muffin batter. Use a big bowl. When feeding/expanding the starter, it sometimes triples and quadruples in size. Cover the bowl with a dish towel (unless you’re putting it in the oven, as noted in “RISING” above . . . then use aluminum foil).
If my starter is threatening to overflow the capacity of the jar because I’ve expanded it far beyond the requirements of my recipes, I feed it less, e.g., 1 c. flour and 2/3 c. water.
If I'm going to bake a lot, I add more (e.g. 4 c. flour and 2 2/3 c. water). (YES! Math teachers are vindicated . . . you will use algebra in your actual life! The equation is X cups of flour are to 3 as Y cups of water are to 2.)
If it’s convenient (you DON’T need to get out of bed at 3 a.m. to do this), occasionally fan the expanding starter with the towel and stir it vigorously to mix in airborne yeasts and whatever.
The next morning, it is expanded and you can make the recipe.

Shelene Wilhelm - over a year ago

STARTER
6 c. flour
1 T. sugar
1 pkg. yeast (1 T.)
1/4 c. warm water
water
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir into flour, sugar and enough water to make a thick batter (the consistency of muffin batter). Cover, let stand at least 2 days. Do not chill yet. It should be bubbly and foamy, like the head on beer, except thicker and opaque. It should smell good ... yeasty, beer-like, bready.
You now have a starter and can bake bread immediately. You can also put it in the refrigerator, take it out another evening to expand it, and bake bread the next day. I’ll assume now that you want to bake immediately.

LouAnn Rice - over a year ago

How do you start your sourdough starter?