The FastDay Forum

I have in my staycation made a sourdough starter. With it I have baked various baked items that I found to be absolutely devine. The best part is my tummy does not go all crazy on me as when eating normal bread! I can eat and have a normal digestion and not bloated.

My husband loves pizza and a yeasted pizza dough makes his heartburn goes nuts. With sourdough bread not a single problem. The breads/pizza dough are so soft and airy and the list goes on.

I cant rave enough of sourdough. Though I only need to figure out how to stop my bread from sticking to the pan. Any tips anyone???

Line it with well-oiled foil. It's more sticky.

I have not bought bread for at least 2 years. I made my starter - her name is Brenda- and sourdough bread is what we eat. Line your tray with baking paper. Actually I line containers with baking paper to rise the dough and then turn out the loaves onto a lined baking tray and they cook like that. Never sticks. I love baking paper.

I just heat a non-stick baking sheet in the oven as it's heating up and turn the loaf out onto the hot sheet and it never seems to stick.

I just love my sourdough, the starter's been going for about 4 years now!

Thanks for the suggestions. I most definately will try it!

Hi all, sourdough is lovely bread. Can I please ask what recipe you used for your starters? Would like to give this a go.
Thanks

I take ordinary organic rye flour, mix it with water in a drinking glass into some kind of loose porridge, leave it for a few days until it has stopped bubbling. That's my original starter. The taste is fresh and really sour.

I mix it with rye flour into the same loose mix and wait for a day or three until the bubbling has died away. That's the starter multiplied.

I save a bit of it inte a jar and put it into the freezer for my next batch. I repeat this process with freezing about a cup of the last starter every time I bake.

Then I mix it with rye , salt and more water into suitable mixture, loose but stiff enough to form bread pieces from. I run the mixture in my kneading machine, form bread pieces on an oiled and floured oven plate and let it stand over night, bakes in the morning.

I've done it like this for many years, bakes every week and it always works., delicious although a little different every time since I don't take any measurements.

The souring process breaks down more of the grain, destroys the anti nutrients like fytino acid, and the healthy parts of the grain, like the minerals, gets more accessible for your digestive system, it also lower the glycemic index, you need less of it to stay full.

I see no need to take any special care of the starter, that mix of yeast cells and lacto acidic bacterias are present in all grain naturally, they are extremely tough little creatures, when they run out of food or conditions get tough they just go into hibernation and would probably survive outer space or a nuclear holocaust. Getting deep frozen is not a problem.

I have no idea why all such recipes I find online are so overly complicated, it's actually a very simple and efficient process. It takes time, but very little work and monitoring.

If you want a higher rise on the bread, softer and not so dark, you can mix in some wheat flour before kneading, I use Manitoba cream sometimes, with a high gluten content.

Warning, the starter attracts fruit flies depending on the season, it's best to cover it with some cloth to keep them off, and it migt be a good idea to stir it now and then with a spoon.

My sourdough has improved hugely in texture since I've started baking it inside a cast iron casserole dish. Apparently this helps keep an even temperature and stops the crust forming too early, thus allowing the bread to rise more.

Do think the starting flour makes a difference to the culture. I started this batch with some Finnish traditionally processed rye which has made a strong, lovely starter.

Have kneaded my dough this morning, will prove it this evening and bake late at night, ready to eat tomorrow morning. This time it's 70% rye / 30% wheat. Still in search of the perfect ratio. 100% rye was tasty but dense. 50/50 didn't taste enough of rye.

I put a pizza stone in the oven and heat on high. Then cook the loaf on it (on baking paper ). Just before I put it in the oven I also heat a roasting pan and then fill it with ice so it steams. Spraying the loaf with water is good too.
I agree about keeping the starter simple, just flour and water, a cup of each. I keep mine in the fridge, take it out a few days before use and feed it a couple of times. It smells appley.

We’ve found sourdough much easier on the stomach.

Agree with Michael H about complications - Allisons white strong bread flour has a sourdough starter recipe on the pack that is just flour and water.

My starter, now about two years old, became a bit too strong for us so I’ve ditched it and will start again in a couple of weeks time when we get back from a holiday.

Recently I bought a banneton made from wood fibre for forming the dough and, as long as it's floured well, doesn't stick.

Yes I use a banneton. I have wood and plastic but much prefer wood.

Wineoclock, that's exactly how I used to bake mine before discovering the casserole dish method. It's worth trying if you have one. I pre-heat the dish, then put the loaf in (on baking parchment, so I don't burn my hands), sprinkle a bit of water on top and put the lid on.

Thanks for all the info I am wanting to get back to baking my own sour dough bread and making my own starter, have some really good rye flour so will follow your directions Michael et al, have had a few disasters lately but will persevere

Just a comment about baking paper. Some UK supermarkets sell a combined wax and baking paper. I don't know if that's non-stick for sourdough.

We use baking parchment - bought in sheets, it's washable therefore re-usable and can be cut. We've had ours for more years than I can remember and happily copes with temperatures up to 250C. I don't use foil as it would cost more.

Hi Pineneedles I cook a cheats sourdough in my cast iron pan.
It's 3 cups flour. 1 1/2 cups warm water. 1teaspoon yeast and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix to a wet batter and leave overnight or as long as you can.
Heat the pot in a hot oven for 20 mins then put in the dough (it's hard to handle so might be an odd shape ). 30 mins lid on 30 lid off.
No kneeding. Not quite as good as sourdough but much better than shop bread. And good if you suddenly find guests are coming.