the biggest much: Day 3: A Sourdough Experiment

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Day 3: A Sourdough Experiment

Looking at my starter, I didn't notice any activity, except a few bubbles. According to Pinch My Salt, this may be okay at this point.

gooey looking top

a couple air bubbles...but where those there before?

I'm starting to worry a bit about whether or not this will work, and getting kind of anxious and impatient. I've even caught myself googling, "how to make a sourdough starter", looking for other methods. But, I WILL stick this on out 'til the end! If, it doesn't work, if... if... if... then I will find another method to try out. One of my concerns about the starter is that I accidentally used "bleached" flour yesterday, instead of "unbleached". Not sure if that will make a difference or not, and I haven't been able to find any info about it online.

So, just as a reminder folks, USE UNBLEACHED FLOUR!

Whole Wheat Flour for Day 1

Unbleached, All Purpose, Pre-Sifted

I 'm trying to remind myself that this is quite a long process to get to the yummy sourdough bread. I am dreaming of freshly baked chewy, tangy, crispy crusted bread. I know I could just drive myself to the mall that has a Boudin Bakery and buy some, or better yet, eat my favorite sandwich there. But, that is not nearly as satisfying as eating something that you have so carefully created. I'm getting ahead of myself a bit, but maybe I should start looking for a clam chowder recipe to go along with my bread?

Let's move on...dump your mixture in a bowl, regardless of what the mixture looks like (fermentation or not), and discard half of it. Use the best guess with your eye. You can throw it out, give the other half a friend to cultivate, or you can keep it and have 2 jars going (if you want). Mine was super sticky, and hard to get out of the jar, so I decided to use a spatula scraper.

Then add 1 cup of unbleached all purpose flour, and 1/2 cup of room temperature filtered water.

Mix it well until combined. You will notice the mixture is lighter than before because there is not as much whole wheat flour left.

Wash and dry your jar, then place it back in. I know that my photo at the top looked super pretty, but don't be fooled...I cleaned it before I took the picture. It actually looked like this...

Mark the container (or containerS)with a rubber band, and cover. I decided to keep one with tulle, and one with a paper towel. Leave at room temp for another 24 hours. It is supposed to double in size by tomorrow...we will have to wait and see!