Sourdough

This past week I have been working on starting a batch of wild yeast starter dough. I really shouldn't say working on it though, because it is hardly any work. I was pretty excited when my sourdough started getting bubbly and smelled of yeast, even though I hadn't added any yeast to the mix. That meant that it was started on the wild yeast in the air and on the wheat flour.

After my starter got established, I decided to try to make something with it. Since pancakes were on the menu for the next day, I thought that would be a good place to start. I used my sourdough starter, eggs from our chickens, and berries that I had picked and frozen. I mixed up some regular pancakes too so I would have something to compare them to. I thought the sourdough pancakes were great. Ethan couldn't tell a difference, but that is a compliment from him. He has very particular tastes so if something matches something he already likes, I am relieved.

One of the great things about the sourdough pancakes is that they use no milk. Our old recipe used 2 cups of milk for the same amount of pancakes. With milk being over $3.50 a gallon, these pancakes are more economical.Above is a picture of my pancakes and sourdough starter.

I would love to have more sourdough recipes if anyone has any to share. Here are the recipes I used:

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WILD YEAST SOURDOUGH STARTER

1/2 c unsweetened pineapple juice (acidic and prevents bad bacteria from growing)

1/2 c whole grain wheat flour or whole grain rye flour

1 c unbleached all-purpose flour

2 c water

1/4 teaspoon cider vinegar (optional)

DAY ONE - Mix 2 T whole grain flour and 2 T pineapple juice. Stir well, cover, and let sit for 24 hours at room temp.

DAY TWO - Add 2 T of whole grain flour and 2 T pineapple juice. Stir well, cover, and let sit another 24 hours at room temperature. You may or may not start to see small bubbles at this point.

DAY THREE - Same as day two. Add 2 T of whole grain flour and 2 T pineapple juice. Stir well, cover, and let sit another 24 hours at room temperature. You may or may not start to see small bubbles at this point.

DAY FOUR - Stir mixture and measure out 1/4 c -- discard the rest. To the 1/4 c, stir in 1/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour and 1/4 c water. Let sit 24 hours at room temperature.

REPEAT - Day four until mixture expands to double its size and smells of yeast. Mixture may start to bubble after a couple of days and then go flat, looking totally dead for a couple of more days. If this happens, at about Day 6, add the 1/4 tsp. vinegar with your daily feeding. This will lower the PH and wake up the yeast, which will then start to grow.

FINAL - Once the yeast starts growing, starter should be fed equal parts of flour and water in a quantity sufficient to make enough starter for your recipe. Store the starter in the refrigerator when you are not using it. It needs to be fed equal parts of flour and water once a week to keep it alive. Either use or discard at least half of it when feeding - THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT to maintain a healthy starter! If you forget to feed it for a few weeks, it probably will be fine but may take several feedings to get it back up to par.

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SOURDOUGH PANCAKES

1 c sourdough starter

1 c all-purpose flour

1 c warm water

2 large egg

2 T vegetable oil (I didn't use this)

2 T sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Place the sourdough starter in a plastic or glass mixing bowl. Add the flour and water. Stir and leave covered for 8 or more hours. (Remember to feed the starter.) After the mixture has rested, add remaining ingredients, stirring well. Cook pancakes.

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