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Experimenting with Sourdough


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I made my first two (successful) loaves of sourdough bread Monday and they turned out great!  I have tried to make my own sourdough starter before and make bread…well, the bread turned out more like bricks!  I don’t think my sourdough starter was working very well.

So I decided to try it again.  This time I sent for some free sourdough starter.  This link will take you to a PDF file that explains how you can send away for some free starter.  It comes in a little ziplock…a dried starter.  You easily dissolve some in a bit of warm water, then start adding your whole wheat flour and warm water to feed it. [UPDATE:  This link no longer works.  See comment below for a link to some great directions to make your own starter.  I will try to do a post soon with some good places you can buy starter.]

I am just learning how to feed my starter and how to use sourdough in baking.  You really do have to change your mindset, though.  This batch of bread I made I started the process on Sunday morning.  I got my sourdough starter out of the refrigerator and fed it 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of warm filtered water. I stirred it up and let it sit on top of my freezer all day (in the warm spot).

By Sunday evening it was all bubbly and ready to use.  I then mixed up my bread dough using 2 cups of the starter (I’ll have to share my recipe later after I have had a bit more experience with it).  Once the bread dough was mixed and properly kneaded, I put it in a big greased glass bowl and covered it with plastic wrap.  I let the bowl sit out on the counter until about 9:00 a.m. Monday morning (yes, it did take about 24 hours for the bread to double in size).

About 9:00 a.m., I divided the dough into 2 lumps and shaped them into loaves and put them in 2 greased bread pans.  I set them in a warm oven (I just turn the oven on for a bit to warm it up, then turn it off, but leave the light on) with a clean dish towel over them.  It took until about noon or so before they were ready to bake.  I think I should have let them raise more though, but they were still good.

We sliced the bread after they had cooled a bit and tried it.  It was really good…and soft.  I am anxious to try more recipes using sourdough and hopefully convert all my bread baking to using sourdough.  We’ll see!

If you are interested, why not send away for some free starter?  If you are experienced at baking with sourdough, I’d love for you to share some recipes with us!  Have fun!


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8 Comments

  1. I went there but it has page not found. I would like to get some sourdough myself. Any other optons?
    1. Angie...A reader commented that the link no longer worked..that's a bummer! See the comments for a link to instructions for making your own starter. I will also try to do a post soon with some places online that you can buy starter from.
  2. Sadly, originalfastfoods.com isn't offering the page or the starter anymore. Folks can make their own from scratch, though, which IS happy news. My favorite directions are at https://www.breadtopia.com/. The moral to the story is that once you have a great starter, it pays to dry some (instructions on Breadtopia) in case you lose yours. I wanted to comment before, Sheri, that your starter should get zippier with age and regular use. It takes several months of faithful use to build that traditional tangy flavor. Yummmm...
  3. I am anxious to see your recipe. I have tried sourdough several times, but have not had good results. I've made lots of brick loaves. :( I'm sure I am doing something wrong. Using whole wheat flour seems to make the process more difficult. Thanks for sharing your wisdom - anything else you can pass along is greatly appreciated!!
  4. Hello.... I was just looking into getting some sourdough starter for wheat bread, but the one I found said it didn't work with freshly ground flour, and to let the flour sit out on the counter for several weeks before feeding it to the starter. Since you are using whole wheat flour, can you tell me if you're grinding your own, and if so, are you using it right away or letting it sit for quite a while. Many thanks, Christi
    1. Hi Christi, I do grind my own flour to use in the sourdough. I am just learning all about using sourdough, so I am a beginner too. So far the sourdough seems to be doing fine with the whole wheat flour. I wish you the best!

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