Sourdough Science

[FurMonster Mom]

Lately, I decided to start a great experiment:  sourdough.

Why?  because it eluded me for my entire cooking "career". 

I started cooking at home at the age of about 11. 
Mom was working, so it was up to me as the eldest to handle meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner.
My meals were fairly simplistic to start; pancakes, sandwiches, rice-a-roni, etc.  Anything that came in a package and had directions, I was given permission to cook up.  Eventually, I even baked a couple cakes.

When I moved out of my mom's household at the age of 14, I moved in with my Grandmother.  She was definitely a cook of another caliber.  She taught me the secrets of making sauces out of flour or corn starch, the tricks to candy making, and above all... cookies.  Grandma's house was never in short supply of cookies.  NEVER.
Once, when my dad tried to make her jumbo raisin cookies, he complained to me that he had to toss them because they turned into brickettes.  So I said, "did you soak the raisins?".  He stared at me blankly, "no".  I couldn't help grinning a little smugly, "Try that next time."

Through college, I expanded on my techniques and various styles of food; Mexican, Italian, Asian, were my standards.  I made stews, pastries, omelettes (I became "known" for them), and whatever else I could want.  I felt competent enough to take any recipe and tweak it to my own tastes.

But bread.... for some reason, I was hopeless with bread.  I cannot tell you how many bricks or soggy-bottomed loaves I have tossed over the years.  I couldn't even manage dinner rolls.

Bread has been my Achilles Heel, my great failure.

Hubby finally broke down and got me a machine a few years ago.  And while I love my machine, there was still that niggling thought... If only I could manage a decent sourdough...

SO

I decided that I would do my research, buckle down, and approach the process methodically and "scientifically".

[FurMonster Mom]

THE STARTER

This may sound really obvious, but everything depends on your starter.
It sounds obvious.... unless you screw it up (which I kinda did).

Getting a starter going is pretty simple:  flour + water + time = starter

There are lots of information on how to get a starter going; I went for a basic 50/50 water to flour ratio.
Lots of recipes call for a "boost" of commercial yeast, but I wanted a wild yeast starter, so it took a bit more time to develop.
I fed my starter diligently, and when it got to the 2 cup mark, it had started to bubble, so I figured I'd try a loaf.

I got a brick.

Well, obviously I hadn't given it enough time to develop.
So I fed it again, and when it got to the 2 cup mark, it seemed happy and bubbly.  So, as before, I split off 1 cup to make a loaf.

Brick number 2

OMG 
How tough can this be?  It's just water, flour, salt and a tiny bit of oil for chrissake!

So I fed my starter again.  Diligently, every 12 hours.  For 3 more days.
It became bubbly and happy again.  I split off a cup, and make...

Another brick.
 

So, I go back to my research and look into what the *&%$##!! I am doing wrong with the starter.
And this is what I discovered.
Each time you feed it, you should FIRST discard half.
Why?

When the starter is fermenting, it produces certain acids that inhibit growth. By discarding half the starter before adding more ingredients, you bring the acidity to a proper level.

Read more at: http://www.mysisterskitchenonline.com/2007/04/18/the-care-and-feeding-of-sourdough/
Copyright © Barbara.Kelley

I was just feeding and feeding, and not discarding.

So, by tossing out half at each feeding, it took much longer to reach the 2 cup mark.  Which also meant that the yeast had more time to propagate.  Which meant that by the time I got to 2 cups, it was the happiest, bubbliest starter I'd had yet.

So I split off a cup, and made my first successful loaf!  Yummy, chewey, soury, sourdough goodness! 


.

[FurMonster Mom]

THE EXPERIMENT

Coming down from the euphoria of my first ever successful baked-from-scratch loaf of sourdough bread, I got to thinking...
I've seen a lot of bread recipes with all kinds of different ingredients in them; oil, sugar, milk, baking soda/powder, etc.,. And I wondered what exactly do each of those ingredients DO?

So, I decided I would make one basic loaf with one extra ingredient.

The first one was oil.
The bread retained it's sour flavor, but the texture was not as... springy/chewy.  It was somewhat softened, like french bread.

