Someone in your house may have been asking for their own pet. Now's their chance, provided you have flour and water among your quarantine stash and some jars or empty tubs in recycling. You can use cling wrap or a blessed piece of paper towel for a cover if you no longer have jar caps.
The small batch beginning is this:
Excerpted From:https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2018/10/30/maintaining-a-smaller-sourdough-starter
Let me introduce you to sourdough starter.
Warning: If you listened to my Covid-19 playlist and heard some intense language, know that I am not obsessed with expletives. What does this ahve to do with sour dough? The information I am about to share is from Bad Mamma Genny's blog. She has a basic, straightforward outline. And bad words.
Straight from Bad Mamma's Genny's post, "Sourdough Starter 101, BMG Style", here's what you do:
Day 1: Grab yourself a one-quart container with a lid (glass is ideal, plastic is okay, not a fan of metal). Now toss in 3/4 cup flour and 3/4 cup water. Mix vigorously, being sure to beat in plenty of air. Scrape down the sides as well as you can. Starter that stays on the side can dry up, die, or grow mold. Cover it with a kitchen towel or the lid just kinda balanced on top (not screwed on tight, and not sealed. This baby produces CO2). Then leave it in a room-temperature, draft-free place until tomorrow.
Maintaining small starters (60g)
Consider these a small litter if you have many kids and they each want a pet. King Arthur's blog has a great article on small batch starters written with the help of a microbiologist including info about proper care and feeding of this daintier set. Your kids can decide to have their own variety of a starter pet by having a stiff or liquid starter or even gluten free.
Straight from Bad Mamma's Genny's post, "Sourdough Starter 101, BMG Style", here's what you do:
Day 1: Grab yourself a one-quart container with a lid (glass is ideal, plastic is okay, not a fan of metal). Now toss in 3/4 cup flour and 3/4 cup water. Mix vigorously, being sure to beat in plenty of air. Scrape down the sides as well as you can. Starter that stays on the side can dry up, die, or grow mold. Cover it with a kitchen towel or the lid just kinda balanced on top (not screwed on tight, and not sealed. This baby produces CO2). Then leave it in a room-temperature, draft-free place until tomorrow.
Day 2: The next day, take a look. You might see some bubbly activity–this is great! Dump out half the mixture and feed again, just like before. Cover loosely and let it sit undisturbed, just like before.
Day 3: Dump out half the mixture and feed again.
Day 4: Repeat.
Day 5: Repeat
And so on. After about a week, it should be ready to use–you’ll know because it will double in volume between feedings and smell strong and sour.
At this point, loosely cover that starter, move it to the refrigerator, and keep it there for maintenance.
If this happens earlier than a week, fantastic, go ahead and proceed to maintenance. But as a general rule, I don’t trust the microbial stability of sourdough starter until it’s at least five days old. At this point, it’s usually strong enough to maintain its pH and fight off mold and other undesirables.
At various points, you will probably see a dark liquid floating above your starter–this is just alcohol, a natural byproduct of yeast fermentation, separating out. Just stir it back in and carry on.
Excerpted From: http://www.badmamagenny.com/2011/11/07/sourdough-starter-101-bmg-style-or-please-yeast-doesnt-want-your-pity/#ixzz6H65NmbRH
Maintaining small starters (60g)
Consider these a small litter if you have many kids and they each want a pet. King Arthur's blog has a great article on small batch starters written with the help of a microbiologist including info about proper care and feeding of this daintier set. Your kids can decide to have their own variety of a starter pet by having a stiff or liquid starter or even gluten free.
The small batch beginning is this:
for 60g of starter: Save 20g (1 heaping tablespoon) starter and feed it 20g (4 teaspoons) water and 20g (2 tablespoons) flour.
 |
| From top to bottom: 20g starter, 60g newly fed starter, 60g ripe starter |
Excerpted From:https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2018/10/30/maintaining-a-smaller-sourdough-starter
If you did any of the above, you have a pet, a science experiment and the start of pancakes or bread all in one.
By the way, care and feeding can be somewhat loose. Put your starter in the fridge and feed every couple of days if you are not planning on using this right away. Otherwise, have kids feed it daily and in a few days, decide what you'll make.
By the way, care and feeding can be somewhat loose. Put your starter in the fridge and feed every couple of days if you are not planning on using this right away. Otherwise, have kids feed it daily and in a few days, decide what you'll make.
Related but not really, a book recommendation.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, "Sourdough" by Robin Sloan. Check it out on Goodreads here.
Robin (yes, he's my friend that is a stranger) is a fantastical writer. I appreciate his imagination and funny characters, and BONUS, his settings are local to the San Francisco Bay Area.
He also wrote "Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore" based in San Francisco with a character that is a Googler.
He also wrote "Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Bookstore" based in San Francisco with a character that is a Googler.
Update: The second series of "Just Add Magic" called "Just Add Magic: Mystery City" on Amazon Prime Video has a mystery about a sourdough starter. This is a family friendly show. You might have the time now to binge watch, so start with the first series to get the full scoop. When you get to episode 9 in Mystery City, listen for Chuck's painfully relevant line about stopping at the drugstore.
Until next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment