Maintaining your Sourdough – Breaking the Rules – My Expert Tips
Today I’ll be discussing how to maintain your starter to not feel overwhelmed or end up with a boat load of discard in your fridge.
Watch the video – I explain things much better while talking compared to typing.
TOP TIPS:
- Once your starter is established switch from the cloth/filter lid to a solid lid. I recommend these, they fit the quart jars fabulously.
- Get a NEW + Clean jar every other week to keep your starter clean & mold free
- Find your rhythm
- Your starter does NOT need to double
- Don’t waste your flour
BREAK THE RULES:
How often to feed? Can I skip days?
Yes, you can skip days sometimes, however if you skip 2 days in a row or to often your starter will become sluggish. Then at the time you want to actually bake, it will not perform as you were hoping. Rise times will take longer as you lost some of the yeast and activity. I end up skipping about 1x per week as those are the days I forget or just get lazy.
What you put in is what you’ll get out.
Let me explain – you do not need to feed your starter 3 cups of flour unless you want lots of bread that day. Find your rhythm in YOUR house and feed it accordingly. For example, if you’d like to bake one item per day only feed your starter 1/2 cup of flour + 1/4 cup water (approx)
The photos you see online with the large bucket full of overflowing starter is not the goal. Your goal is healthy, nutritious BREAD that is enough for you guys. No wasting, no spilling of the starter.
I don’t care if the starter doubles – break that rule. You need bubbles that’s all. Once your starter is about 2 weeks old your good to rock n roll with your breads that need the rise.
MY Schedule
Here’s MY schedule – but you do you boo!
- I feed it 6 times a week
- I only discard when I’m not baking
- I bake 3-4 times a week
- Each time I mix up dough it’s usually 2 to 3 recipes to get ‘er done
- Mix up the dough for most recipes (besides focaccia & artisan) at night, place in these bowls with lids and leave on the counter overnight
- Wake up, grab coffee and shape the previous night’s dough into bagels, pizza, etc.
Adding Yeast to your Sourdough
Please do NOT use manufactured yeast when your baking with sourdough. Why, why why do recipes call for that? That’s not the point of sourdough. You want healthy bread where the yeast does it’s job of breaking down the phytic acid to create a healthy bread? Then DO NOT add in yeast.
Long vs Short Ferment
At first, you’ll end up doing short ferments because you have a boat load of discard, and your starter is not active enough to do breads that need the rise. After you’ve got that bad boy established choose only LONG fermented recipes. Or change the recipes to long ferment. It’s a pet peeve of mine those short fermented recipes. Please if your doing sourdough choose the long ferment so you can maximize the benefits of the sourdough process. It’s not like I don’t use yeast – I actually have plenty of recipes that I use at times – but if I”m doing sourdough I’m not mixing them.
If you need a reminder WHY Sourdough is amazing and healthy see HERE and below.
Why Sourdough?
Let’s talk about Sourdough. I’ll give it to you simple – VIDEO Below ⬇️
- It’s a fermented food- that means it’s good for your gut – by allowing it to “ferment” overnight or for many hours the yeast has done it’s job by breaking the gluten down so it’s easier for your gut to digest, allowing your stomach & gut to absorb the vitamins easier and not be bogged down by breaking down the gluten.
- Because the fermenting process has done it’s job by breaking down the flour & gluten it can be much easier for a gluten sensitive person to digest and handle better. This is only for someone who is sensitive to gluten, not celiacs, etc.
- Another great reason for eating sourdough bread, the fermenting process also has broken down the bad starches and when we consume the bread it does not dramatically spike your glycemic index as much.
- The process breaks down the phytic acid and allows for the good bacteria such as Lactobacillus to thrive which makes it another reason for our digestion system to access the good stuff.
- It’s made with “wild yeast” not store bought yeast that was lab created.
- There’s vitamins!
What is Sourdough?
Sourdough is the process of breaking down the gluten which is the protein strands that is found in wheat grains. By breaking down the gluten and phytic acid with lactic acid it creates a more digestible protein but also keeps the structure that breads needs to be bread.
Suggested Items:
Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters/Biscuit Circle Cutters
Favorite Muffin Liners Unbleached
Mixing Bowls w Lids – Stainless Steel
Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer Classic
Braun Blender (not the exact one in video)
Food Processor (13 Cup Kitchen Aid)
