Question for Sourdough Bread Makers

[street]

So, for Christmas I got a kit to make Sourdough Bread. I just started the process this morning. The process to get started is a longer process than I thought.

It says after 12 to 24 hours, discard down to 1/2 cup starter then feed the starter with 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup floor.

So, when it says to discard to just a 1/2 cup of starter you throw away everything but a 1/2 cup and repeat the process for the next 7 days.

Any tips to this part of the process would be appreciated. Thank You

 

[braumeister]

So, when it says to discard to just a 1/2 cup of starter you throw away everything but a 1/2 cup and repeat the process for the next 7 days.

Yes, that's right.

 

[Trailwalker]

That sounds about right. You can save the "throwaway" and make sourdough pancakes. There are recipes via google. I highly recommend the youtube channel "Culinary Exploration" for sourdough techniques and strategies. He simplifies the kneading process and basically eliminates throwaway after the starter is established. I got my best sourdough bread, biggest rises, and lots of saved time after watching some of his "how to's."

 

[Kings over Queens]

as mentioned there are things to do with the discarded starter, but it's only a cup of flour and water, so keep things in perspective. I don't know that I'd cook with the virgin not yet established discard however. that me.

you can jump start the process by placing a bowl of grapes near your starter. that effervescence near the grape steam...yeast.

stick with it, your patience will be rewarded. I use mine for bread, pizza dough and english muffins. we no longer buy bread at the store.

 

[Kings over Queens]

This were yeterday. Loaf in the left cookex in a thin steel pot, rigjt in heavy le cruset dutch oven.

 

[Chuckanut]

Thanks for the sour dough info people have written about.

I make most of my own bread but I use store bought yeast. I’ve tried sour dough and not had much luck with it. But, I can try again after studying some of the tips given here.

FWIW, I find that my homemade bread seems to be healthier. Maybe it’s my imagination, but a loaf of home made bread does not negatively affect my weight as much as eating store bought bread. I think the bread has a somewhat different physical structure than the machine made stuff bought at the store. It certainly takes a lot longer to toast. There is also the lack of preservatives, dough conditioners, etc. that might be helpful.

 

[street]

Thank You, Thank You for the help. I believe this is the hardest part to the process to get the starter established, Right?

The rest seems a bit routine and something I can grasp on to and seems easier. I could be totally off with that thinking though.

I'm so excited about this and I hope we can get to the time we can make bread. We have a friend couple that give us one every so often. We enjoy that bread so much I can't wait to eat a slice, it is so good.

 

[braumeister]

Yes, you can dive deep into the details of sourdough or you can keep it simple. Simple makes bread just as good as complicated. Enjoy!

 

[arbeadub]

King Arthur flour is a good source of recipes to use the discarded portion in.
My area does not seem to have good wild strains of yeast so I use store bought yeast and just add to the ongoing batch of dough that is reserved and gets refrigerated between risings.

 

[street]

So, after reading and watching I still not clear on when I need to add more starter to sustain that stash for future bread making. When do we add more starter?

With this first starter batch I'm getting doing now, how many loafs will it make? I want to keep some starter back for future bread making.

 

[folivier]

DW is the resident sourdough expert in our household. Her biggest challenge was adjusting her recipes for 9400' altitude. I just eat and enjoy it.
Just remember once you get it going it's pretty foolproof. Think about the old timers who didn't have consistent heat, etc. That's the only bread they had.
Her starter was given to her by an old timer, hard rock miner who lived above the Arctic circle in Alaska.
Good luck with it and enjoy!

 

[braumeister]

So, after reading and watching I still not clear on when I need to add more starter to sustain that stash for future bread making. When do we add more starter?

With this first starter batch I'm getting doing now, how many loafs will it make? I want to keep some starter back for future bread making.

If you got a kit, all that should be covered in the instructions.

Ideally, you only use some of your starter to make a "primary batter" which will then be used to make your dough for bread. The rest of your starter just has to be kept fed to stay healthy. I like to feed it at least once a week.

 

[Kings over Queens]

So, after reading and watching I still not clear on when I need to add more starter to sustain that stash for future bread making. When do we add more starter?

With this first starter batch I'm getting doing now, how many loafs will it make? I want to keep some starter back for future bread making.

Your earlier question, is this the hardest part? Yeah...no. It's not hard, per se, but just takes time.

To this question, you don't add more starter, as it were. You "feed" your starter with more flour and water.

