Sourdough: AllSpicer Karen's Journey
Enjoy the rise!
I am a sourdough novice. I was intimidated after hearing tales of the laborious care and feeding of a starter. Treat it like a child, or a pet, some advised. (Been there and done that.)
There are many talented bakers debunking the myth of sourdough. Their message: It’s just fermented flour – yeast and bacteria. It’s not precious and it’s not difficult; nor is it a chore. The comparison to rearing a child is an odd one. I will offer this: Kids need shelter and food, and then, for the most part, will thrive if left to their own devices. So don’t be a helicopter baker! Don’t hover, don’t fuss, and don’t worry a lot about a schedule.
So far, I’ve made a sourdough pizza crust, a sourdough blueberry coffee cake (pictured), and bread loaves. The pizza and the cake were excellent, and will remain in my cooking rotation. The bread, although delicious, needs a little work. (I didn’t get those craggy holes you usually see in a good, crusty loaf. Stay tuned…I’ll experiment and report back.)
I began my starter about two weeks ago. Here are my observations.
Educate yourself
Read the instructions that accompany your dry starter. Then, read again. Breadtopia offers clear notes on its website. The company also offers concise instructional videos via YouTube. The QR codes on their packages of dry starter are your friends. Use them.
Patience pays dividends
Start your fermentation process in a jar on the counter. You can move it to the back of the refrigerator after five or six days of feeding and fermentation. (Actual feeding takes a couple minutes.)
Don’t fret over fancy equipment
Resist the urge to buy products like starter feeder machines or fancy vessels. (I use an old Ball jar and a clean rag cloth to cover the top.)
Measure up
Use rubber bands on your jar to mark your starter’s rise and falls.
Give it some encouragement
Feed the cold starter about eight hours, or the day before you plan to bake. (I've added a cup of AP flour to ⅔ cup filtered, room temp water to mine. Stir. A chopstick is my tool of choice here.)
Find Breadtopia sourdough starter in either AllSpice location or in the Tasty Tidbits section of the AllSpice website and start your own sourdough journey.
Story by Karen Fullenwider.