Sour day = Sourdough

As I sat around on this rainy spring day I debated what to do. Looking at my extensive cookbook collection one stood out, Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman. It reminded me of the amazing bread I baked back in culinary school. This sour day proved to be the perfect inspiration for the perfect sourdough bread.

First things first, I needed a sourdough starter. With the variety of starter options it was hard to decide which one to make, Liquid Levain, Stiff levain or Sourdough Rye.  I first decided to make the Stiff Levain so I prepared my mise en place by measuring out the ingredients:

-       4 oz. whole rye flour

-       4 oz. white flour (unbleached)

-       5.6 oz. water

I mixed all ingredients and then looked up different bread recipes and of course the bread recipes I wanted to make all called for the Liquid Levain cultures.

Lesson one: pick the main recipe first.

Luckily there was an easy fix. I merely had to adjust the amount of water so I measured out 2 more ounces of water and added it in addition to 1 tsp. honey.

I covered my sourdough starter with plastic and it now sits in a nice warm spot in my kitchen. The starter will need to be fed twice a day for the next five days and on day six it should be ready for use.

Treat it like a pet. If taken care of properly the starter could outlive you. It will require feedings at least weekly but as long as you do this, you will be rewarded with delicious sourdough bread.

- Foodie