dekay.org

As it turns out I have started a new little (or not so little, time will tell) project: baking with sourdough. And in order to do that you need that sourdough in the first place, or at least some way of starting one. I checked the net and found multiple very good resources and FAQs.

What I did first was very simple: take some wheat flour, some water and let it sit. This seems to work OK, but I had problems with the surface of the dough drying as well as with mold. I then realized I had an old machine here for making yoghurt - which in itself is just a thermostat that fits some 200 ml glasses - perfect for the job.

The first cultures were interesting: I used some flour and some water, just enough so the dough was a bit less viscous than a paste. I let the cultures sit for some days in the incubator. Results: The top few millimeters of the dough turned dark brown, the cultures smelled funny, nut entirely unpleasant, but not like vinegar/acetic acid (as I had read on the net that could happen). Then, the all-powerful molds again.

My next step came after I realized I needed to feed the cultures regularly, and I also needed to find a way to avoid the drying out of the doughs. So I started all over again, carefully cleaning the culture glasses with hot water and soap. This time I started 5 cultures, each with a bit more water than before and I sealed the containers with saran wrap and a rubber band. Results: There was some sort of phase separation, a flour paste on the bottom and a brown fluid on top. The smells were much more pleasant, some were almost fruity with a hinch of acidity. Still some mold, but much better. However I have not seen any from of gas or foam production as one would expect from active yeasts, right? A very interesting observation was that not all cultures smelled the same, in fact each one had its own characteristic smell. Some more fruity, some more acidic, different fruit smell as well as some stranger undertones.

In order to gain more knowledge and experience I have decided to do the following:

a) pinch holes in the saran wrap, thus increasing the air exchange for the cultures. I noticed some pressure build up before, so this should relieve it. Also the bacteria as well as the yeast need oxygen to reproduce… b) I took a sample of one of the cultures and gave it much more flour and water to start baking my first sourdough bread or so. The incubation of this bigger mass will be done in my oven, with its light just turned on, no extra heating. Start of this experiment, today, 14:00. 10 hours incubation, then doubling the mass by adding more flour and water. Then incubation at room temperature over night (another 12 hours). Observation will follow.

Further plans:

• take pictures of cultures at various stages and publish them here or on flickr. (I need my digicam for this — which is at my sister’s for now)
• when I have enough experience in evaluating the quality and properties of the cultures I may start a larger experiment using the Design of Experiments method to gain more insights into varios factors such as mass of water, flour, various additions (like milk, buttermilk), flour type on the creation of starters.

These sources are in english:

• The usenet group rec.food.sourdough as well as its FAQ or the corresponding html version. This List of FAQ is especially helpful and very complete.
• Get your own sourdough starter, almost

And some resources in german:

• Petra’s Brotstarter Rezept: diverse Brotrezepte, unter anderem auch zum Starten eines Sauerteigs
• brotbacken.free.fr Rezepte
• Ein sehr umfangreiches Forum, mit vielen Tips und Tricks, Rezepten für die “Kettenbrief-Sauerteige” Herrmann, Robert oder wie sie auch heissen.
• etwas wissenschaftlicher wird es bei der Adler Mühle.
• eine weitere FAQ von Andreas Krüger

Further links can be found at: del.icio.us or at wikipedia