[Sca-cooks] Sourdough

[Terry Decker]

>I have been trying several different tacks to try to make sourdough,
working
>from _Beard on Bread_, _Joy of Cooking_, and, of all things _The Tightwad
>Gazette_.  So far, I haven't been successful.  I've tried store bought
yeast
>and the Goldrush sourdough starter, but either I got a bread that had a
>wonderful sour taste and the density of lead, or a light fluffy bread that
>was indistinguishable from any white bread out there.

Forget about Beard on Bread.  He's good for everything but sourdough.  Get
Ed Wood's World Sourdoughs from Antiquity or go look in the Florilegium
under the various bread headings.

"Sour" in sourdough refers to the spontaneous fermentation, not the taste.
Sourdough can run the gamut between almost normal to very sour.

San Francisco sourdough taste very sour because of a fortunate meeting of
Candida milleri and Lactobacilli san francisco.  The lactobacilli are what
give it the flavor, the wild yeast produces the proper environment.

>
>I grew the starter both in the fridge and out, letting it ferment for
>periods up to one week, worked with it straight and tried making a batter,
>with no luck whatsoever.

Mix 1/2 cup water and 1 cup of flour in a bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and
let stand on the counter for a couple days until it starts bubbling, then
feed it about 1/2 cup flour every 12 hours.  Use it every two to three days.
Putting it in the refrigerator will slow the fermentation, so feed it daily.
Usually the sour taste increases with time.

In case you wonder, flour isn't sterile.  The water starts an amylase
reaction which converts starch into sugar which is then used by the yeast.
Once the yeast use up the oxygen, the anerobic lactobacilli start growing.
Adding flour continues the reaction.  The water:flour ratio is 1 to 2,
because a volume of flour weighs roughly 1/2 the same volume of water.

>
>Can anyone give me some pointers, or recipes that have worked well for
them?

See the Florilegium, or use 1 cup of starter to replace 1 cup of flour and
1/2 cup of liquid in a recipe you like.  Rise times vary widely depending on
the quantity of starter and it's activity.  Most recipes use 1 cup starter
to 1 pound of bread.

You can also cheat, by adding yeast to the mix after you recover your base
starter from the proof.  Professionals do it to insure a decent rise.

>
>And how come you can't grow sourdough starter in a metal bowl?
>
>-Gytha "Wretched little microbes aren't going to beat me!" Karlsdotter

Sourdough becomes extremely acidic over time.  The acid will leech metal
ions from the bowl and ruin the taste of the starter.

This is also why baker's yeast based starters have a tendency to lose
potency after several cycles.  The environment becomes too acid for the
yeast.

Bear