Sourdough

It’s Spring and the warmer weather is here. That means that it’s time to make sourdough!

It’s not that you can’t make it in the cooler weather, but it doesn’t have the same taste. It lacks a bite that we only get in Spring and Summer.

I reckon it’s because the wild yeasts that I hope to capture are only around in the warm.

Sourdough is so very easy to make. You need only really basic ingredients to get a sourdough starter going. Once that’s going, you’re good to go.

Getting the starter started

Here’s my generic sour dough starter mix:

• 2 cups of white flour
• 2 cups of spring or filtered water
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• A pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Simply mix them all together in a bowl or wide mouth jar and cover the container with cheesecloth or similar fabric to let the air in but keep the bugs out. It needs to be a fairly open weave to let the yeasts in from the surrounding air.

Put the jar outside in a warm place but out of direct sunlight and inspect every day.

When you see bubbles forming in the mix, you’re ready to go. The bubbles mean that some wild yeasts have found your container and made it their home and are happily eating your mix and creating bubbles of carbon dioxide as they do so.

You can transfer the mix to a clean container and keep it in your fridge, or just leave the original container somewhere inside out of direct sunlight.

Using and maintaining your sourdough starter

When you’re ready, simply take out a cup or two of your sourdough starter and use it instead of yeast on your bread mix.

When you remove some of the starter replace the removed starter with same amount of  fresh flour. Every couple of times you do this, add a tiny amount of pink salt. This ensures good nutrition for the yeast colony you have created.

If you have problems getting a sourdough starter started, add a teaspoonful of Kombucha or Apple Cider Vinegar to it. Both of these contain natural yeasts that can give it a boost.

Enjoy your sourdough!

You can find out about other simple types of kitchen fermentation on our fermentation page