First Steps On The Journey

The first step of any journey is usually the easiest.  This is definitely the case in sourdough bread making.  In this case the first step is the creation of a "culture".  Although it takes some patience, it's not difficult.  If you ever mixed dirt and water as a child, to make mud pies, you already have all of the skills necessary to create a sourdough culture.  Successfully creating a culture then leads to the second step, which is the creation of a starter.  But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  Back to the culinary mud pies.

There is a common myth that sourdough cultures are created by "capturing wild yeast out of the air". This is simply not true.  While there may be some wild yeast spores floating about in the air around you, it would take a very long time to capture enough of them to create a sourdough starter. Fortunately, there is a better way.

Wheat, as it is growing, supports a healthy population of wild yeasts that grow right on the outside of the wheat kernels themselves.  When the wheat is harvested, and milled into flour, some of this wild yeast makes its way all the way through the process into the flour that you purchase.  The less the flour has been been processed, the more yeast makes its way to that bag of flour in your kitchen.  Whole grain flours, such as whole wheat and rye, as well as minimally processed flours such as unbleached all purpose flour, contain the healthiest yeast populations.

The first step in creating a sourdough starter is to create a yeast culture by encouraging the growth and reproduction of the wild yeast in your flour.  The internet is replete with methods for accomplishing this feat.  Many involve mixing flour with water and an acidic liquid such as pineapple juice. However, the most straightforward method is simply to mix flour and water, cover it, and place it in an environment that is comfortable for the yeast. Then you simply wait.  The use of acidic liquids can sometimes speed up the process.  However, they simply aren't necessary.  I can assure you that when bakers in ancient England were making naturally leavened breads, pineapple juice was not part of the process.

Personally I find bread making to be a rather zen experience.  Using nothing more than flour, water, salt, heat and time you can create one of the most desired foods ever created by humanity. Enjoy the experience! If I want bad bread, really fast, I'd go buy it at the store.  But if I want good bread, and want to enjoy the experience of crafting it from the most basic ingredients, I'm not going to rush the experience. My starter will be ready when it is ready.

So this afternoon I began the creation of the yeast culture that will eventually be used to create my new starter.  Here's how it goes:

• In a glass jar, place equal amounts (by weight!) of unbleached bread flour and whole wheat flour

• Add lukewarm water (unchlorinated please), and use your hands to mix the flour and water until all lumps are removed.  You want to end up with something that resembles very thick pancake batter.  Add more or less water until you reach this consistency.

• Scrape down the sides of the jar, then cover loosely.  I use a glass jar with a loose fitting glass lid.  Some people cover their containers with a kitchen towel held in place with a rubber band.  Either method is fine.  You just want to keep dust and other contaminants out, and keep most of the moisture in.

• Place your jar someplace cool and dark.  By "cool" I mean somewhere around the high 60s or low 70s.  

• Now you wait.  

If all goes well, the next step will happen in 2-3 days.  The "next step" is feeding the young culture, so that it can mature into a sourdough starter.  You'll know that it's time for the next step when you note some bubbles forming in the mixture, and it takes on a tangy sour smell that resembles over-ripe cheese. At that point your culture is in the midst of the first of a number of microbial evolutions that will eventually culminate with the establishment of a healthy sourdough starter.  But I'll get to those details when the time comes.  In the meantime, I'll move on to a few pieces of practical advice.

Whenever I'm working with starter (or in this case just a culture), I try to work in a container that has straight sides.  My vessel of choice is a glass "cookie jar" style jar that has a loose fitting glass lid. Using a container with straight sides allows you to easily determine how much a starter has risen.  A clear container allows you to see the gas bubbles, and observe the structure of the starter or dough as it rises.

I've also adopted a practice of labeling the container with wide freezer-style masking tape as seen here.

The label serves a number of purposes.  First, I place the label so that the top of the tape is even with the top of starter.  As the starter rises, I can easily see how far it has risen.  In general, a starter is ready to use when it has doubled in volume.  The tape allows me to measure the rise.

Second, the labeling on the tape contains information that helps me keep things straight when I'm working with multiple starters or multiple doughs.  The label includes the date and time that the starter (or dough) was mixed, the ingredients, and the hydration level. The left side of the label above indicates that the starter was mixed on 6/28 at 1:30 in the afternoon.  The right side of the label indicates that the starter contains whole wheat flour (WW) and unbleached bread flour (UBF).  Unless noted, they are in equal proportions (by weight!)  If I were using all purpose flour (APF), unbleached all purpose flour (UAPF) or rye flour (R), the label would indicate so.  

Finally, the label indicates that the mix is at 100% hydration (equal amounts of flour and water, by weight).  Hydration is an underappreciated measure that is actually critical to making good bread with consistent results.  I'll have more on that as I progress through this process.

One final piece of advice before I close out this column.  Several times, above, I've noted "by weight". This is critically important if you want to be able to eventually create good breads on a consistent basis.  The reason is simple.  The ratio of water to flour is one of the most important factors in determining the final texture of your bread.  And you simply can't ensure a consistent ratio without measuring by weight.  Don't believe me?  Measure out a cup of flour and place it in a large glass.  Now measure a second cup of flour and place it in a second glass.  Now take that second glass and shake it from side to side for about a minute.  Afterward, observe how much the flour in one glass has settled relative to the other glass.  You started with the same volume measure of flour, but one is now much more compacted than the other.  A cup's worth of that compacted flour, when mixed with water, would yield a much drier and firmer dough.  If you want to be able to reproduce your successes, you absolutely must measure your ingredients by weight.

Enough!  I'll be back in a few days when my mud pie starts to turn into something interesting.