Oh, people, people—you are so very good. Thank you for your enthusiasm about the cooking challenge, and all the great ideas! I think we’re set for a couple of years if we do them all, but yes, there will be soufflés and croissants and jam and sauerkraut and maybe even a pie crust or two.
But first, there will be sourdough bread.
It was sourdough bread that got me thinking about this cooking challenge. So many people said they wanted to learn—and heck, I know how to do it. In fact, I’ve been baking sourdough bread, almost once a week, since I came home with a sourdough starter from Quillisascut this past summer. So hey, let’s make some bread.
We should probably start off with some basic questions, though. Like: What is sourdough?
All bread is leavened with some type of yeast (otherwise it’d be crackers). The process of the yeast digesting sugars is what makes the air bubbles that cause the bread to rise. There are hundreds of different strains of yeast, but for our purposes there are two different types: commercial yeast and wild yeast.
For thousands of years, people baked with wild yeast. They made a paste of water and flour and this provided a good environment for the yeast to live and grow. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that an Austrian distillery owner created a commercial yeast product (yeast also being an important part of beer-making), which allowed for faster and more predictable baking. This was helpful as bread baking became industrial and they wanted to produce a consistent product. Commercial yeast allowed them to produce the same loaf on a set schedule (consider this the anti-artisanal bread movement).
So really, sourdough bread is our heritage (those of us who are descended from bread-eating countries). And if people were doing it for generations upon generations, without the benefit of digital scales and temperature gauges and all the scientific know-how, how hard can it really be?
The first step of making sourdough is simply to obtain a starter—this is the flour and water mixture that has fermented and is full of wild yeast and good bacteria. There are a couple of ways to do this.
The easiest, is to have someone give you some of theirs. This is the route I’ve gone the last two times. When I left California I was lucky enough to be given a starter by Dylan, and then again last summer, Giana at Quillisascut Farm gave me some of her starter.
If you have a friend who bakes sourdough and has a starter, you might want to ask them. It’s not an imposition, either. Sourdough bakers often discard part of their starter when they feed it, so you’re not asking for anything they need to hold onto. Most people will be happy to pass along a bit of theirs.
Another way to obtain a starter is to buy one. My first sourdough starter came from a packet of San Francisco sourdough I bought in a tourist shop and brought with me to Japan, because I desperately missed the bread I had grown up with. Unfortunately I hadn’t realized my Japanese apartment might not have an oven, and after making an awful lot of sourdough English muffins, using a fry pan, I eventually lost interest.
You can buy a packet of dried San Francisco sourdough starter, or you can order a starter from the King Arthur Flour Company. This is the second easiest way to obtain a starter (note: if you order a fresh starter it will need to be fed soon after it arrives, so make sure you are up to speed before you place your order.
The final way to obtain a sourdough starter is the original way—the way our ancestors did it—and that is to cultivate one using four and water. It might seem a little tricky, and there sure is a lot of confusing information out there (I’ve been wading through it the past two weeks), but really, gold rush miners and covered wagon pioneers and peasants throughout Europe who couldn’t read managed to create and keep sourdough starters. We should be able to do this, right?
Right. In fact, I currently have three of them in my kitchen. I’m doing trial runs to test out the different starter methods so I can bring you the best/easiest one.
Come back next time and I’ll tell you all about it.
Whee! Sourdough! Baking! Who’s on board?
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I enjoyed reading all this information Tea. I didn’t realize the history of starter doughs, it’s all so interesting to think how people accomplished this so many years ago. I laughed when I read if peasants throughout Europe could do it, we should be able to. I’ve ordered some products before from King Arthur and I’m always happy with their products. I’m curious to see how things pan out with your starter and I’ll be checking back. I’m on board! Thanks
I’m so excited….
We eat sourdough practically every day in this house. I can’t wait to try making it.
I’ve often thought about making my own but it always seemed easier to call into the local Deli.
It’s time I put this baby to bed……I await my next instruction : D
Yay! I’m so in
Thank you
I just love your blog! I found you through a link on Pinterest, and then I entered your book giveaway (and I WON!) and now I’m hooked. First of all, the book, Bird of Paradise, is beautifully written and the story is both loving and sharp as a knife. I’m up for reading about all sorts of things involving food (I also read the Urban Farm Handbook you recommended). Maybe if my one-year-old does a miraculous thing and takes a decent nap I’ll whip up some bread.
