Sourdough, Part 2

Reader Contribution by Sue Van Slooten
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I’m assuming that by now you’ve tried and successfully made your own starter with the recipe from my last blog. Hopefully you’ll soon also make your first sourdough loaf as well. What I would like to do now is give you some tips for sourdough, that once you have made the starter, will make your life easier. Bread and sourdough are amazingly adaptable and once you get the hang of it all, you’ll realize how to bend some of the rules. First of all, if you need more starter, you can take a portion of your existing one, and use it to start a new crock. Take about a cup of it into a good sized jar or crock, and add one cup flour, and one cup water, mix well, and let it sit on your stove or countertop for a few hours. It should become bubbly or foamy. Once you have a head of foam, stir it together, and just proceed like your original starter. If you’re ambitious, and you got an early start in the morning, you can be baking with your starter in the evening. Of course, the more time it has to “ripen” the more tang you will get.At one day old, it won’t have much tang, but if your really into it…..

Here’s another tip:Only take out one to one and a half cups at a time (unless you have a larger batch going). You should have a good one cup of the original remaining in the crock. After taking out the portion you’re using, replace it with equal parts water and flour. In other words, if you put in half a cup of flour, you should put in a half cup of warm water; 1 cup flour, then 1 cup warm water. You get the idea. This is “feeding” your sourdough, and the method I prefer. You should feed your sourdough once a week, but if you forget for another week or so (I’ve heard even up to a month), don’t panic. Just take out the amount you want to use after stirring it all together, feed, let rest, and proceed as normal. Personally, I’ve only pushed my sourdough to two weeks. Another issue I’ve heard about is people putting their starter in a crock that’s too small, and having it overflow the counter. Use one that is at least twice the amount of what’s in there. This allows for expansion (and always better to be safe than sorry). That way the foamy head doesn’t get carried away (do I sound like a brewmaster here? They’re related, I mean, the yeast at least). Also, glass or ceramic is best.

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