Sourdough

[Matbest]

I am going to try to make sourdough. I have read up on how to make a starter, just wanted to know if any experts on here have any tips for me?

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Not expert, and I rarely bake them at home,
but after so many failed attempts , the boy who bakes recipe was the only one that worked.

Oh god, there's so much stuff out there, and some people get so deep about it all.

Eventually I narrowed it down to Bake with Jack He concentrates on the basics and demystifys the whole process keeping it very straightforward.

He is good on other breads too, I now make all our bread by hand and it's great.

I have had the same sourdough starter on the go for three years now - which I’m pretty pleased with. The thicker and colder you keep it, the less maintenance it requires. I feed mine once a week, but it can manage two weeks without any attention. River Cottage bread book is my go to for advice and recipes. When time is short, I make a hybrid loaf with both the sourdough starter and yeast in it, plus I’ve found it keeps lots better with a good slug of olive oil in.

I worked with a chef last year who brought his starter in and made some bread ( Delicious !! )

He used some halved green seedless grapes in his starter, not sure what effect they had but the bread was top drawer 😁👍

The easiest way is to get a bit of someone else's starter.

They are really difficult to kill off - mine sits at the back of the fridge in a kilner jar for weeks months getting blacker and nastier looking. To get it back to rude health put about mix 50g each of starter, flour and water together. Next day do the same until it starts bubbling again.

If you are making your own - mix 100g flour & water leave uncovered on the bench. Next day take 50g of starter from the day before, 50g water and flour - mix together and leave uncovered. Repeat for about 7 days until you get a bubbly slurry - which is your starter. If it doesn't' work your house is too clean.

The easiest recipe I have found is this one.... a no knead, cook in a cast iron pot recipe

Haha, my house is definitely not too clean 🤣
Thanks so much everyone- going to look at these links.

www.seriouseats.com/search?q=Sourdough+

OP, as @Unescorted said,try to get somebody else’s starter. The chance is it will be well established,mature and robust.Ask on your local fb page?

Watch out the videos on YT, technique known as “stretch and fold” eliminates kneading while building up gluten.

I’d also watch the videos of shaping- the tension created on the outer surface helps to keep it in right shape to rise instead of spilling sideways.

There’s great tutorial on YT by Impulse to Legend- a few videos from the owner of micro bakery that explains the principles of starter,fermentetion,proofing and everything else.

It does sound complicated but it’s not.

Good luck 🙂

Oh,and watch your waist size- freshly baked bread is irresistible

I want to make my own starter as I feel like the challenge is part of why I want to do it. Also because I love sourdough, obviously!

I think so long as you're prepared for it to take a while to establish the started and then a while to get the hang of the breadmaking you'll be fine. That's what I like, trying different methods, timings, seeing what works best for you, it's like a fun ongoing project. I started mine in the first lockdown, sometimes go a few weeks between bakes now (starter is in the fridge). I also love making crumpets with it when I have too much starter, really quick and easy compared to making them from scratch.

Different yeast cultures have really different attributes. I have one which gives a really tangy taste and is really vigorous It bench proves as quickly as baker's yeast so needs retarding in the fridge. It is the one that is impossible to kill. I have have others that are much softer and prove over 48hours at room temperature and can only be used in high hydration doughs. You will need to experiment to see what yours is like.

Have fun...

I have found the website The Perfect Loaf helpful. It is quite technical but really explains things.