My husband really likes sourdough bread – a fact I had not fully appreciated until our trip to San Francisco where such bread is a signature bakery item. While at the grocery store the other day, I looked in the bakery section to try to bring some sourdough bread home for him, but they did not have any that day. So, I have found a recipe and am attempting to bake some myself. Though I don’t really like to bake sweets, there is something satisfying about baking bread and something very comforting about smelling it baking in my home.
I made up the starter yesterday, and now it will have to sit for 5 days or so to ferment. This is the part of sourdough baking I have had trouble with in the past. The last time I made it, I tried to make cracked wheat sourdough, and the smell of the starter as it fermented was so awful that I couldn’t enjoy the bread itself once I got it baked. This batch is already beginning its aroma this morning, but I am determined to carry on.
I am wondering how anyone ever discovered that you could take fermented (spoiled!) starter and make a wonderful, fragrant, tasty bread from it. Because it is a strange thing to me to take something I would probably have thrown out if it turned bubbly and stinky on it own, yet, here I am purposefully making it bubbly and stinky so I can add it to the bread recipe next Saturday. I’m sure there is a deep and profound lesson there somehow, but I am not drawing it today. Today I will just stir that starter once in a while and go on about my business. The good thing about this is that it won’t always take 5 whole days to get the starter going. After this, if we like the bread experiment, I can just refresh the starter whenever I use it and we’ll always have some on hand in the refrigerator when I want to bake up some sourdough bread.
I’ll try to remember to mention how the bread turns out in a few days. I hope, for my husband’s sake, that we like it! (You can file this under "You Know You Really Love Your Husband When.....")
I made up the starter yesterday, and now it will have to sit for 5 days or so to ferment. This is the part of sourdough baking I have had trouble with in the past. The last time I made it, I tried to make cracked wheat sourdough, and the smell of the starter as it fermented was so awful that I couldn’t enjoy the bread itself once I got it baked. This batch is already beginning its aroma this morning, but I am determined to carry on.
I am wondering how anyone ever discovered that you could take fermented (spoiled!) starter and make a wonderful, fragrant, tasty bread from it. Because it is a strange thing to me to take something I would probably have thrown out if it turned bubbly and stinky on it own, yet, here I am purposefully making it bubbly and stinky so I can add it to the bread recipe next Saturday. I’m sure there is a deep and profound lesson there somehow, but I am not drawing it today. Today I will just stir that starter once in a while and go on about my business. The good thing about this is that it won’t always take 5 whole days to get the starter going. After this, if we like the bread experiment, I can just refresh the starter whenever I use it and we’ll always have some on hand in the refrigerator when I want to bake up some sourdough bread.
I’ll try to remember to mention how the bread turns out in a few days. I hope, for my husband’s sake, that we like it! (You can file this under "You Know You Really Love Your Husband When.....")
The starter has started fermenting.
8 comments:
Oh, Rebecca, I used to make sourdough bread all the time. It was a wonderful stress reliever to knead through that dough and then smell the wonderful baking results. I wish you well on your baking venture. Enjoy!
I love baking bread. As Elle said, there's something deeply therapeutic about mixing and kneading and smelling the dough.
But I've never tried sourdough. We used to live in the Bay Area, so I'm a little intimidated, I guess. We used to get such wonderful sourdough from the local bakeries.
Let us know how it turns out!
If it wasn't winter I'd say put in a fruit jar in the garage but you don't want to kill the yeast. I can't think of any spiritual lesson except you have to endure the stinky part to get to the good part...kind of like life sometimes.
See, the secret is to name the starter. We named ours "Herman" and he survived many months in our fridge as long as we remembered to feed him. I must admit. After a few months, Herman died of neglect. Now we have a bread machine and a pantry stocked with bread mix. Just call me Sandra Lee.
I hope your bread turns out wonderful. I have never had much luck with "made from scratch" bread - just give me a bread maker and I'm good.
However, I do have a hint for you about the starter. Try placing it in a zip-loc baggie until time for baking. If you need to stir or mix - you can simply knead the baggie without opening it. However,you might need to release some air that accumulates as it processes. Lots of luck.
It's nice to have so much emotional support for my baking venture! My mom even called yesterday to offer advice. I used to make bread when we first got married, and I do miss the kneading and satisfaction of smelling the fresh bread. I have a bread machine, and the homemade smell and taste are the same, but I do like following the process all the way through, too. I just haven't done it in a long time.
Julie, "Herman" is one of the funniest things I have read in a long time. I may have to get the kids to name our starter!
Josh and Lisa - those are both great ideas (except for it being winter, like Josh said). Actually this batch isn't too bad. I'm wondering if I did something wrong last time (it was like 14 years ago when we were still living in Gainesville and newly married, so I don't remember.) I wonder if the last one was awful to me because I used honey instead of sugar. I don't really like honey, either, so that may be it. This time I just used sugar, and the smell when I stir isn't nearly as bad to me.
I'll probably bake my first loaf tomorrow or Saturday!
One of my favorite memories growing up--my mom's sourdough bread! Me, I've attempted no such culinary challenge, sourdough or no!
Blessings on your bread baking!
I've never made sourdough bread so I'll be anxiously awaiting to hear about your results.
I just make the plain ole white bread but it's soooo much better than the store-bought stuff. And as someone else said, making bread is very therapeutic... and homey too. :-)
God bless~ Pearl
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