Sourdough

Not this kind of yeast...
photo copyright 2022 Jubilee Young

    Bread dough is satisfying, but sourdough turns bread making into a hobby. It takes a little TLC,  but those who stick to it find it rewarding. A couple weeks ago I started a sourdough starter. I have done sourdough before, but it was mostly when I was strictly gluten free, and the bread I made was good, but sour. Later, after I wasn’t gluten free I made it again, and I only liked it with spicy pepper jack cheese. Now, a couple years later, I am trying again. 

It all began again after I listened to an audio book where sourdough was turned into a whole story plot. The fiction story was created around this strange sourdough starter that made unusually good bread. The author had obviously read a lot about sourdough and probably even started a starter before writing the book. I learned a couple things about sourdough I didn’t know before. 

First, the mixture is equal parts of flour and water with salt. I didn’t know about the salt before. Sourdough starters can have different scents, even when they are healthy. I didn’t learn how to make a nice loaf from the book, though. That learning will have to come with practice. 

So I have a new starter now. I bought some whole wheat flour like the book talked about and like I did before. I mixed equal parts of flour and water together with a sprinkle of salt. I wasn’t sure if there would be any natural yeast in my room, so one day I left my window open. By day three or four I had a starter. It smelled sour. Great! 

I tried making little bits of bread with it, but they had too much flour or not enough. The starter was happy so that’s what mattered. One day I noticed the perfectly normal dark liquid that had gathered on the top. First instinct is to pour it off. I read if you stir it in, the bread becomes more sour. Fine, I don’t need extra sour sourdough. 

The starter, I found, doesn’t like tap water, but boiled, so I keep a jar of boiled water ready. The starter was doing fine for a while, but it stopped looking happy.  I remembered the starter in the book was kept in a covered crock. I put a lid on my container, and my starter began to get happy. 

As I fed the starter one day I noticed it smelled like...bananas. Exactly the smell described in the mysterious happy starter in the book. Today my starter smells like fermenting apples.

It does not take much time to take care of a sourdough starter, but it forces you to do something relaxing. It already helps remind me to take care of myself, especially by making cinnamon streusel bread with my starter.