My starter is a 50 flour to water hydration ratio, and I feed it with the same percentages. My routine for bread is to pull if from the fridge friday morning and let it sit for an hour to wake up while I have coffee. Once I'm caffinated and it's awake I give it a small feeding (50 grams total) and after about 4 hours its very active and I hit it again only this time with at least 100 grams, or more, depending on how much fed active starter I need for my baking. Later that evening I'll mix my dough and give the starter a small snack before going back to the fridge until next week.

someone mentioned the King Arthur site, and I second it. Great recipes, in fact, my go to loaf is the no knead sourdough from that website. I suggest you pick one recipe and follow it, to the letter, until you get your bread legs under you. then you can experiment.

 

[Kings over Queens]

DW is the resident sourdough expert in our household. Her biggest challenge was adjusting her recipes for 9400' altitude.

I gave some of my starter to my daughter when she moved to Denver. We visited last summer and I saw she hasn't been a good starter parent, so I stepped in. Got it fully active in 2 days with a fresh container and consistent feedings.

was able to get off a decent loaf of bread, but the elevation did screw me up a little.

 

[Kings over Queens]

So, after reading and watching I still not clear on when I need to add more starter to sustain that stash for future bread making. When do we add more starter?

With this first starter batch I'm getting doing now, how many loafs will it make? I want to keep some starter back for future bread making.

I generally have around 75 grams of fed but dormant starter in my container. It wakes up pretty fast once it gets to room temp and is fed.

You can feed it different flours too. Mine loves rye and whole wheat, but regular AP works just fine.

I'm very excited for you street. I love baking bread, very few things make me happier.

 

[calmloki]

So, after reading and watching I still not clear on when I need to add more starter to sustain that stash for future bread making. When do we add more starter?

With this first starter batch I'm getting doing now, how many loafs will it make? I want to keep some starter back for future bread making.

I get my starter out of the frig, scoop out a dollop (leaving a carefully unmeasured dollop or so) for the loaf I'm going to make, then add about 1/2 a dollop of water and 1/2 a dollop of flour to the container of starter that I'm saving. Stick it back in the frig and it's good for a week or so. Maybe a palm full of starter/loaf? Not real critical, as I add the starter to a loaf full of water, the salt, and the first cup of flour, then let sit covered overnight so the yeast can develop.

I use unbleached flour and the whole process from getting the starter out of the frig to hot loaf cooling takes about 15-19 hours.

Another trick for getting your starter going told by a local bakery is to put a wedge of onion from your garden into your flour/water mix (which gets removed when the starter is active). Frankly I didn't have much luck getting starter started, so just bought some starter online and have kept it alive several years now.

 

[arbeadub]

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/rustic-sourdough-bread-recipe
This recipe makes 2 loaves of bread at about 2-1/2 cups of flour per loaf. The recipe calls for 1 cup of starter for the 2 loaves so you always need to reserve enough starter to inoculate the next batch at what ever ratio your kit requires, maybe 1 cup flour to a 1/2 cup water.

 

[Chuckanut]

Her starter was given to her by an old timer, hard rock miner who lived above the Arctic circle in Alaska.
Good luck with it and enjoy!

On my trip to Alaska I learned that they call those guys Sourdoughs.

 

[braumeister]

2 loaves of bread at about 2-1/2 cups of flour per loaf. The recipe calls for 1 cup of starter for the 2 loaves so you always need to reserve enough starter to inoculate the next batch at what ever ratio your kit requires, maybe 1 cup flour to a 1/2 cup water.

Nothing against King Arthur, but as a general comment you should never use those sorts of traditional measurements in any kind of baking. Get a good kitchen scale that reads in grams and measure everything by weight. You get much more consistent results.

 

[street]

Thank You all again for your time. I'm learn and get answers what isn't that clear to me.

I did go to King Arthur site and even looks like you can buy activated starter already started just need to feed it.

 

[Kings over Queens]

Nothing against King Arthur, but as a general comment you should never use those sorts of traditional measurements in any kind of baking. Get a good kitchen scale that reads in grams and measure everything by weight. You get much more consistent results.

I've slowly been converting all of my handwritten recipes to grams.

 

[braumeister]

I've slowly been converting all of my handwritten recipes to grams.

This could be useful for you:

Cooking Recipe Converter

 

[Kings over Queens]

This could be useful for you:

Cooking Recipe Converter

just bookmarked, thanks.

 

[arbeadub]

An old "Sourdough" might say "we dont need no stinking badges" but scales would give more accurate and reproducible results.

 

[braumeister]

An old "Sourdough" might say "we dont need no stinking badges" but scales would give more accurate and reproducible results.

True, but the old sourdough had probably been making a loaf of bread from his starter every day or two for the last twenty years, so he had a really good feel for what it took. In our world it's just easier to weigh the ingredients. IMHO.