The story of sourdough is long as the world. I (Pawel) came around to the idea of making a homemade bread a couple of years ago. Once I did my first sourdough bread I’ve realized that it has been my childhood memory that was brought alive again. The best bread I’ve ever eaten was one from my grandmother village shop. It has been early 80’s in Lower Silesia near actual town of Ząbkowice in south western Poland (German name of the town was Frankenstein – yes this is the town where the story of dreadful creature comes from). Since the discovery, I’ve continued to bake our homemade sourdough bread on a regular basis. Last year, I got a present from Anna and I was enrolled to Complete Sourdough Workshop course at Bread Ahead Bakery (renown bakery and school in London’s Borough market). The workshop was about sourdough bread making using wild yeast. There I was entrusted secrets of sourdough starter, which I can share with you now. The most important secret is not to be put off by the 100 years old sourdough… It’s just a myth, I was told that the one you would make at home will be the same good.
Sourdough Starter
Ingredients
- 50g wholemeal rye flour
- 50ml / 50g water
- Large & tall food container or jar - so you could easily stir the content when adding the flour and water, and also there was enough room for the starter to grow.
Instructions
Put 50g of wholemeal rye flour and 50g (50ml) of water into a plastic container or jar and mix it. It should come into thick butter consistency. Leave it for the night on the kitchen counter, covered with the lid but not closed.
For the next 4 days do the same thing, add 50g flour and 50g water and stir.
On the 5th day, you will notice that the starter got alive (like the Dr Frankenstein creature) and it's ready to use.
Now you can make our sourdough pancakes recipe or some other delicious recipes. Every time you use some part of your sourdough starter, replace it with the same amount of flour and water. Store in the fridge (not freezer).
Day before the day you plan to use your starter add 75g of the rye flour and 75ml / 75g of water to give him a bit of refreshment and live.
Notes
* you can use your starter endlessly, as long as you keep refreshing it (with flour and water) the fermentation process will be going on.
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