The second was sugar.
I actually presented this to a small group of friends as my guinea pigs.  The first thing one of them said was... it's like a traditional italian bread.  To me, it reminded me of dinner rolls; sweet and soft, but not remotely resembling sourdough.

The third, I tried a little less sugar.
This again came out soft-ish like dinner rolls (though not as much as the previous), and retained the sour flavor.  A nice sandwich bread.

And I just made my fourth loaf, with baking power & soda.
The first thing I noticed was that it rose much faster than the previous loaves.  They took anywhere between 5-6 hours to rise.  This dough was ready in about 3.
I haven't cut into it yet... I literally pulled it out as I was putting this post together...

[DeeDee]

I searched until I found it online for you. (Lazy tonight because Alpha Dogs is on & didn't feel like finding the recipe card to type it out.) In one of those "Best Homemaker" type books, that any feminist would throw out the window now if someone handed to her, was a recipe my grandmother used...she said they didn't have yeast to use back then to make starter, and my grandmother NEVER changed to a yeast-starter recipe after it was readily available!

From http://southernfood.about.com/od/yeastbreads/r/blbb548.htm this is how they used to make starter:

...one uses yeast and the other is the "real" starter which does not have added yeast and comes from a 1896 cookbook.

Non Yeast (Wild Yeast)

2 cups whole milk
2 cups flour

Let the milk set in a warm place such as sunny window uncovered to sour. Add the sour milk to the flour (instant potato flakes can be used) preferably in a crock or clay bowl. It is OK to mix the fresh milk and flour but it might take a day or so longer to get a good starter. Cover with cheesecloth and let stand in a warm place stirring occasionally and the rest is similar to the yeast type.
To replenish, add 1 cup of milk and one cup of flour, cover with cloth and let stand until bubbly. Refrigerate if not to be used for some time.

A bit of honey can be added to "feed" it and give a slightly less sour starter but it really is not required for the effectiveness if the starter.

Note: Minima made hers back on the screened porch because it would sour faster--and it kind of stinks pretty badly when you're first getting it going. I'm sorry the directions are never better than that, but recipes back then kind of lacked specifics since girls were expected to grow up seeing their mothers doing it while teaching them. But I can tell you that Minima's bread was to die for! Sometimes I wish I'd chosen that book for my keepsake, but I wanted the needlework book that taught ancient arts like drawn-work & bobbin lace more than a Susie Homemaker type thing.

[Lola]

You two are making me hungry!  I'm a bread machine kind of gal though. 

[FurMonster Mom]

Well, my last loaf was more like the standard sourdough of the first loaf; firm, chewy, and tangy.  So I think the benefit to baking powder/soda is simply getting it to rise faster.

Unfortunately, sourdough doesn't really do well with machines on account of the time it takes to rise.  Especially if you want that sourdough tang.

Bonus is, there are a LOT of things you can do with a sourdough starter.

• sweet rolls
• pancakes
• waffles
• sandwich breads
• dipping breads
• sweet breads, ala Amish Friendship style

It is oh so very versatile!

[Lola]

The sourdough rolls that I make, via the bread machine... bread machine just mixes the ingredients.  I have to split the dough into rolls, let them rise, and then bake.  It isn't difficult. 

[DeeDee]

Just got back from Mom & Daddy's house...she gave me a lot of recipes to give y'all. I asked her if the way starter was made had anything to do with the way bread turned out, and she said it did--but some of the "newer" (ie: decades ago) recipes were better than the old standard milk and flour way.

I've got to get outside (burning brush from the tornado we had roll through recently) so that he's not alone out there with that fire he started while I was gone. But when I get some time after tomorrow, I'll start scanning the recipes for y'all.

These are recipes from people that were developed from 1930's to 1950's time period....including some from an old Southern Living magazine. "They all had their own starter or "Herman" recipes to go with their bread recipes. No I don't have any idea why they would say, 'I've got to feed Herman.' These are recipes that are harder to find now because people went "easier" over the old ways." -- Mom

Mom said she'd look for her recipe for "Angel Biscuits" because they weren't with these bread recipes, but you have to use starter for them.