I’m so in! This is perfect timing. I just got some starter from a restaurant where I interviewed. Its apparently been cultivated for over 100 years!
I’m so glad you’re doing this! I’ve been working (struggling?) with a sourdough starter for a few months now and just know that there are some helpful tips out there that will transform this for me. Looking forward to it-thanks!
I have killed more starters than I care to think about
so I look forward to hearing more about your experiments!
I am DEFINITELY on board. Luisa (The Wednesday Chef) posted a recipe for Bill Telepan’s Tomato Bread Soup, which calls specifically for sourdough bread. So next summer when the garden is bursting with ripe, good-enough-to-eat-out-of-hand tomatoes, I will use my own stale sourdough bread when I make it.
This is going to be FUN!
Inspirations and Aspirations!
Me! Me! But I have no idea where I’ll get the yeast
ok this is one of those things that intimidate me. and for that reason: yes, i’m in! i’ve got to get myself a starter.
I am! I’ve been trying to make my own starter with apple peels and rye flour, and it just hasn’t quite worked. But I’m determined.
ME! I am so excited that you are starting with this! It’s my favorite bread, hands down! Imagine my surprise when I traveled to the East Coast and found out that sourdough toast wasn’t even an option!!!? I couldn’t believe my ears. That may have changed in the last decade… I sure hope so.
I’m in – I made my own starter several years ago, and it really is easy. Just leave flour and water out on the counter for a few days. You can read a million things about it, but in the end, that’s all it is. I put mine in a mason jar with plastic wrap loosely draped over the top to let in good yeasties but keep out, you know, anything else. It’s still in my fridge, though I haven’t been using it as often. I’m excited to take it out and bring it back to life!
I think this is a wonderful idea and I am about to make my own starter and I will tell you how it goes. Thanks for the push, I need a good challenge!
I happen to have been given some starter just last week and, so far, have kept it alive. I’m in.
I love sourdough bread!! Sign me up.:)
Pre-celiac diagnosis, sourdough was my favourite. I can almost smell this baking…. sigh!
I hope you’re keeping safe and warm and away from all that snow XO
So excited about this challenge! I keep repeating the phrase “wild yeast” – can’t wait to begin!
bought from King Arthur and am asking around too, I am in!
I have a sourdough starter that supposedly is descended from one that went over the Oregon trail. I have yet to make a loaf of bread from it successfully. I do however use it for english muffins, waffles and pizza crust.
YES!! I’m in.
I’ve had a starter in the back of my fridge forever (at least a decade). Bread Alone by Daniel Leader and Judith Blahnik is my levain/sourdough source, also The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz is excellent (the starter and apple bread made with an unwashed organic apple is very tasty and a must-do fall baking project) . Some sort of sourdough recipe gets made every few weeks. Looking forward to following along.
When you get around to the perfect/definitive Mango Chutney i’m totally in. It’s on the top of my culinary projects list. Potato/pea samosas too, please.
cheers,
Jake
Oh, brilliant! I have a starter about a month old, so I’m definitely up for some sourdough baking. Looking forward to your posts!
I only bake sourdough breads. My family loves the flavor and the hetergenous yeasty beasties actually change the gluten protien enough that it does not bother my Beloved (I actually went and read the scientific research and then he tested. He is not celiac, just gluten sensitive).
All my bread recipes on my blog use a sourdough and I do not buy yeast anymore. My latest is a sourdough king cake that my family has asked to have every time it runs out.
You can also start a sourdough quickly by mixing 1 cup water, 1 cup flour, and 1/8 teaspoon yeast together until bubbly. Remove two tablespoons for the next batch and use like a regular sourdough.
If anybody has any questions, please feel free to contact me. My email is: elizabeyta [at} panaminthandmade.com
I am in even if I must confess that I don’t like sourdough bread much at all
I lived in SF for 2 years and never got used to it somehow. But I have been baking my own bread for the last 2 years and it will be fun to try something different. I don’t know where I can find a starter but if you have a method for it, I will try to make my own.
Excellent! I’m in! I adore sourdough and have converted my husband since we were married. (Driving around the country, we’d look for local bakeries, and I’d always choose sourdough if I could get away with it
By the end of the adventure, he was a fan!) My sister and I started some when we visited her last February, but mine died sometime in the spring, when I couldn’t take care of it. Hooray!
