February 20 marked an important anniversary in our home, the birthday of a family member whose life nourishes and improves ours. On that day, our family strain of sourdough turned 18 years old.
A batch of “18 hour” sourdough bread under cellophane after first rising. (Photo: Michelle Zeiger)
I took the purist approach in making the starter, attracting wild rather than commercial yeasts. Our sourdough prospered, and has been husbanded carefully from that day to this.
Sourdough Starter:
Slice and boil a potato or two in water until it becomes rich and thick.
Mix with a scoop of flour and one or two spoonfuls of sugar.
Place in a glass or stoneware container (bowl, crock, jar, etc.) that can be covered loosely, and set open in a warm place. Wild yeast in the air should develop a ferment in a few days.
That’s pretty much it. Once it gets started, stir in a spoonful of flour every few days. Let it grow and develop a few weeks before you begin using it.
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The great thing about sourdough is that it’s self perpetuating, so it stretches your flour considerably. Also, it chemically transforms starches into protein, “trading up” in food value. It’s also useful for an improbable array of non-food uses, such as glue and tanning.
We are constantly learning new sourdough recipes, but our standbys are pancakes, which Aly likes to make, and bread using J.B. McKinnon’s 18 hour recipe from his book Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100 Mile Diet with Alisa Smith (our review here). The chemical properties of sourdough allow skimping or forgoing common ingredients in many recipes, making for frugal baking.
Next, I’ll share a few sourdough tips and tricks we’ve picked up over the years.
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Mark Zeiger is a regular contributor to Self Reliance Works. He and his family homestead off the grid in Southeast Alaska. Learn more about their life through their photos and blog at www.akzeigers.com.
