Sourdough

[Homesteader]

I've got a great sourdough starter (thanks Boar-Dilly!) that imparts a fantastic taste. But I cannot get a good loaf of bread without adding store-bought yeast. It's driving me crazy! I've done proofing, different recipes, let it rise for almost two days once, and I still get a very heavy almost rock-like result.

How in the world did the old timers actually bake good bread? I can bake good muffins, biscuits, fantastic pancakes, but bread seems to be beyond me.

Sure would love to know how the old-timers did it.

 

[Isiah1103]

Good question. I've had similar trouble with SD breads. I've had a starter going for nigh' on to 20 years... but breads are difficult w/o yeast. BTW do you have a good biscuit recipe? Some of my biscuits are great for packin'.

 

[Birdman]

Make sure to feed yer starter before ya want to bake bread. I usually will feed mine(potato flakes works much better then straight flour)(and some sugar) either the evening before or the morning of the day I want to bake n then actually bake come evening. Yer starter should really be bubbling away to get the bread dough to rise. Also ya need to watch what the temp is, the dough will rise much better if its on the warmer side of things. Another thing might be the amount of sugar yer useing in yer dough, yer starter has to have something to feed on to do the rise?gas production thing. If my bread doesn't rise properly I usually feed the starter again n wait a day or two until its really active before trying again.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

birdman could you give a recipe for yer bread? and how much tater flake 'feed' do you add to yer starter?

 

[Birdman]

93 its sort a hard ta give ya a measurment on the tater flakes, I keep my starter in a crock. when I get ready to use it I pour off most of the clear liquid sitting on top, stir up whats left real good then dump in the flakes, my guess would be near 3/4 a cup of the flakes, then I toss in a couple handfuls of suger(I'm guessing about 1/2 a cup plus or minus), then top it off with warm(not hot) water untill its sort of like a thin oatmeal consistency(sort of hard to describe). Then I let it sit fer a spell,anywhere from 8 to 24 hours until it kicks off n starts bubbling real good before I use it for bread. I've had to set the crock in warm water to warm the whole batch up to get the thing cooking cause the wife n I keep the house prteey cool in winter. Sourdough ain't nothing but a liquid yeast concoction so it has to be warmed up to really come alive. You can also help yer starter stay active by pinching off a golfball size chunk of the dough after it has risen the second time n toss it into the container ya keep yer liquid in.If I want to bake bread I'll feed the starter this morning, get home from work n put the dough together tonight, let it rise until I go to bed , punch it down n then let it rise until tomorrow morning, when I get up(early) I'll form the loaves n let em sit until they puff up some n then into the oven. Hope this helps some, I'll post the recipe a bit later or tomorrow if I get the chance

 

[Birdman]

evenen 93, the way I make it is with 6cups of flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/3 cup sugar,1/4 cup oil(I use a lite oil, seems to taste better that way but regular corn/olive oils will work) 1 to 2 cups starter n about 1 1/2 cups warm water. mix all the dry stuff together(I run it through a sieve just to add some air to the mix), add the oil n mix, add the starter n mix, add the water n mix.Now kneed for about 10 minutes or so. the longer ya kneed the dough the finer the texture after its baked, put into an oil bowl and twist around until all surface areas are coated with a touch of the oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap n(you can also just put the dough into a gallon sized zip lock bag) set aside until the dough doubles in size, punch the air out of the dough n kneed for a minute or two, separate the dough into three or four even parts from here ya can either put the dough into medium sized loaf pans to rise(butter n flour the pans first of course) or just work the dough into ball shapes n set on a cookie sheet to rise again.. When the loaves are about the size ya like, brush the tops with some beaten egg(leaves a nice shiney crust)and pop em in the preheated oven (350')for about 45minutes, pull out n set on a wire rack to cool then dig in n enjoy. I think it tastes best toasted. This is a sweeter style sourdough simaler to San Fran style or some I've had from Alaska. hope this helps n iffen ya got any questions feel free to ask or give me a personal shout. YMHS Birdman oh yea, like I said in the other post, after I punch the air out of the dough after the first rise I'll pinch off a golf ball sized chunk n pitch it into my crock of starter to keep things going for the next batch. You can also use yer starter by adding some to pancake batter, muffins, biskits etc to get some of the flavor there.