I'm laboring under a barely functional blog situation here: only some of my pictures are loading. The whole blog needs an overhaul — a fall cleaning if you will!
Since what I had in mind last week (and now this week) was to touch base about the sourdough starter with some visuals to go along with that topic, we're in a bit of a pickle.
But here goes, with the few pics that would load:
My method for maintaining going forward from that first stage of getting the starter up to speed is to take the starter — the one we've been working on according to the method in the previous posts — out of the fridge.
I put some of it into whatever bowl I will be mixing dough in.
In this case, I was making pizza for just the two of us, so I am using a glass bowl; usually I would use my mixing bowl for the Kitchenaid.
I began with about 2/3 cup of starter in my jar.
Your amount may vary; just use enough in the bowl to leave some (2T to 1/4 cup) in your jar.
I put about 1/2 cup in the bowl and left the rest in the jar.
Then I fed each one, separately. What's in the bowl gets fed at about a 1:1:1 ratio or even slightly more water. I try to use some whole wheat flour at this point to give it a boost of nutrients.
What's in the jar gets fed to be a bit stiffer. One part starter, one part flour, 2/3 part water.
I had a nice picture showing you, as well as I think can be shown, the stiffness; it will sort of hold its shape when you move it around with a spoon or knife and not just spread out in the jar in a liquid fashion, almost like oatmeal cookie batter and not like pancake batter.
Then I let each one ferment.
I put both bowl and jar in the oven with the light on. It actually got pretty warm, so after about an hour I turned the light off and that was enough warmth.
The bowl starter will look like this:
The jar starter will look like this:
You notice that what's in the jar does not have big bubbles such as the ones you might see in pictures elsewhere. That's because it's quite stiff! But it's very active and very strong, and yours should be too. Those little bubbles are excellent signs of a good starter.
At this point, I let what's in the jar rise just a tad more, until it's domed and has a nice lively smell, and then popped it in the fridge. Because it's so stiff, it is forgiving. It's not likely to rise quickly and collapse.
I then proceeded with the contents of the bowl (and it was really under 3 hours to get to this point — I began in the morning), adding a few cups of flour, some salt, and a bit of olive oil to make my pizza dough.
You should continue to make the sourdough sandwich bread; by now you can leave the yeast out entirely! You can mix what they call the levain (the first part of the recipe) and within 3 hours, if it's warm enough, you should be able to proceed with the recipe.
This is my procedure!
Let me know if you're not quite getting it, or if you're having good success!
bits & pieces
- Time in the medieval monastery (and it can be this way, a little, in the home today, if we keep things calm and not over-scheduled)
- Ten Gregorian Chants everyone should know! We found if we wanted the children to learn and memorize something, if we included it at a time of daily prayer (for instance when we said the Angelus at noon or at night prayer before bed), they would be proficient within a week. Our children learned the Salve Regina before we did! And we didn't have these lovely youtubes to listen to — lucky you!
- I wanted to be sure you saw this article from Leila Miller: Heart of the Abandoned Spouse (a remedy against reflexive annulment). She has good advice for those suffering from abandonment.
from the archives
Sickness is part of life – don't freak out!
Encourage your children to have good conversational habits
liturgical living
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Mary Jo Anderson says
I’m learning! The discard problem has been a real headache- feels so wasteful tossing it down the drain. There is a certain meditative rhythm to making sourdough.
On another note, unrelated, may I mention a new discovery for me? I see you have a Kitchen Aid mixer. We asked a local rancher to raise a cow for us, grass fed, no hormone meat. The processor packed cuts per our request but the small local processor plant does not have the same equipment that the chain grocers have. An often “go to” cut of beef for busy days is what the grocery labels “cube steaks,” flattened tenderized steaks from the chuck or arm roasts. I checked the price for a home version of this tenderizing machine – $1000. Yikes. However, I was delighted to find that Kitchen Aid makes a tenderizing attachment for the mixer, about $60. I now have used it twice and can recommend it enthusiastically.
Leila says
Interesting!
I do think the Kitchenaid has some good attachments. I don’t use it often, but I do like the pasta attachment — Rosie gave it to me one year for my birthday I think it was!
Amy says
Auntie Leila, could I request a printable/PDF version with all your starter directions and maintenance in it, sort of like your laundry and menu planning sheets? Your first week of sourdough guidance was the week that both strep and Covid hit our household and I feel I just now have my breath back! I would love to have all that information in one place with the posts/comment sections for additional guidance. Thank you for considering this!
Leila says
I will work on something like this!
For now, the tag “starter” will pull up all the posts.
I really hope that helps.
I will also be on my substack The School for Housewives, usually on Tuesdays, to chat about such things, so you can join there if you subscribe.
Sarah says
Reading your archived post about sickness being a part of life is encouraging! It seems like in the fall and winter, there’s almost always someone in the house with a straggling sniffle or cough but enough energy to still be a regular boy needing to run. We do rest in a nest as well, but once they have their energy back, it’s hard to figure out how to get the sniffles gone. We have one dear grandmother with immune system issues, so we try hard to get well to see her and to see her in any window we’re well!
Leila says
Teach your children to blow their noses well! Especially when first rising in the morning.
A goldenrod tea will help with drying their runnyness. This article is very good: https://chestnutherbs.com/goldenrod-flower/
Sarah says
Thank you, Auntie Leila!
Leila says
You’re welcome!
You can also try a slice of onion on their feet at night (inside some white cotton socks) and feed them lots of garlic!