Note: I remember well from my grandmother's kitchen 3 types of "oil" being used--either plain white Crisco; Wesson Oil; or old-fashioned Oleo sticks--so when the recipes I give you are put up, that's what was used. I'm not sure at all if there's a difference in the results from the types of oils available now--but as with anything else, it's possible. All of my aunts and my mom's kitchen had the same oils. I can tell you for a fact that there's a big difference in chicken fried in "oil" as opposed to the old way with white Crisco.

[DeeDee]

THE STARTER




Well, obviously I hadn't given it enough time to develop.
So I fed it again, and when it got to the 2 cup mark, it seemed happy and bubbly.  So, as before, I split off 1 cup to make a loaf.


.

I just remembered something....you're not feeding & stirring your pet Herman with a metal spoon, are you? That's one of those things that are like caviar. No metal.

[Pookie]

Through college, I expanded on my techniques and various styles of food; Mexican, Italian, Asian, were my standards.  I made stews, pastries, omelettes (I became "known" for them), and whatever else I could want.  I felt competent enough to take any recipe and tweak it to my own tastes.

I am so jealous.  Cooking has never been my strong suit, and now that I'm trying to eat less processed food and cook more of my own meals (instead of frozen dinners), I am wishing I had your fearlessness about experimenting with recipes.  I'm paranoid that whatever I make will come out inedible and I don't want to waste the food, so I pretty much stick with the recipe.  I really admire people who can just add/replace ingredients and have an idea of how it will taste.   

[Shadow]

Yummy, now I want to make bread, but this sounds kinda confusing to me. My mother in law makes bread with such ease...sigh

[FurMonster Mom]

No, Dee Dee, no metal.  In fact, I was using the end of one of my wooden spoons for a while.  lol
But when I took a trip to the restaurant supply store with my friend, I found a perfect skinny plastic scraper.

As an aside, the whole reason for that trip was so that my friend could pick up the christmas present she had promised me:  LONG oven mitts!  I mean LONG... like opera glove LONG!  lol
They are awesome.

Pookie, just start with little things.  Simple sauces were my starting point.  Keep it to simple recipes.  Once you have a feel for a particular recipe, look into variations.  Pretty soon, you'll start seeing some commonalities.  And don't feel bad... I've eaten plenty of my own mistakes.  lol

Shadow, does your MIL make her bread from scratch?  Use a sourdough starter, or commercial yeast?  Bread machine?  Do tell!

[DeeDee]

No, Dee Dee, no metal.  In fact, I was using the end of one of my wooden spoons for a while.  lol
But when I took a trip to the restaurant supply store with my friend, I found a perfect skinny plastic scraper.

Okay I want to know where you get oven mitts THAT long!!! Mine only go up about midway of my forearm!

You wouldn't believe the trouble I almost got into once when I was told to feed my grandmother's when I was about 10! I swear to you she'd never told me "no metal" before! Luckily she saw what I had in my hand when before I did it!

[Shadow]

Shadow, does your MIL make her bread from scratch?  Use a sourdough starter, or commercial yeast?  Bread machine?  Do tell!

Yes all from scratch, no breadmaker for her!

[FurMonster Mom]

hahaha... Google 20 inch oven mitts.  You should find them around.  Alternatively, look into restaurant or baker's supply distributors/stores.  I bet you'll find something.

About Herman... that must be a regional thing.  I was talking to another lady about my experiment, and she talked about how she used to have a Herman.  She also said Herman was made with milk, and that she had a circle of friends who shared Herman, much like you'd do with an Amish Friendship bread.  

One person would feed and care for Herman to get as much as they needed for their bread.  They'd bake their bread, and pass Herman on to the next person.  The next person would do the same.  With 4 or 5 folks in the circle, by the time Herman came back around to the first person, they were ready to bake again.  This way, nobody had to discard any Herman down the drain.  I thought that was pretty clever.

But it does give new meaning to the phrases; "Sharing Herman", "I need Herman", "I need to feed Herman", "I'm warming up Herman"... lol