Today's Sourdough Bread, about 1/2 through its rise

Today's Sourdough Bread, about 1/2 through its rise

My sister asked how to make a sourdough starter I mentioned on Facebook, and since it’s a perfect waxing moon time to make a starter, I thought I’d post it here. Enjoy!

Takes a little work every day for two weeks, but so worth it!

Adapted From Macrina Bakery Cookbook

 

Day 1:  Place 6 oz organic grapes in 10” square cheesecloth.  Tie with string and leave tail of string.

Whisk 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour plus 1/3 cup whole wheat flour with 1 ½ cup filtered room temperature water until like pancake batter.

Crush grapes in cheesecloth with your hands and lower into the starter, taping the end of string outside the bowl.

Set bowl, uncovered, in warm room for 2 days.

 

Day 3:  Remove and discard sachet of grapes.  Feed the starter:  2/3 C all-purpose flour plus 1/3 C whole wheat flour plus 1 C filtered room temperature water.  Stir into starter.

 

Day 4:  Stir starter with whisk and discard ½ of the mixture.  Stir in a batch of feeding formula (see Day 3 for recipe).  Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours.  Then place in refrigerator, uncovered (so use a top shelf so stuff doesn’t fall into the starter) for 1 day.

 

Days 5 – 14: Repeat Day 4, feeding starter at about the same time each day.  Then ready to use.

 

I started using the discarded starter at about day 10 because I couldn’t stand to waste it, making small loaves of bread.  Each time you use the starter, you use ½ of it and then add 1C flour and 1C Water to it and leave it out of refrigerator for 2 hours.

 

You have to either use or discard ½ and feed it every week.  We thought this would be burdensome, but actually the bread is so good, we make a loaf every week anyway.

 

I make a basic loaf from 1 C starter, 1 C water, ½ TBLS Salt, and 4-4 ½ C mixed flours.  I’ve used Whole Wheat, White, 12-grain Cereal, and Rolled Oats in different combinations.  I mix the dough, knead it, shape it into an oval, put in a cast iron small soup pot, and let it rise in a warm place overnight.  Then I bake it at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.  Notice I only let it rise once.  You’re supposed to let it rise twice, but in the interest of time, I never have and it always turns out great.  I also have a KitchenAid with a Dough Hook so the whole process is incredibly easy.