Friday, November 6, 2009

Sourdough Success!

It's day 6. I've made several interesting discoveries. After my first failed sourdough I was curious to find out what happened, and my first suspect was the water, since I used citywater. I divided the remaining starter into two lots- using warm bottled water to feed the starter in one half and milk in the other. Surprisingly (to me), both did just fine, bubbling and frothing soon after I added the liquid and flour. So I tried making bread again and it was perfect. Three glorious loaves of risen bread and two pans of rolls. So, chlorinated city water is out (That's my theory of why the first batch didn't rise). Good to know. Imagine what it does inside my body when it kills hardy yeast so easily.
Here's the recipe I used (from allrecipes.com); I got the results above by doubling this:

Sourdough Bread
1 cup sourdough starter
1 1/2 c. warm water (not chlorinated!)
1 1/5 tsp salt
1/2 c white sugar (next time I'll try honey)
1/2 corn oil
6 cups bread flour (I actually used whole wheat, which worked great)
1. Mix all but the flour together, then add the flour slowly to the mixture. Oil the dough (I sprayed it with oil), place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise overnight.
2. Next day knead the dough for 10 minutes, divide in half and place into 2 loaf pans, allow it to double in size (I did this step overnight).
3. Bake at 350degrees F for 40-45 mins. Turn out to cool onto wire rack.

Tomorrow I search for oils, dairy and local flour. I know dairy and flour will be easy, a matter of just making the trip, and I don't expect cooking oil will be difficult either, it's just a matter of finding it. I'm lucky to live in Southwestern Ontario.
My fridge and cupboards have fewer bottles and boxes now that I'm no longer purchasing anything new, and my freezer's filled with bags of soups, breads and homemade muffins to replace store-bought "granola" bars filled with additives and empty calories. I'm proud of my success so far and curious (with a hint of trepidation) to see what comes next.

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