Sourdough Adventures
I’ve researched sourdough a few times over the years. Each time, I decided that it sounded like way too much work, and probably wasn’t worth it. I also hate jumping on the latest trends, so when everyone else started making sourdough during the pandemic, it was just more reason for me not to. Fast forward to 2022, and my step daughter’s mother started making sourdough. Hubs had expressed interest in sourdough a few times, and I kept brushing it off, not wanting to put in the work of creating a starter from scratch. But then B. made us a starter from hers. Now there was a starter in my kitchen…so I had to at least give it a try!
I dutifully fed the starter that evening, but of course I was skeptical and worried about killing it, so I fed the original jar AND started a new jar. Which we named Wilma. Once both starters were getting fed and seeming to survive just fine, I turned Wilma into a whole wheat flour starter, while keeping Willa white-flour. Because, how could I not have a whole wheat starter if I was going to do this sourdough thing?
Now, after not wanting to do this whole sourdough thing at all, I had TWO starters that I had to keep alive. Thankfully, they can keep in the fridge for a week between feedings, so I don’t have to feed them both every day. I just take them out and feed them when I want to make bread.
My other sourdough “dilemma” besides having to feed it, was that when you feed the starter, you are supposed to discard most of it! It seemed so wasteful. I was not about to just throw away these gobs of gooey flour every time I fed my starter! So I had to research things to do with the discard. It means a lot more baking each week than I had been doing, but so far I am 3 weeks in and haven’t thrown any sourdough away yet (except the batch of scones I messed up…), so I guess I can handle it. Also, the bread is delicious. We haven’t had a bad-tasting loaf yet, and I have experimented with white and wheat flour, flax seed, and various herbs. I make traditional round loaves, and soft-crust sandwich loaves. We don’t buy bread anymore.
Currently : Willa is my white flour, traditional round loaf starter. I like to add garlic and herbs for a delicious bread that is good for breakfast toast, dipping in olive oil at dinner, or just for a snack. Wilma is my whole wheat flour starter, which I use primarily for making sandwich bread. The sandwich bread typically has some flax seed and herbs in it. This week I made a loaf with rosemary, and it was the best sandwich bread we’ve ever had. Probably. (I don’t know…we’ve eaten lots of sandwich bread in our lives.)
As far as recipes with the discard, pancakes are a go-to for sure. I make a big batch of batter and keep it in the fridge to make pancakes with on mornings when I go to work. We have also enjoyed a batch of sourdough discard egg-bites (basically frittata, but with sourdough discard to add carb and make it fluffy), blueberry lemon scones, and a pumpkin bread that would have been good but was WAY too sweet. I will definitely cut the sugar at least in half, if not more, next time.