I don’t know if this is one of the methods you are trying, but the pineapple juice and organic rye flour starter is the easiest to get started
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10856/
I am on an artisan bread mission this month so this sounds like a perfect way to push me on with sour dough. I have my starter but haven’t yet had the courage to use it.
I’m so glad to see you are doing sourdough. I have tried a couple of times and not had the best of luck. My starter seems to loose it’s potency and not rise very well after a few weeks. My bread has also not had a very strong sour taste. I would love to figure out what I am doing wrong. We love sourdough and my house.
I’m game. Plan to get a starter from my favorite baker in town. My husband says it’s cheating but I’m sticking with it…
I love my sourdough. i have only had a starter for about 6 months and am still learning so i am enjoying this discussion. in the summer i am going to start my own starter, it is too cold in my house yet! we have a lot of fun ahead of us! c
I love this idea and I am all in.
Yay, sourdough! Count me in. I’ve always put off making sourdough simply because I didn’t have a starter. That now seems silly. Let’s do this!
I’m on it! I love all the different uses for sourdough as well (pancakes, muffins, etc). I’ll start my starter from the ground up so hope you come up with a good one!
How fun! I’ve never thought of trying out different starters before. I have a wild yeast starter I made using Pinch My Salt’s method. It took a few tries, and it’s a little shy, but it feeds!
I love where you’re starting. I can’t wait to read more!
I’m in! I made some crazy wild yeast starter a bit ago but haven’t used it that much. Let’s do this thing!
I’m so in! My husband is the sourdough-from-scratch maker in the family, but he’s down to only making it a few time a year, no matter how much I beg. He makes a fresh starter each time so it takes a few days, and that has a lot to do with it. But I’ve been telling myself I need to learn how to do this for a while now. This week is the week!
Baking bread in the winter sounds divine. Let’s do it! I live in the southeast and sourdough is not commonly found in restaurants or in homes. Oh so sadly I will admit that the first time I heard of sourdough bread, it was for a Hardees (Carls Jr) commercial for a “frisco burger”. I was probably 10 years old.
Hi Tara
I have found The Fresh Loaf to be the most wonderful resource. In the couple or so years I have been following along there, many, many people have successfully got a starter going following the wisdom of Debra Wink; start with this link to understand why she recommends the use of of PJ in the first few days:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10856/pineapple-juice-solution-part-1
One of the TFLers did a side by side photo record on his blog, getting a starter going with and without PJ:
http://yumarama.com/blog/968/starter-from-scratch-intro/
YouTube is great too, really helps to watch skilled hands working with dough, Ciril Hitz videos are wonderful as are the ones from Jeffrey Hamelman of King Arthur Flour, search in YouTube under ‘King Arthur Flour Shaping’ to find the series.
Wonderful that you are sharing this skill, which with a measure of patience, is easier to develop than one would expect. I’m looking forward to hearing how everyone gets on.
Cheers, Robyn
PS Tara, do delete comment above if it is inappropriate, but hope you’ll check out the links for yourself.
Sorry for the delay, Robyn. I don’t delete or censor comments, but sometimes it takes me a little while to process them all. Thanks for your patience!
Thanks so much, Robyn. This was really interesting to see. I had heard about the pineapple juice, but hadn’t known why. Thanks again!
HOT DOG!!!
I am SO in. I was gifted some starter this time, last year, and I (and my kids) promptly fell in LOVE with fresh-baked sourdough. Then I killed it. GAHHH!!! And my first (and only) attempt to make a new starter ended, well, flat and fuzzy.
I need new starter.
I am SOOO in.
You may get me baking bread again. When I lived in Germany for 3 years, I made most of my own bread. (This seems dumb in retrospect, because the German bakeries were everywhere and produced the best bread I’d ever eaten, but I was in my early 20s with not as much sense!) Then I had kids and thought I didn’t have time. Then I broke my arm and lost some function in my hand. But I’m out of excuses now! Thanks for the inspiration, it’s very welcome.
I’m in. I love sourdough & have been baking more bread lately anyway, so this is a welcome challenge!
I’m in. My grandmother used to make her own starter to give away. So I’d love to learn and expand my bread repetoire.
I am in but now to decide to buy a starter or create my own! My husband does not like sourdough despite living in the Bay Area for 10 years. But I have 3 little girls who will gobble it up – and I love nothing more than that sour, tangy taste loaded up with some butter and homemade jam. Or taleggio cheese and proscuitto. Or grilled with 3 year old cheddar. Love this whole project!
