Have you ever tried to make homemade sourdough? 🍞
Two weeks ago, I started experimenting with sourdough. And I'm quite proud of the result. I've been trying to make my own sourdough for a long time. With social distancing, I finally managed to find a spot on my agenda for this experience.
What is sourdough? 🤓
It is the result of fermentation between flour, water and air. It allows you to replace instant yeast bought in grocery stores to make your bread or other recipe requiring a leavening agent.
Here's the recipe...
You'll need:
- a transparent container + lid
- a scale
- a marker such as an elastic or adhesive tape
Ingredients:
- 100g lukewarm water (not hot, lukewarm)
- 50g whole flour
- 50g of unbleached white flour
Day 1 (base creation):
- In your container, mix all the ingredients together.
- Thoroughly scrape the edges of the container to be able to measure the progress of the sourdough and put the marker at the height of the mixture.
- Let everything sit for 24 hours at room temperature.
Day 2 (feed sourdough starter):
Look at the edges of your container for sourdough fermentation signs: Did it grow and/or left marks on the edges of your container? It can go up and down. Another sign that your sourdough has fermented is the formation of air bubbles.
No fermentation signs? Leave it for another day.
Has it grown? Then in another container, put 25g of sourdough starter that you prepared the day before and add the same ingredients as on day 1 (water, flour). Mix everything and then wait another 24 hours. Repeat the same steps from day 2 until the sourdough starter is ready.
How do you know if your sourdough is ready?
Normally, the it is ready in 7 days or more. To be sure, you simply have to do the floating test: In a bowl of lukewarm water place a spoon of sourdough. It floats? So it's ready! Otherwise, repeat the steps from day 2.
If you try to make your own sourdough starter, leave me a comment to tell me about your experience! 😊
My sourdough starter is ready, what should I do?
- You can now use it to make bread or other dishes that requires a leavening agent.
- You don't want to feed it every day? You just have to feed it and put it in the fridge, it can wait 7 days before being re-fed.
- What to do with the rest of my unnecessary leaven? You can use it in a pancake, crêpe or other mixtures. Only your imagination has limits! 😊
Other notes
- Mix your sourdough with water before adding the flour, so you make sure your sourdough is well incorporated.
- The warmer the room temperature, the faster the sourdough starter will rise.
- Puting too hot water or leave your sourdough at too high temperature (eg: oven) will kill it.
- Conversely, a cold temperature will slow down the fermentation.
- if there is a dark liquid on top of your sourdough: this is a sign that you don't feed your sourdough frequently/quickly enough. You just have to empty the liquid and continue to feed it.
- Make sure that there is no mold. If that's the case, then throw your sourdough starter and start again.