Sourdough Bread - Phases 1 and 3 **updated starter instructions 7/12/2020****






I have been on a mission to make FMD sourdough bread for a while now. I started my starter, but I ran out of sprouted wheat flour. I got more flour, then had the starter in too warm of a spot so it molded. Then I tried again and forgot about it, because, life. Again, it molded. So I tried yet AGAIN, with a promise to myself that I would be diligent and mindful, because I want this to work!

The starter takes about 7-14 days to be ready, but longer is better. You do need to be diligent. Set a calendar reminder on your phone. Sprouted wheat flour is more finicky than white flour. White flour will wait a few days for you to pay attention to it, whereas sprouted wheat demands your attention and love and care much more frequently. It is fickle and will turn bad on you the moment it thinks you have abandoned it. But love it, name it, talk to it. Nurture it. And it will love you back.

You can search the internet for starters and how to do them. You will find many posts about precise measurements, or weights and exact timing (as in the all the times are listed as a schedule) but I am not that type of baker. If I had my dream job of a boulangerie in Paris, making croissants, and pastries, I would be that precise. Alas, I am a home baker in middle TN and I am more loose and free.

This bread is not a traditional sourdough bread because I use a bit of yeast and the egg whites. Sprouted Wheat Flour is tricky to work with sometimes. This bread has a nice tang to it. It is super moist, stays fresh longer, and the flavor gets stronger as time goes on. And it is easy to make- once your starter is ready.





While you can use my flour mixes to make the bread, the starter needs to be made with sprouted wheat flour. I have not tried any gluten free flours to make starter. I did attempt to use my mix to make the starter, and it molded very quickly. 

Some basics about starters-


  • do not use any metal in the mixing, measuring, storing
  • use filtered water, or bottled water. Keep chlorine away from this
  • keep in a warm spot- the top of the fridge is perfect. Anything warmer and you need to attend more frequently. Anything colder and it will take longer to grow
  • do not cover tightly. You are capturing wild yeast so you need some air flow. 
  • set a daily reminder on your phone to feed it


Once your starter is ready, you can keep it in the fridge and feed it less often- every few days. 
You can also dry a starter- spread on silicone mat and let dry. Break into flakes, store in airtight container. When you are ready to bake, a couple of days in advance, add some water, fresh flour, and feed it a couple of times a day until baking day.

Here is what you need for the starter

Quart glass jar or equivalent
Plastic measuring cups
Plastic stirring devices
Metal ring for the jar (it does not touch the starter) or rubber band
Coffee filter, scrap of clean muslin or thin dish towel
Filtered water or spring water
Sprouted wheat flour, or spelt 

**note: if your starter ever gets mold on it, you can either pour off the liquid and keep what is on the bottom of the jar. You will want to feed this 2x 12 hours apart before using to bake with**

First day:
1/4 cup filtered/spring water
1/4 cup sprouted wheat flour

Put into jar, stir well. Cover with cloth or filter and hold it down with metal ring or rubber band. Place jar on top of fridge or on counter in draft free area. 

Second day:
Stir the starter. Discard half. You can compost this. I will have recipes later for using the discard. Add 2T flour, and 2T water. Stir, cover. put it on top of fridge.

Third day through day 7-ish:
Repeat day 2- discarding half and adding water and flour, in equal amounts. 

If the jar starts to get crusty, transfer to clean jar.

Day 8- or day before baking day:
If the starter starts to smell yeasty, you are good to go ahead. If not, continue to feed daily as above. You should see bubbles in your starter 6-12 hours after feeding it and it should have doubled in size. I keep a rubber band on the jar to mark the level after feeding so I can see how far it rises. 


When you are done baking, if you have left over starter, feed it, put in fridge. You can feed 1 tablespoon of starter with 1 tablespoon of flour and water to keep from discarding so much. The feeding before baking day, feed with at least 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Every few days, feed it again with equal parts of water and flour after a discard of half. 



Here is my video on making the bread https://youtu.be/d6CoSVPlEjs


To make the bread- 

Use this recipe Sprouted Wheat Bread and make the following adjustments:

Use 1 tsp yeast (omit if your starter is super strong)
Add 1 1/2 cups of starter to the water and yeast.
Add 1/2 cup additional flour to the amount in the recipe. 

Stir, pour, rise and bake as instructed in the recipe. 



8 comments:

  1. Since my husband is a home brewer, would my starter be ready faster due to all the yeast floating around the house? He uses some pretty hearty strains when brewing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is very possible. You may want to keep an extra eye on your starter.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for fixing my goof. What I was trying to ask is I see "Add 1 1/2 cups of starter to the water and yeast" but I do not see water in the recipe. Is that intentional? I am really wanting to try this recipe. Thanks for taking the time to figure it out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is water in the bread recipe that's linked and in the starter recipe, so which recipe are you not seeing water?

      Delete
  4. I want to make a gluten free sourdough and I have been making my starter with brown rice flour. Can I still use your recipe and for the sprouted wheat flour use your recipe for gluten free flour mix?

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  5. Where do you buy or what brand of sprouted wheat flour do you use?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some stores carry it but mine no longer do. I order on Vitacost.com
      Any brand will work, I like One Degree

      Delete
  6. my husband LOVES sourdough! Looking forward to trying this!

    ReplyDelete

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