Sourdough Starter
I have been on quite the kick with my newest addition to the house hold. I am going to refer to my sourdough starter as an it or a he/she because it too requires love and feedings, just like the rest of the members around my home.
Ever since I was a girl, I remember having animals to have to take care of and feed and nurture…we even had a couple of peacocks believe it or not. My household is not much different these days. We have many chickens and a few ducks, a dog, a cat, a rabbit, a turtle, and some fish. We continue to talk about expanding to goats and now we have my newest addition, my sourdough starter.
Ok so I may be taking it a little to far classing it in with our real life animals, but really it does require regular feedings and care every week.
So why even bother with sourdough? Well, at first I was hoping to gain a new baking skill, but then I realized all the health benefits of using sourdough too. I have been looking into ways to incorporate more fermented items into my diet ( I know, sounds terrible) and sourdough is a great addition to all my normal baked items to just punch them up a notch in the flavor department as well provide some additional gut health benefits.
So how do you even get a sourdough starter going?
The easiest way, which is actually how I got into the sourdough craze, is to get a batch from a friend who has a lovely starter accomplished already ( Thank you Amy )
Not everyone is as fortunate though. So today I am going to share with you a simple recipe to get your very own batch of starter going.
If you’re going to start the whole process from scratch, here’s how you do it:
Day 1: Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup warm water, 3 tbsp. potato flakes (I like to use a mason jar with a very loose lid). Let it ferment at room temperature for two days.
Day 2: Stir.
Day 3: Stir.
Day 4: Feed your starter with 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup warm water, 3 tbsp. potato flakes. Leave on the counter for 8-12 hours or overnight so the yeasts have a chance to eat through some of the food.
Day 5: Move your starter into the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
Day 6: Do nothing (stirring optional)
Day 7: Do nothing (stirring optional)
Day 8: Remove one cup of starter to make the Cinnamon Roll Recipe I mentioned or any other wonderful sourdough recipe. With the remaining starter, you can either discard, share with friends, or start the process over again by doing another feeding. Leave on the counter for 8-12 hours or overnight. You are now back to Day 4.
Like all sourdough starters, there’s some science and art in maintaining your starter and baking with it. Every kitchen is different, and warmer kitchens yield different results from cooler kitchens.
There are many versions of sourdough starters out there, feel free to experiment with what works best for you. You can actually leave the flour out of the potato flake starter for a gluten free version too! I am not gluten free so I have not tried this yet, however with a little research, you will find many other bloggers who are happily using their gluten free versions each week.
So after you have put all this time and effort into caring for your sourdough baby, feel free to start calling it by name, I have not found a suitable name for mine just yet, but a popular name out there in the sourdough world is Herman!
Enjoy!
