Tori’s Writing Hole

I’ve been baking for years now - about 15 years to be precise, and there are certain things I’ve always wanted to make because I love them so. Cream puffs were an example, and when I finally got my pâte à choux to work I discovered they were not worth the effort. I buy cream puffs now.

Another item I have always wanted to bake is sourdough bread. I love this bread - always have. The fluffy texture, crunchy yet delicate crust and sour yeast taste and aroma are perfect. So of course, I’ve always wanted to make some.

To make sourdough, you need a starter. Every starter I’ve tried to make has come out horribly - a mass of flour soup mixed with mold and possibly gnats. Not great. Then I came across this recipe (courtesy of Sourdolady on The Fresh Loaf) I’ve put my additions/notations in bold:

Procedure for Making Sourdough Starter

Day 1: mix…
2 T. whole grain flour (rye and/or wheat) (I actually used organic Hodgkins Mills Unbleached Wheat Flour)
2 T. unsweetened pineapple juice or orange juice (I used orange juice)
- 2 tablespoons of liquid made a really stiff, thick starter, so I also added 1-2 tbsp of filtered water to thin it a bit)

Cover and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.

Day 2: add…
2 T. whole grain flour
2 T. juice
Stir well, cover and let sit at room temperature 24 hours. At day 2 you may (or may not) start to see some small bubbles.

Day 3: add…
2 T. whole grain flour
2 T. juice
Stir well, cover and let sit at room temperature 24 hours.

Day 4:
Stir down, measure out 1/4 cup and discard the rest.
To the 1/4 cup add…
1/4 cup flour*
1/4 cup filtered or spring water

*You can feed the starter whatever type of flour you want at this
point (unbleached white, whole wheat, rye). If you are new to
sourdough, a white starter is probably the best choice. All-purpose
flour is fine–a high protein flour is not necessary.

Repeat Day 4:
Once daily until the mixture starts to expand and smell yeasty. It is
not unusual for the mixture to get very bubbly around Day 3 or 4 and
then go completely flat and appear dead. If the mixture does not start
to grow again by Day 6, add 1/4 tsp. apple cider vinegar with the daily
feeding. This will lower the pH level a bit more and it should wake up
the yeast.

—
I’m up to day 6, and I now have a bubbly, yeasty and fragrant starter. At day 8, I plan to start feeding the yeast a bit more flour, so I can build up a starter to make bread. The next step… finding the perfect bread recipe.

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