Busy Mother's Sourdough Secret
Have you struggled with creating a sourdough starter and baking a loaf of nicely-risen sourdough bread? Then this is the sourdough starter and sourdough bread for you. Create this "secret" recipe, store it in your fridge, and you'll never look back!
Servings: 1 starter
Equipment
- Medium to large food safe container with lid
Ingredients
First Mixing
- 3 1/2 cups All-purpose or bread flour Do not use whole grain flour for this first attempt.
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/2 cups Water More water may be needed
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon Packaged yeast Active dry yeast or instant yeast may be used.
All Subsequent Mixings
- 3 cups All-purpose flour or bread flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Sugar, optional
- 1 1/2 cups Water More water may be needed.
Instructions
If using active dry yeast
- If using active dry yeast, add sugar to water and sprinkle yeast into the sugar and water mixture. Mix and set aside.
- Mix flour and salt together in a food-safe container.
- Add water/sugar/yeast mixture to flour and salt in the food-safe container. Mix all ingredients together in the container to form a wet, sticky dough. Add more water if needed to achieve this consistency. (See video.)
- Put a lid on the food-safe container and refrigerate.
- The dough can remain in the refrigerator for up to one week. (See recipe notes below.) When ready to bake bread, remove 3 cups of dough from the container, leaving 1/2 cup of dough in the container. Proceed with the desired recipe to bake your bread of choice.
- Refresh 1/2 cup of dough in the container by adding 3 cups of flour, 1 1/2 cups water, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of salt to container. DO NOT add any additional yeast. Mix all ingredients together to form a wet, sticky dough. Add more water if needed to achieve this consistency. (See video.)
- Put a lid on the food-safe container and refrigerate.
- Repeat this process every week. At some point, you may decide to omit the sugar if you find that the dough has taken on a strong sourdough component and no longer needs the sugar boost.
If using instant yeast
- If using instant yeast, add all dry ingredients to a food-safe container and mix well.
- Add water to the dry ingredients in the food-safe container and mix all the ingredients together to form a wet, sticky dough. Add more water if needed to achieve this consistency. (See video.)
- Put a lid on the food-safe container and refrigerate.
- The dough can remain in the refrigerator for up to one week. (See recipe notes below.) When ready to bake bread, remove 3 cups of dough from the container, leaving 1/2 cup of dough in the container. Proceed with the desired recipe to bake your bread of choice.
- Refresh 1/2 cup of dough in the container by adding 3 cups of flour, 1 1/2 cups water, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of salt to container. DO NOT add any additional yeast. Mix all ingredients together to form a wet, sticky dough. Add more water if need to achieve this consistency. (See video.)
- Put a lid on the food-safe container and refrigerate.
- Repeat this process every week. At some point, you may decide to omit the sugar if you find that the dough has taken on a strong sourdough component and no longer needs the sugar boost.
Notes
Questions and Answers
Question #1: What if I do not want to bake bread every week? Can this dough mixture survive in the refrigerator past the one week mark?
Answer #1: Yes, the dough can survive in the refrigerator past the one-week mark without being used to bake bread and without the remaining dough being refreshed. However, the longer the dough is left in the refrigerator, unused, the less predictable the results will be since the bread that is baked using the older dough. At the two-week mark, the dough is best used to make flat breads as opposed to boules, loaf breads, or other breads that require a higher rise.
Question #2: Can this recipe be doubled?
Answer #2: Yes, this recipe can be doubled. As a matter of fact, this recipe can even be tripled with excellent results. Just make sure to use a large container that can sufficiently hold the flour mixture when first mixed and accommodate the rise that will occur over time.
Question #3: Can I use whole grain flour in this recipe in place of all-purpose or bread flour?
Answer #3: Yes, you may use whole grain flour in this recipe. However, you will need—at a minimum—to increase the water by 1/4 cup. Also, keep in mind that the bread you bake will be considerably denser. I would suggest making this dough with at least one cup of all-purpose flour or bread flour and then use whole grain flour for the remaining 2 1/2 cups.
You can find this recipe and accompanying video at https://marysnest.com/the-busy-mothers-sourdough-secret/
Copyright © 2020 Mary's Nest, LLC, All Rights Reserved