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| My first loaf of the season -- extra tangy from a starter that had been dormant for 10 months. |
I know there are a few of us here that make or have made sourdough bread and keep or kept a sourdough starter. So I thought I'd ask you friends for tips.
Every January I get my starter out of the fridge and work to revive it. Winter is not the best time of year to do sourdough in a house that stays around 64 degrees F during the day and dips down to about 61 degrees F at night. Starters generally don't do very well in colder temps. But this is the time of year that I actually have time to babysit a starter.
Here are my two tips for keeping a starter or rising dough warmer in a cold house.
1) When I've got a bowl of dough to rise, I set the bowl over another bowl of warm water. The top bowl (with the dough in it) sits an inch or so above the water level of the lower bowl. And the water is just warm and not hot. During the day I periodically rewarm the bowl of water in the microwave. Just before bed at night (if allowing to rise over night) I rewarm the water one last time. It's enough to give my dough a boost.
2) For the starter itself, I leave it on the counter just behind the warming bowl and on top of a dish towel. We have quartz countertops, which stay cool to the touch all day and all night long. Placing a dish towel underneath the jar of starter insulates it just a smidge against the cold countertop.
What have you learned about making sourdough over years? Any tips for lofty loaves? What do you do to revive a dormant starter when it has sat in the fridge for a while? Do you have a particular spot in your kitchen for proofing dough or keeping a starter vibrant?
I want to learn to make sourdough soon and have picked up some tips from Aimee Guess at Homemaker on a Budget, you might want to check her out! She also published a sourdough cookbook and has recipes on her website.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Trina. I'll check her website out. Good luck to you with your future sourdough!
DeleteNever heard of Aimee Guess, I will check her out too! A friend and very good sourdough baker suggested Melissa Griffiths sourdough recipe and her website is called Bless This Mess. Her recipe and tips worked for me the first time! If my starter is somewhat dormant, I eyeball it and throw out some and start over, rebuilding over a few days. A 1:2:2 ratio of starter, water, flour. For example, 20-30 g of old starter, 40-60 g water and 40-60 flour.
ReplyDeleteHi friend,
DeleteThank you. I'll check out Bless This Mess and her tips for sourdough. And thank you for the ratios. That's good to know.
I am in no way an expert but I keep my starter in the refrigerator. When I want to make something I pull it out a day or two . I either pour off or stir back in the dark liquid on top then I take a few tablespoons and put into a clean jar and add equal parts of flour and water and let that sit until bubbly which might take a long time. I discard the rest or start a second jar. Sometimes I just put the jar back in the fridge for a feeding later on. Mine always come back to life. The amount of flour and water depends on how much I want to use. It doesn't take much for a loaf of bread but getting the best loaf takes time. I mix it then do some stretch and fold and then put it in the refrigerator overnight. The next day I shape it and let it sit to rise for a while before baking.
ReplyDeleteAlice
Hi Alice,
DeleteThat's interesting that you chill the dough overnight before shaping it. I've never done that before, but will give it a try. Thank you!
I haven't had sourdough started for years, but I used to keep it in the fridge. I remember one time my mother was visiting and was helping by cleaning our refrigerator. The starter looked like something past it's prime, so she threw it out. However, it was easy enough to get some more from a friend.
ReplyDeleteHi Live and Learn,
DeleteI've had family members question whether or not my starter is any good any longer, it can look that bad. I can imagine your mother's thoughts when seeing your starter in the fridge and wondering what it could be. Mine can look pretty bad after a few months. I'm glad you were able to get more easily.
If you have a seed starting warmer mat, you can place the sourdough on that. You can also buy small electric fermentation warmers that you can wrap around a glass jar and they keep the temp about 10 degrees warmer than room temp (if I remember correctly). I used one of these when I regularly made kombucha in a cold house. Works great.
ReplyDeleteI recently found an unopened package of dried sourdough starter that I bought in 2020 when lots of people were getting into sourdough baking during the pandemic. The package expired in 2021, but I decided to see if it was still viable. It was! I haven't made sourdough bread yet, but I have made several batches of sourdough discard waffles. There's a good recipe for this on the King Arthur Flour website. I'm really enjoying these waffles for breakfast.
Hi Tina,
DeleteThe seed starter mat is a really good idea. I like the idea of buying something that can be used in many applications. I've seen starter warmers and dough proofers on Amazon. Some of the most basic are not that expensive. In looking up kombucha warming wraps, I can see how they would also work for a jar of starter. Thank you for the info and good luck with your sourdough loaf. I'll check out King Arthur's recipe for those waffles. Thanks!
I love making sourdough bread. It is therapy for me - the whole process of stretching and pulling it just makes me happy (it's the small things, right?) Because there are just two of us and we shouldn't eat a lot of bread, I make it and slice it within the day and pop it into the freezer. I have also had fun trying different mix-ins - cinnamon and sugar, white chocolate chips and dried strawberries, and cheese. I will check out the suggested websites - I love trying new flavors. My problem is going down too many rabbit holes!
ReplyDeleteHi Ruthie,
DeleteThank you for this tip to slice and freeze the bread. I baked another loaf today and did just that. Fresh day sourdough is so good. I think freezing and thawing will preserve some of that freshness. So thanks for sharing that. A couple of years ago I used my starter to make kolache buns, using homemade plum jam for the filling. Those were so good. I agree about the small things bringing joy. Thanks for sharing, Ruthie.