# Sour Dough Bread?



## lovefood (Dec 15, 2005)

Help. love buying that sour dought bread in the stores, comes in a bag, says to heat about 5 minutes, it taste wonderful, has kind of a hard crust.  Question I want to learn how to make this from scratch, just to expensive to buy!!!!!   Would like a good recipe.  I do make other breads from scratch already.  Thany You


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## Dove (Dec 15, 2005)

Lovs,
I sent you an e-mail using the addey on your profile page.


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## cartwheelmac (Dec 15, 2005)

My sister Cameron mkes sourdough bread. I do not know the recipe but I will have her post the recipe.

Grace


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## cartwheelmac (Dec 17, 2005)

Ok, Grace

6 cups of flour
1/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of oil
1 cup of water
1 cup of starter

Knead well, let rise overnight, knead again and shape into finished product. let rise for 5 hours then it is ready to bake!!


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## cartwheelmac (Dec 17, 2005)

Cameron, what is starter? I'm sure lovefood has no starter.

Grace


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## QSis (Dec 17, 2005)

Okay, that's a good start to the recipe. Then what?  What to bake it in or on?  In a loaf pan(s) or what?  At what temp and for how long?

How many loaves does that recipe make?

Lee


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## Michael_Schaap (Dec 18, 2005)

*Sourdough starter*



			
				cartwheelmac said:
			
		

> Cameron, what is starter? I'm sure lovefood has no starter.
> 
> Grace


 
Yup. Without a starter you dont have much of a sourdough. I have made many sourdoughs using the starter described in "Bread Alone".

This is gonna take some patience here... ready 


First thing is first... you need to make something the author calls a Rye Chef.


Day One
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Take a nice size jar (needs room for the starter to grow) with an airtight lid and put in (I use those glass ones with the pressure lids):
2/3 cup organic coarse rye flour
1/2 cup water
pinch of yeast... I'm talking a REAL pinch here... less then 1/8th ts. All that is needed is a very very small pinch to get it started in the proper path. If you thinnk you put too little in, your probably just fine.
Mix it up real good to give it good air circulation and press mixture down from the sides.
Place in a dark, 75 to 80ish degree place for 24 hours (It has worked for me in the low 70s just fine, warmer is better).

Day Two
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Your going to look at it... its going to look like paper pulp... and your going to say Michael is so full of it..... patience ...

Take a look at the jar. You should have a lot of air holes all over the paper pulp... oh... I mean Chef Open it up and take a wiff. Probably smell a little sweet. Tasting it you will see it don't taste very tangy yet. It's cool though.

Add:
2/3 cup organic coarse rye flour
1/2 cup water

Stir, stir, stir. Press starter from the walls on jar and seal. Put back in your nice warm and dark spot for 24 hours.

Day Three
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The Chef should again have a lot of air holes all over the place and it should have doubled. If it's getting too close to the top you need a larger jar as we have one more day here. Give it a taste. It will taste much tangier then yesterday. 

Add:
2/3 cup organic coarse rye flour
1/2 cup water

Stir again real good and put back in the nice warm spot for 24 hours.

Day Four
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Everything is almost ready now. Open it up and it should smell and taste real good. Just 8 more hours or so here....

Add:
2/3 cup organic coarse rye flour
1/2 cup water

Stir real well and put back in warm, dark spot for 8 hours this time though.

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Ok. Now that the Rye chef is made you can make the Sourdough Starter.

The jar you can use could be like 2 or 3 quarts now. Make it a taller one rather then wider one though.

Take:
1 cup Rye Chef you just made
1 cup organic Rye coarse flour
1/2 cup water

Mix real well and press mixture from sides of jar. Put in the same dark, warm place for 8 to 10 hours.

THIS IS IT! This is your sourdough starter that you add to whatever sourdough recipe you want to make. 


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What to do with the left over Rye Chef?

You can have Sourdough starter on hand so you don't have to pre-plan a week in advance.

Take 1 1/2 - 2 Quart jar and add left over Rye Chef.
Add:
3/4 Cup organic Rye flour
1/2 Cup water (book says plus 2 TS)

Mix real well and put in the refridgerator (SIDE NOTE... just noticed that the book says to put in warm dark place for 8 hours... usually I toss this jar in fridge at this point). It will last one week (don't go too many days longer or it will die). After the week you take out about a cup and replace with 3/4 Cup Rye flour and 1/2 Cup water for another week. 

You just keep doing that each week for as long as you dare. I have kept mine alive for about 8 months before going on vacation (died while I was gone). What your dealing with here is simply food supply. It just runs out of food and dies.

Well I have not tasted a wide variety of sourdough starters(looking at the one that King Arthur Flour sells), but this one has without fail brought people crashing through my door for bread It's good.


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## Michael_Schaap (Dec 18, 2005)

*By the way...*

Who has "*The Bread Baker's Apprentice*"? I'd love to see the sourdough starter recipe in that book early.... I hear Santa is sending it over my way 

Wouldn't be like...
cheating or anything.....


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## subfuscpersona (Jan 2, 2006)

*Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter for (almost) free*

For the price of 2 stamps, from this link Carl Griffith's 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter you can get about 1-1/2 tsp dried "true" (noncommercial) sourdough yeast.

You mail them a self-addressed stamped envelope and in about 4-8 weeks you get your starter back in the mail. Good stuff!


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