Sourdough

[Faster horses]

I am experimenting with sourdough again. I have some good starter so please weigh in with tips and recipes. I have found a bread recipe I can use with my bread machine. I only use the dough cycle and bake it in a dutch oven in the conventional oven.
I fixed pancakes one morning and then another time I added some to the eggs to make french toast. That worked out well. Anyway, I get easily confused about what to do with it when I first take it out of the refrigerator, as I am not sure whether to add 1 c. flour and 1 c. water or 1/2 c. of each.

 

[Puzzled]

As of yet I have no experience with the sourdough. But starter recipe I plan to try, mentions
1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Can be adjusted to your preferred consistancy.

I thought this looked good, but maybe a lot more work than I'm willing to take on.
https://wildthistlekitchen.com/sourdough-star-bread/

 

[Faster horses]

Thanks. I made sourdough bread yesterday and did use the 'more flour' suggestions and I was happy with how it turned out. I think what I was using lacked enough flour. This became very active and doubled in size. I made a sourdough coffee cake that was different, good, but different.

 

[Puzzled]

I understand that the starter can get "hungry". Needs to be fed, it likes/wants more flour.

 

[Older Whiskey]

I haven't made sourdough bread for 40 years. My favorite was Basque sheepherders sourdough cast iron Dutch oven bread. I had a sourdough starter I got from the Idaho Basque. I baked it in my wood cookstove oven.

I wish I could find a good traditional recipe again. So far none online or on YouTube are what I used to make. Many use yeast. It isn't the same. Also without the old seasoned cast iron, the flavor is different. That good old USA made well seasoned cast iron, imparted a great flavor. I always lightly coated the inside of the seasoned cast iron with lard.

It was a long process, but well worth it. I am looking for a recipe that is powerful enough to push up the heavy cast iron lid when rising. I used triticale ,instead of rye , mixed with fine stone ground wheat. These days I have no plan to grind my own and will probably use all purpose flour with a bit of rye.

I wish I still had my old USA made well seasoned cast iron Dutch oven.

 

[Puzzled]

Wild Yeast, it occurs naturally with just flour and water.

Somewhere out there you should be able to find a USA made cast iron Dutch Oven. Most of the
cookware we grew up with falls under the category of "Vintage" or "Antique".

Then figure out what flour, or combination of, is what you liked. If its not genetically modified
it can probably raise a cast iron lid easily.


https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=Awr...scratch//RK=2/RS=_s36wg55q_Rv2qT7ZlbKn04DNSA-

 

[Faster horses]

I use a Staub dutch oven. Since I haven't done much with sourdough in the past, I don't know the difference.
I put parchment paper on the bottom and the sides and the loaf bakes beautifully.
Maybe I just got lucky.

 

[Puzzled]

It is sort of interesting to read different articles about the starter. Supposedly it can be dehydrated for periods of time, and then restarted. Or frozen, and restarted. Both ways allow for a way to save your starter if its not being used.