The makings of a sourdough starter.
The distinct flavor of sourdough bread is derived from a properly aged starter or "sponge". Yes, unfortunately we're still at least a day away from even preheating the oven. No time to fret, though-- we've got a starter to make.
Here's what we'll need:
- 1 cup of yeast culture, room temperature. (If your culture hasn't been fed recently, remove from the refrigerator, halve and feed equal parts flour and water in an amount sufficient for the recipe; in this case I'm looking to make two medium loaves.)
- 1 cup of flour (as I mentioned in the previous section, pretty much anything but self-rising flour)
- Bowl or container, 1-2 quart capacity
First, combine the culture and flour in the container, mixing until smooth. Cover loosely and let sit at room temperature.
Here is where the magic happens.
Now that everything is mixed evenly, all that is left to do is wait. Over the next few hours, the yeast is going to begin reproducing quite rapidly, initially respiring aerobically until the oxygen is depleted, producing carbon dioxide and water, then begininng to ferment- where the carbohydrates and simple sugars in the flour are converted into ethanol, lactic and acetic acids, among other compounds that lend flavor to the final product.
Within two to six hours the mixture should double in volume (at least), at which point you are welcome to mix it up a bit, releasing the CO2 and reducing the volume of the mixture temporarily (not a necessary step, I only do this to keep the starter from overflowing the container). In my case, the starter I prepared and photographed for this section tripled in size in less than four hours, requiring me to move it to a larger bowl to continue aging. It seems my culture is quite healthy and active today.
From this...
To this, in less than four hours.
There really isn't a set time that the starter will need to age before continuing on to the next part of the process of breadmaking, but it will need to sit out at room temperature for at least 24 hours to move from "white bread" territory to "sourdough". After much trial and error, I've found the sweet spot for my culture and conditions to be roughly 48-72 hours for distinct sourdough flavor, and it will likely take some experimentation on your part to find what works best for you. Use your eyes and nose, and let the yeast tell you when it's time to make dough. The starter will darken slightly, be gooey and full of CO2 bubbles, and have gone from smelling slightly sour and bready but mostly like flour to smelling kind of like beer* with a more pronounced (yet pleasant) sour note. This odor means that the process of fermentation is well under way and our yeast is hard at work getting ready to make some exceptional bread.
After the first 12-24 hours, the yeast will have metabolized roughly half of the flour, and the rate of reproduction will begin to slow down as fermentation continues. From here on out, the starter will not increase in volume much at all. Don't worry, though... that yeast is still very much alive and the flavor and aroma will continue to develop the longer it is left to age. As I mentioned before, at some point during the second or third day my starter will be ready to be made into dough, but again, feel free to experiment and enjoy the results. I wouldn't let it go more than a week, as at that point the yeast has produced enough acids to lower the pH to a point where it ceases to be active enough to reliably rise dough.
Now that we have an aged starter, we're mere hours away from pulling hot loaves from the oven!
*While the species of yeast used for brewing beer (Saccharomyces cerevisiae - commonly known as "baker's yeast") differs a bit from the wild variety we're likely to have cultured from fruit in the previous chapter (Saccharomyces exiguus) the biochemical process and resulting byproducts are identical to those produced while fermenting beer-- hence the familiar aroma.
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