START AT THE STARTER

Your first decision as a sourdough baker is which sourdough starter you will use. An internet search will yield many sources for purchasing a sourdough starter or you can make your own. The choice is yours. I will show you how I made my starter that I currently use for baking.

Step 1: START AT THE STARTER

Your first decision as a sourdough baker is which sourdough starter
you will use. An internet search will yield many sources for purchasing a sourdough starter or you can make your own. The choice is yours. I will show you how I made my starter that I currently use for baking.

A Few Words About Starters

The Yeast facts you may find helpful

Yeast and Bacteria are all around you!!! If it weren’t for them we would be walking around the dead remains of plants and animals from the dawn of our planet. We live in a world where naturally occurring Yeast, Bacteria and Viruses are both a help and a hindrance to human life. (I am writing this book during the Covid 19 pandemic which has caused a rapid response anti-viral vaccine to be developed. This vaccine could not have been made without the help from Mother Nature!!! The Crisper nucleic acid cutting enzyme used to create the spliced proteins to respond to the Covid 19 structure was discovered in and refined from dirt.) So just like we humans adapt to our environment by the clothes we wear so do Yeast, Bacteria and viruses but they adapt by changing their molecular structure. This impacts our sourdough by causing a change in taste from one geographical area to another. So bread made from locally made sourdough starter in San Francisco will taste slightly different from bread made in Albuquerque from a local starter. Yeast and Bacteria adhere to the Darwinian philosophy of survival of the fittest, just like all living things do. It’s either adapt or go extinct. So for the sourdough baker this means a starter purchased from another geographical area may make breads that taste like the area the starter came from but if the environmental conditions are too different or cannot be maintained eventually the local yeast can take over and change the bread taste. I may explore this in a book that I never plan to write. Please note the predominate taste of sourdough is from the yeast but the bacteria mixed in with the yeast in addition to the waste products from both, also contributes to the taste.

To be successful with making your own starter you need to think of the sourdough starter as just another houseplant that has a few special needs. Just like a houseplant the starter needs water and food on a regular schedule depending upon environmental conditions. And just like a houseplant your starter can be “trained” to thrive in slightly modified conditions. By altering the “growing” conditions of your starter you can alter the intensity of the sourdough flavor in your baked goods and can control to some extent your personal baking schedule.

Step 2:

Start the Starter

Necessary supplies:

1. A container for your starter – 1 quart or slightly larger container. I use a quart round straight sided glass jar with lid. I would like to find one with a wire retaining clip structure instead of the one I have which uses flat metal clips. A glazed shiny porcelain container will work also. I have used plastic containers but do not recommend them. Reason for not recommending plastic is that the chemistry of living yeast and bacteria has the potential to leach chemicals out of the plastic. Your container will be used without cleaning so the easier it is to scrape down the sides the better.

2. Rye flour – A small quantity of milled rye flower has the necessary yeast in the flour to get your starter going. The rye flour will be used for the first 3 feedings then bread flour of 4% protein will be used from then on.

3. Pure Pineapple Juice with no added sugar or other additives – This will supply your beginning starter with the water it needs for the yeast. Plus it contains sugars which will encourage the yeast to grow and it also contains natural acids which will inhibit bacteria growth. We will switch to water after 2 feedings

4. Measuring cup – 1/3 cup will do.

5. Kitchen Scale – suggest one that has 10 pound max weight.

6. Mixing bowl – glass or metal approximately 10 quart capacity

7. Electric Mixer with dough hook – this is optional if you mix by hand

8. Wicker basket 9” with cloth liner -

9. Rice Flour -

10. Parchment Paper -

11. Baking vessel – I use cast Iron that has handle on lid and bottom

12. Roll of plastic bags – bags should be large enough to cover the wicker basket 14” X 20”

13. Bread Flour with 4% protein content – I buy the 25 pound sacks and place the sack in a large commercial kitchen plastic container with lid for storage. When your ready to experiment you can try bread flours with 3% protein content.

14. Plastic scraper – with rounded edge for helping to remove dough from mixing bowl

15. Spiral bound Notebook– college ruled binder to keep baking notes in.

Procedure

Day 1

1. Measure 1/3 cup X 2 portions of Pineapple juice into your starter container.

2. Next measure 1/3 cup X 2 portions of rye flour into your starter container.

3. Mix thoroughly. I use a silverware knife to mix.

4. Cover starter container and let sit overnight on kitchen counter.