Sourdough Starter
So you have a sourdough starter - what do you do not???
Quick notes: Feed every three days if left on the counter or once a week if left in the fridge one part flour and one part water. Add ½ cup of starter mixture to any recipe that calls for yeast. The best recipes to make are pull apart dinner rolls (quick and easy), homemade pizza dough, and sourdough biscuits for breakfast (takes overnight so plan ahead).
What is it?
Your sourdough starter is a living breathing thing, think of it as a live active yeast that you can use to make food taste even better! At one point in time, someone created it by mixing flour and water, letting it sit out on a warm counter, splitting it in half, feeding it more flour and water, etc. until a bacteria became alive in it which makes that sour smell of sourdough bread. Sounds gross - tastes great!
Name it!
Apparently it’s a longstanding tradition of baker’s to name sourdough starters so that they can keep them all apart. Mine is Phoebe from FRIENDS so feel free to give yours a good name - Trouble has already been taken by my grandma! ;)
Maintenance
Food
Mix 1 Part all-purpose flour and 1 Part cool water in a bowl or cup. If your sourdough starter is ½ cup in size, mix between ¼ cup to ½ cup parts water and flour each. You want to make sure there is adequate feed for her.
Storing & Feeding
Fridge - recommend
You can keep your sourdough starter in the fridge which I recommend because it won’t overproduce. Feed once a week (I just set a reminder on my phone)/
Counter Top
Feed every three days if left on the counter top.
You’ll know your starter is “hungry” when you see a separation of creamy material on the bottom and a yellowish sour smelling liquid on top. After you feed it, it’ll bubble up a little bit for the next few days.
Travel
If you are leaving for a trip you can freeze up to one week.
Sharing
To share your sourdough starter, simply put a ½ cup or half the mixture into a glass jar or container with a lid. Feed the mixture and then seal and give to your friend! Feel free to make your own notes on this and send this same document to them for care instructions.
Recipes
Quick Pull Apart Rolls Recipe
2 cups water or milk (microwave 2 minutes)
+2 packets of active yeast
½ cup of Phoebe (or insert your starter name here)
½ cup oil (we mix this up with avocado oil, coconut oil, olive oil, etc. depending on our mood or what is available)
½ cup honey (we used the Old Blue Raw Honey that was in the 2018 Winter Ag Mag)Add about 5-6 cups flour until you reach a dough consistency.
Spray a large clean bowl with cooking oil and then place the dough into the bowl. Spray a little more cooking oil on top and cover with a clean towel.
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
Mix all the wet ingredients together.
Let rise for about 1-2 hours, depending on how warm the counter top or room is. I like to start the dishwasher and place the bowl on top to allow for faster rising.
Spray a large muffin tin with cooking oil.
Making small ½” to ¾” sized rounds, place 2-4 into each muffin tin, gently pressing them down so that they stick together.
Bake at 425 degrees farenheit for 12-15 minutes.
Allow to cool completely on a rack before storing.
These are absolute great if you serve with brown sugar honey butter; just mix ¼ cup of the same honey with a stick of softened butter, a few tablespoons each of brown sugar and confectioners sugar. Roll up in parchment paper or a mold and place in the refrigerator to chill.
Friday Night Pizza
Friday night, homemade pizza, has long been a family tradition for multiple generations of my family. Phoebe was the perfect addition to these plans as ½ cup of starter to any yeast mixture makes it rise larger and taste better!
6 Tablespoons water
6 Tablespoons olive oil
¾ cup milk
Microwave 90 seconds.Mixture should be warm to the touch, but not hot when placed upon your inside wrist to test temperature. Then add the following ingredients.
1 packet of active yeast
½ cup of Phoebe (or insert starter name here)
2 Tablespoons sugar (optional)
4 cups of all purpose flour or until perfect consistency
Allow to rest and rise; about one hour.
Roll out onto a pizza stone for the oven or a sheet of foil for the barbeque. Dress as you see fit for the perfect pizza pie!
Sunday Morning Sourdough Biscuits
I love some nice warm sourdough biscuits and gravy no matter the day! And, with this recipe starting Saturday night before bed, you know it’s going to be just perfect!
The night before:
1 cup sourdough starter
2 cups milk (I use whole milk)
¼ cup melted butter (cooled)
2 cups all purpose flour
Mix all of these together well and then cover with plastic cling wrap, leaving the sides with small peep holes to breath, overnight or for 8-10 hours.
In a new bowl the next morning:
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Mix the above ingredients and add to wet mixture from the night before. Add enough flour that you can get it onto a well floured surface to knead it while leaving it a little sticky on the inside.
Roll into a ½ inch thick layer, cut out biscuits (I use the mouth of a cup), and place onto a greased baking sheet. Knead scraps and repeat until you don’t have enough dough for a biscuit.
Bake at 400 degrees for 12-18 minutes depending on how you like them done.
Reheat leftovers for 20 seconds in the microwave.
Featured in the AG Mag and Western Ag Reporter.
Phoebe the Sourdough Starter
Skimming through her recently acquired great grandma’s cookbook, my roommate, Rylee, couldn’t help but excitedly say, “Look what I found!!” On the yellowed pages of the black spiral bound cookbook, handed down from each generation, was the title, “Herbert,” that was followed by a neat cursive hand explaining, “Sourdough Starter.”
We had recently become the proud new owners of a sourdough starter, courtesy of my boyfriend’s mom, and were caught up in the excitement that a new and unusual project can bring. Naming our sourdough starter seemed like the perfect thing to do, and an online search showed that naming your bread starters is a long running tradition for bakers, potentially originating with Amish customs.
With yeast activate inside your starter, it’s not only alive and growing, but requires regular feedings, attention and use - just like a pet! The more likely cause, it’s a great way to differentiate between a variety of bread starters in a bakery.
Our starter caused us some anxiety and calendar appointments were needed to make sure she didn’t miss a feeding and accidentally die on us! Big fans of the television show Friends (1994-2004), we decided to name our sourdough starter after Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan. TV show Phoebe is known for her ability to always surprise her friends with her unique talents, silly wit and guitar playing. While our Phoebe hasn’t started playing the guitar (yet!), she does make us sound silly and we have been impressed with her versatility in the kitchen!
The act of making a sourdough starter may seem unsanitary, but it’s a simple process of mixing together equal parts flour(s) to water (A Couple Cooks food blog recommends a combination of 25g of wheat flour, 25g of all-purpose flour to 50g of water) in a seal-tight jar and then waiting for the bacteria and yeast to do its thing! Cover the jar and set in a warm place (between 68 and 72 degrees).
Discard half the starter daily and then add the same ingredient ratio for the next five to six days. Bubbles may start appearing by Day 3 - this is good! Your starter is coming alive! By Day 5 of 6, the starter should be doubled in size, be very bubbly and have that traditional sour smell! Feed your starter an equal parts flour and water mixture every three days if you leave on your counter top or weekly if you place in your refrigerator.
Bread starters were made for holiday traditions! Simply split the starter in half and feed both the old and new starter! If your starter lives on the countertop, you’ll need to feed it every three days. You can also put the starter in the fridge and feed it weekly and you can also freeze your starter for up to two weeks if you need to leave for a vacation.
You can name your friend or family members new starter for them when you gift them! Let us know what the name of your starter is and if you are going to start one this holiday season!