I’m in! I’m a keen baker but have never got around to making my own sourdough. I love how in-depth you’ve gone into your research and totally trust you to help guide us along the way
I am! Thank you so much, I have been thinking about sourdough for some time, but I also wanted to make my own starter. I am looking forward to more information and to start baking!
This is great! I have a starter “cookin” in my kitchen this week to hopefully give it its first try at sourdough bread on Saturday or Sunday. I hope it turns out!
I have made sourdough bread in the past and well, it’s about the most addicting thing there is. I took a quick trip to N CA this fall and fell in love with sourdough all over again!
I’m in! Sounds like way too much fun!!!
I am totally in! Excited!
Count me in, too. I’ve always wanted to use and maintain a sour dough starter but have never managed to make a priority of it. Thanks for the nudge!
Count me in – I’ve been on a baking journey this past year and have wanted to try sour dough but was completely in the dark as to how to go about it. So glad to have found your site – I’m in for the sourdough baking!
I love making sourdough bread ! Truly enjoy it ! The starter I use is the one you feed with instant potato flakes and the bread turns out wonderful ! I can smell it now ! Also use the dough to make the best cinnamon rolls on earth ! My late husband used to beg me to make them !
I have a really easy sourdough started I use when making sourdough French bread … it uses potato flakes (pioneer days it would have been potato water with a bit of the potato left in it) … originally from an Alaskan Sourdough Cookbook:
Sourdough Starter Ingredients 3 tablespoons instant mashed potato flakes 3 tablespoons white sugar 1 cup warm water 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
Directions 1. Combine instant potatoes, sugar, water, and yeast in a covered container. Let the starter sit on a counter for 5 days, stirring daily with a wooden spoon. 2. On the morning of the fifth day, feed the starter with 3 tablespoons instant potatoes, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 1 cup warm water. In the evening, take out 1 cup of the starter to use in a sourdough recipe. Refrigerate the remaining starter. 3. Every five days, feed the starter 3 tablespoons instant potatoes, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 cup water. If starter is to be used in a recipe, let the fed starter rest at room temperature 6 hours before use. If starter is not being used in a recipe, keep refrigerated and discard 1 cup of starter after each feeding.
I am in! I have been reading Alice Water’s book and her description of how to make a sourdough starter with a potato. Somewhere, I also read about making starter with grapes–I would love that method as we have our own grapevine:) Looking forward to this sourdough journey~!
Finally some motivation to dig out the dried starter I bought online for Flemish whole wheat sourdough! Count me in!
Me! Me! Me! I love a challenge!!!!
I learned a long time ago to name my starter so I would take better care of it! Anything with a name is more … alive?
I have been making sourdough bread regularly for probably close to two years now and I am now a self-professed “sourdough snob.” I first got a starter from someone else but found that it takes about 8 days to rear my own from scratch–wanted to mention this becasue many books imply you’ll be up and running 5 days or so and I’d hate anyone to be discouraged–just keep at it!
I’m in! Have some starter I’ve been keeping alive in the fridge since May. We make a couple of loaves every few weeks. Interested in hearing how your different starters turn out!
I’ve never made sourdough bread. It sounds like a challenge – I’m in!
Perfect timing….I want to grow my own – waiting on the organic grapes to hit the store….
I’m in! I’ve always wanted to learn how to make a start from scratch, just flour and water, so I’ll be awaiting your instructions!! Thanks for taking the time to make some test runs!
I’ve made many sourdough starters, but my best starter was from a pineapple juice recipe. I still have it from 6 years later. I love the process of baking sourdough bread!
This sounds like fun.
Wonderful! A new challenge … Then get to enjoy eating! Count me in. Thanks.
I am so glad you chose sourdough as a project! I have been meaning to start a starter all month! I am so glad I can read about your experience and follow your instructions to get myself started.
I love Sourdough! I’ve got a starter that I made from the BH&G cookbook. I’ve kept it alive since last July. Yeah me! I make bread occasionally but other times I have mixed up multigrain pancakes with sunflower seeds and flax and used the starter. One time I was in need of a breakfast item to take and threw in some biscuit mix, a tablespoon of sugar, a hint of cinnamon, and dried berries. I topped it with oatmeal, a little brown sugar and butter crumbled together. It made a great coffee cake.