The Center of Camp > Camping Gear and Campfire Cooking
Sourdough
Winter Hawk:
A couple of months ago I decided to give sourdough bread another go. Made a starter, then it was on to baking bread. I have done this before with pretty poor results. This time I have kept all metal bowls, pans and utensils away. Also used water from the reverse osmosis filter which takes out the chlorine. I believe the later was what caused my failures before. Anyway, the results have been excellent. The first batch I let the dough rise to double its size before punching it down and making loaves. That worked but took a l-o-n-g time; over two hours for the first rising and almost three for the loaves. The next batch I dropped the first rising, but once I had kneaded the dough I shaped it into loaves and dropped them in the pans. 2 1/2 hours later they had risen properly and baked up very well. The recipes call for 375* to 400* and almost an hour's baking time. With my regular bread baking I have gone to 325* for 35 minutes. I tried that with good results for the sourdough, although the bread was rather moist. The last batch I made I went 5 minutes longer and it turned out perfect.
The only "problem" I have is that you need to make a sponge to refresh the starter every week or so by adding a cup of flour and a cup of water, then letting it sit covered with a cloth, overnight. Then you put a half cup (or more) in a non-metal container and pop it in the fridge for next time but what to do with the rest of the sponge? Make bread, or pancakes, or biscuits or??? I have a recipe for sourdough applesauce cake, my Carol likes banana bread for breakfast, so I substituted mashed bananas for applesauce this morning. It came out quite good if I say so myself. The ingredients called for 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves which sounded like a lot to me so I halved that. It still tastes like something from the dentist's office although my Sweetie said she still likes it. I think that next time I'll either cut the cloves down to 1/4 teaspoon or leave them out entirely.
All in all, the experiment has been a rousing success and the neighbors are getting fresh bread on a regular basis.
~Kees~
BEAVERMAN:
Kees this sounds great, wanna share the recipe for the starter and such?
Hank in WV:
I wish I was your neighbor. :bl th up
Winter Hawk:
--- Quote from: BEAVERMAN on April 10, 2022, 12:38:57 PM ---Kees this sounds great, wanna share the recipe for the starter and such?
--- End quote ---
After reading an article on Sourdough in Countryside & Small Stock Journal a couple of months ago, going to several sites from a Duck-Duck-Go search, and consulting Alaska "Sourdough" Cookin' booklet, all of which have basically the same info slightly different, I put two cups of all purpose flour, two cups of filtered water, a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of yeast in a large ceramic bowl. Covered this with a dish towel and set it on top of the fridge to stay warm. Daily I took out a cup of this mixture and added another cup of flour and of water. After five days I considered it good and put one cup of starter in a pint canning jar with a plastic lid and stuck that in the fridge. With the rest I made my first batch of bread. And not wanting to throw away good food, I used the previous cups of starter mix to make pancakes.
To use the starter I take my cup's worth from the fridge and put it in my large ceramic bowl, then add two cups of water, two cups of all purpose flour and a tablespoonful of sugar. I mix this all up and let it sit in a warm place for 6 to 8 hours, or overnight to make the sponge. I clean my jar after it's empty. Then when the sponge has worked the required time and is bubbly I take one cup out for the starter jar which goes back in the fridge. Then the sponge, which should be about 2 cups worth is used for the recipe. The bread seems to want at least 2 - 2 1/2 hours to rise. Biscuits, pancakes and such don't. In fact yesterday's banana cake also went straight into the oven without sitting to rise.
~Kees~
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BEAVERMAN:
:hairy thank you Sir, gonna give this a try!
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