Sourdough Installment #5: Starter Ready to Roll

Hello my fermenting friends.  How has your week been?  I've finally fallen into a bit of a pattern.  Starting my work day at 8am, taking some stretch breaks during the day, and trying to get outside at the end of the day. I also feed my starter around 6 or 7pm when I am starting to make dinner.

And today, after 5 days of feeding, I feel ready to declare my friend READY!  What does that mean?  It means we are ready to bake and cook with it. Hooray!

Is my starter ready?

Your starter is ready if....
  1. It rises and falls consistently each day around the same time (assuming you are feeding it about the same time each day).  I fed mine in the evening. By the time I went to bed 4 hours later, I could see bubbles forming.  When I woke up, I could see it had risen quite a bit and was alive.  By 24 hours it had fallen and quieted down.  Once it does this for a few days in a row, you're ready to roll!
  2. The smell changes from a sharp acidic smell to a sweeter, milkier smell. It will still smell sour but less intense.

What can I do with it?

So much! And the InterWebs are chocked full of good ideas.  Here are a few recipes to check out.

Important!!! Don't Use Up All of Your Starter!

Before you start baking, remember to always save some portion of your starter, so you can keep it going.  Don't use it all up in a recipe!!  If so you will have to start all over again....

So if your recipe calls for 1/2 cup of starter, pull that out to bake with, but make sure you have at least a few tablespoons of your original starter set aside.  Put that into a container, and feed it as you have in the past.




You can use the rest to bake with, or toss some of it, if you don't need it all.

General Mindset

Each starter is a little different, and folks have different approaches with using sourdough starers.  As you try out recipes, you'll need to be a little flexible.  But as long as your starter is active and healthy, it should generally work.  Just be patient in your timing. The more you use it, the more you will get the hang of how to work with it.

Also, know that I have had tons flubs, most of which I still eat.  Or turn into a panade or bread crumbs.  Not too many photos of that, but I keep track of them!  Most of the flubs are because I didn't feed my starter enough and get it active and healthy before starting. 


Confession:  Sometimes disregard my own advice and end up with inactive blobs of dough.. At that point, I toss in some instant yeast and turn it into regular bread.  Shhhh...

But just tell me how to bake bread already!

OK, OK!   I generally follow the Tartine recipes and books. 

Here's the original Tartine Bread.

And I've been enjoying their latest bread book:  Tartine No. 3

If you live in SF and are up for a walk to my neighborhood, I recommend giving Bird & Beckett a call.  They often have copies of these and other cookbooks in stock.  If they have the book, they will arrange to let you come by the shop on Chenery pay for the book through the gate.

They also have live streaming jazz.  Check out their website for jazz details.  Their book section isn't yet up to date, but just give them a ring.   It's a real treasure of a shop.

I will attempt to walk you through a few recipes.

Ferment on, Friends!





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