Making a sourdough bread

Sourdough Bread

The purpose of making a sourdough bread starter is to acquire the microbes or soil-based organisms from the air that will begin to ferment the bread, making it easier to digest. This can be done more quickly by using a commercial sourdough starter or harvesting soil-based organisms from such product as EM (efficient microbes) liquid.  In theory, you could also get your soil-based organisms directly from the soil, but usually people new to making food with microbes will prefer to take them from the air. I recommend using only heritage grains such as emmer, einkorn, kamut khorasan or spelt. Modern wheat, no matter how organic or whole grain it is, has been bred to have as much bulk as possible in the grains, and therefore as little nutrients in relationship to that bulk as possible. Making A Sourdough Starter: Day 1 Mix 1 cup of rye flour with 1 cup of water   Stir until mixed thoroughly.       Cover with a loosely-woven cloth and set on counter at room temperature for a day.  Day 2: Add a spoonful of flour and 1/2 cup of water and stir. Day 3: Add 1/2 cup of flour, stir, replace cover and set on counter. Day 4: Add another 1/2 cup of flour, stir, cover, keep on counter Day 5: Add 1/2 cup flour, stir, cover and keep at warm room temperature. Day 6: Add 1/2 cup of flour, stir, cover and keep on counter at room temperature.  Making The Bread If you are using a starter from a previous batch of sourdough, mix it with enough flour and water to make the amount of bread you wish to make, and then cover it with a wet cloth and let it sit  overnight, so all the flour has time to be exposed to a long soak period. When you are ready to begin to make your bread, proceed as follows: Spread 1/2 cup of flour out on a counter top or cutting board, put the dough in the middle of it and knead it until it has a soft, spongy or springy consistency.   Put the dough into a greased bread pan       Cover with a wet dish/tea towel. Let this stay at warm room temperature until it has risen half again its size in bulk. Place in oven and bake at a hot temperature (375 F or GM 7 1/2) for 40-45 minutes. Sourdough bread will often split at the crust when baking. There is nothing that seems to be able to prevent it completely. This is a not  a light, fluffy bread. It is filling and tasty. I suggest limiting grains to 1 slice of bread a day, and one slice of this bread will make a reasonable portion of a meal. Slice the dough down the middle with a sharp knife just before putting it into the oven (not shown) to help prevent this sideways splitting.  Potato And Wild-Harvested Sour Dough Starter  Ingredients: 1 cup warm water 1 teaspoon sugar 1 1/4 cup flour grated raw potato about the size of a cup before grating 1 teaspoon sea salt Directions: Mix together all ingredients and transfer to a wide-mouth glass jar or ceramic bowl. Cover with a loosely woven cloth such as muslin/cheesecloth. Leave someplace with warm room temperature out of direct sunlight. Next day, cover with a lid or airtight cover (plastic bag). Allow it to ferment for 2 weeks. Every day, add 2 teaspoons of flour and enough water so that it stays a smooth paste until ready to use.  Problems With Starter Starter loses its activity and does not make the bread rise as much as it used to. Mix 1 teaspoon of inactive starter with 1/2 of cup of flour and enough water to make a smooth paste. Cover with loose-woven cloth and leave it out on the counter at room temperature for 4-5 hours or until it has doubled in size and then refrigerate.  Fried Sourdough Bread Sourdough biscuits can also be made by mixing or adding some flour to the sourdough slurry the night before, leaving it thicker than a slurry and more like the consistency of bread dough before kneading, and then drop that dough into hot, but not smoking, fat by the tablespoonful and deep fry until golden brown on both sides.  Some menu suggestions for a slice of sourdough bread: Pizza substitute: Cover with chopped garlic and tomato and toast lightly under a grill. Add some oregano, fresh or dried, and cheese. Melt the cheese briefly under the grill if it is conventional, pasteurized cheese, or you can use your own cultured cream cheese and not cook it. Soft-boiled egg on bread: Roughly chop up a slice of bread and put in a ceramic cup and put in a rice steamer and steam. Meanwhile, make a 2 minute egg. Remove the egg from the boiling water and let it dry off, but do not put it under cold water. Wearing a glove, pick up the egg, tap one end gently with the flat side of a knife until the shell cracks. Pick some of the shell off the egg and then scoop out the egg from inside the shell with a small spoon, pouring onto the steamed bread. Add butter, salt and pepper to taste. With Marmite: Butter bread, add a thin layer of marmite (yeast extract), serve with cultured cream cream cheese and naturally brewed soy sauce on the side.  Sourdough Bagels  Ingredients: 2 1/4 cup warm water 2 teaspoons sea salt 5 cups flour 1/3 cup sour dough starter Directions: Combine water, sourdough starter and flour. Mix together for about 10 minutes, cover and leave on the counter overnight. Next day, divide the dough into 14 balls, poke a 2" hole in the middle of each ball and make a bagel or doughnut shape. Rest for 20 minutes. Mix 1/3 cup of sugar in 2 quarts of wate and bring to a boil on the stove. Drop the bagels into the boiling water 1 at a time and boil for 1 minute. Remove from water and place on a greased cookie sheet. Mix 1 egg white with 3 tablespoons of water and then brush on each bagel if desired (optional). Bake at 350 degree 30 minutes or until golden brown.   Hamburg and Hotdog rolls  Hamburg: Take out a handful of prepared sourdough bread dough for every hamburg roll you want. Form it into a a round ball and then flatten it to pancake size. Cook it in hot fat or lard in a baked enamel frying pan until golden brown on both sides. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack or paper towel on a ceramic plate and then slice it in half, lengthwise, with a sharp serrated knife. Hotdog: Make regular sourdough bread dough and have on hand. Cook the hotdogs. Take out a piece of dough and roll it out or flatten it with your hand, and then wrap around each hotdog. Let the dough-wrapped hot dogs sit in a warm place, covered by a wet dish/tea/cotton towel until the dough has risen. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until browned. Truly Cultured Rejuvenating Taste, Health and Community With Naturally Fermented Foods by Nancy Bentley Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon Food Enzymes for Health & Longevity by Dr.Edward Howell Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz. Site-Related Products Available For Sale Online Spelt Flour Kamut Flour Einkorn Wheat Sprouting Bag Sorghum Syrup Sourdough Starter    Site-Related Products Available For Sale Online in the U.K.   Spelt Flour Kamut Flour Einkorn Flour Muslin Bags Gram (Chickpea) Flour Sourdough Starter Table of Contents add raw egg to hot liquid || adjust alcohol || airlock || alcoholism || ale || antibiotics questions || apples || arthritis || avatars || balaclava || beans and rice || beets || bone broth || book suggestions ||  bread beer || bread kvass || brew by bottle || cabbage water || carrot cake || casserole || chocolate || cholesterol || chutney || clay || cleaning stuff || coffee || coloring pages || condiments || container gardening || cookware || corn || cosmetics || cream cheese || cream of wheat || culturing milk and cream || dandelions || dehydrating || depression era living || dmso || "e. coli infections" || edible leaves and flowers || eggs || elderberry syrup || EM || evolution || evolution for children || exercise || fast food || fermented sun tea || fish, how to filet || fish head soup || fizzy drink || flu || food allergies || frugal healthy eating || grains || grain-free || green tomatoes || gruit ale || hard iced tea || healthy eating || heartburn and indigestion || home remedies || how to not get sick || ice cream || instant NT || japonica quince, identifying || kefir whey || kelp || kimchi & sauerkraut || kombucha || kvass || lard || lemon pickles || lemon pudding || lifestyle || liver || liver loaf || living on less || lunchmeat || make animated gif || make whey || magnesium || magnesium diy || magnesium oxide || magnesium sulfate diy || mead || mincemeat || minerals || mold || moldy lemon uses || msg || mustard plaster || my drawings || near beer || oneil's shebeen || pekmez || penicillin diy || pesticides || physic garden || pickles || pie crust || plums || POGs || poor richard's ale || pork pie ||  preserving || preserving eggs || quince cheese || quince curd || quince honey || quince jam || quince soda || quince syrup || raw beer || raw corn beer || raw fermented fish || raw milk || roots beer || salsa || seafood || search natural health sites || search this site || separating egg yolk and white || seven day ale || shoes made of junk || small beer || snacks || soda pop || song of ninkasi || soughism || soup || sourdough beer || sourdough bread || spores (breathing in mold) || sprouting || substitutions || sugar syrup || supplements || survivalism || tea || timeline || tree oils || umeboshi || using frozen || using unset jam || vegetables || vertigo || vitamin C || water || way to lose weight || wild food || wild yeast harvesting || wine || yeast starter || yogurt