Sourdough Starter
In order to make any sort of breads, most recipes will call for the usual ingredients of flour, liquid, rising agent, sugar, salt, optional flavorings and others. Mix all together, let it rise, punch it down, perhaps another cycle of rise and punch and it is then ready for the oven. Bakers also have the option of using their God-given hands or man-made machines to carry out the process. These common breads are made from scratch, as fresh batches with no entanglements to the past. This is where the sourdough version differs from the rest as it has ancestral connections.
Sourdough starter is the catalyst to jumpstart the bread to its name. Other than being a core element in this baked good, it is also an investment into many generations of this bread ahead provided it is well cared for. It involves the combination of a few basic ingredients in bread making. Variants which utilize store bought yeast as an alternative to wild yeast yield equally tasty results.
Since yeast is an organism of various strains, it is not surprising to experience different tastes in baked goods made with starters from diverse locales. Although commercial yeast products maintain their strains, the wilder variants from one region can be dissimilar to another. Even the baking method may differ in terms of times. Due to the various types of sourdough starters, it resulted in many versions of sourdough-based baked goods according to place of origin.
The making of a starter does not take much mental effort. Even though it may resemble a science experiment gone wrong, take heart and follow the instructions laid down by the recipe. Due to some excessive foaming at the start of the process, it is advisable to work in an environment with minimal cleaning effort. Your olfactory senses will be the judge of the starter’s progress as it emits a smell similar to beer. This is considered a sign of good things to come as the fermentation process is easing into place. The mixture is normally ready for use after a few days. The foam should also have died down. Since wild yeast is ever present in the air, it is possible to draw them from the air in making your starter. However, check that the mixture is worthy of use as a batch having turned color to an abnormal shade may need to be thrown out.
It is advisable to store a ready mixture in a closed jar yet allowing it to breathe. Since it contains a live culture, it would not be to your benefit or the starter to cut off its air supply thus shortening its lifespan. Some advocate stretching a layer of plastic atop its container and pricking a small hole at one end to ventilate the mixture. It also requires periodic feeding with a flour and water mixture. At times, it can be quite similar to taking care of a pet. If there is no need for immediate use, a cool place such as a refrigerator is an ideal resting place. Return the mixture to room temperature before baking or cooking with it. Whatever you do, do not expose it to excessive temperatures as yeasts are finicky in their living conditions.
A rule of thumb in the types of cooking utensils when working with sourdough starters also exist. Many cooks and bakers are in favor of using wooden or glass ware as metal bowls and spoons are supposed taboos. Apparently the metallic components affect the wellbeing of the mixture and may compromise the end results.
