2.1 Rearing a Sourdough Culture (storage leaven)

This text is a translation of  these pages, at  www.der-sauerteig.de created and maintained by Martin Stoldt.

2.1 Rearing a Sourdough Culture (storage leaven)

Are you expecting to find a detailed and long list of steps that have to be observed and followed with impeccable precision? Get ready for an unpleasant surprise:

Preparing a sourdough culture is very easy. And what you need for this you usually have at hand in your house, it is only water and flour.

A hand full  (a hand full  is roughly 100gr. we don’t need it more precisely for sourdough!) Rye, spelt or wheat flour is mixed thoroughly with enough lukewarm water to create a paste with the consistency of  a pancake or waffle dough.  Cover up and leave to rest at a warm place.  (it is best to place the mixing bowl on a radiator with a deep plate underneath it.)

1. Every 12 hours whip up the dough (until it forms bubbles) cover up again and leave to rest in a warm place.
2. Every day add flat hand full of flour, stir in with enough lukewarm water to maintain the consistency of pancake dough.
3. Repeat this for 4-5 days:  whip up in regular intervals, add some flour and water every day, keep consistency of a pancake dough.
4. During this period the flour paste will ferment vigorously (and raise throwing bubbles)  and begin to become acidic. You will be able to smell this acidification process. However it may not be distinctly visible that the mixture throws up bubbles (as it depends on the bacteria which spread in the sourdough),  then the production of bubble will reduce when a stable sour mixture has formed.

Within a few days yeasts will start to spread, a process that is more often than not invisible.  However you can usually smell arrival of yeasts, as your mixture will begin to small unusually to the point of becoming unpleasant.  But don’t worry! Once the blend of micro organisms has stabilized, the unpleasant odour will be replaced by a pleasant one, reminding you of tangy cottage cheese, citric fruits, possibly even a little of balsamic vinegar or a freshly cut apple.

To start a sourdough it is often recommended or required to add yeast, caraway, potato water, diced onion or other ingredients. I do not rate such advice, as these ingredients will disrupt the spores which are present in the flour and air, and which we need for starting a sourdough,  possibly even displacing them. These ingredients contain other bacteria and fungus spores, which are not helpful to the young sourdough. In a stable sourdough such newcomers would fare badly anyway, which is why we do away with such ingredients and restrict us to flour and water.

It is possible that the spontaneous leavening does not occur in the way we wished for and foreign bacteria and fungi begin to flourish. You can easily spot this through distinct discolouration (red, black, blue or green), if the mixture begins to smell revoltingly, or if the mixture starts growing a coat of  mould fungus fur. If the mixture has a biting stench of vinegar (much more than a pleasant hint of vinegar) things have gone wrong. The mixture is fouled and unfortunately has to be disposed of.

It is recommended to thoroughly clean the crockery in use with very hot water, let it dry thoroughly and if necessary try again with a different flour. Maybe try to obtain a stable sourdough culture.

After 4-5 days we have reared a lot of sourdough, which we do not all need.  We take away 400-500gr. (leaving about a handful for the sourdough) and bake a bread from it.

Recipe

Using a lot of flour and little water (the mixture is very runny) an possibly a bit of yeast (which we will need for a last time).

• 500 gr. sourdough (our mixture)
• 500 gr. Wheat or Rye flour (strong bread flour)
• 1 flat tbsp. salt
• 10-15 gr. fresh yeast/ 1 tsp. dried yeast (if you can’t wait for four hours)
• 200 ml. lukewarm water

If using wheat flour mix thoroughly – if using rye flour just knead until any lumps of flour are dispersed.  Be aware, the dough will be very sticky!

Roll the dough to a ball and place on a baking tray covered with baking paper.  Preheat oven to 220 °C  (430°F) and leave the dough to raise for one hour at a warm place.

Make a cut across the bread 2cm deep and put in the oven. Pour a cup of water onto a tray at the bottom of the oven

Be extremely careful! The hot steam can be scalding!

After 15 min. reduce heat to 180°C  (355°F) and bake for another 35-45 min.

Leave to cool on a grill tray covered with a cloth.  Only slice rye bread the next day!

This is, don’t be surprised, our very first and very real sourdough bread! Perhaps still a little small, and with the aid of some added yeast (as the naturally occuring yeast in the sourdough is still a touch to slow), but a real sourdough bread!

Congratulations, you’ve done it!

The handful of reserved sourdough cultures we keep in the fridge in an old jam jar which is washed properly and rinsed with cold water. This storage leaven will be “bred”  (or fed)   ? “3. Preparing a ready to bake sourdough”  again into a new sourdough when we need it. Next time we’ll make the bread without additional yeast, guaranteed!

You’re through with hardest part! It wasn’t as daunting as it first appeared, wasn’t it?

v. 1.0 date: 27/05/2009