California Farm Sour Dough Starter

Name: California Farm Sour Dough Starter
Yield: 2 people, one week
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 pounds wheat bread flour, eight cups. Grind your own unhulled red wheat kernels, called spelt flour, or buy any good quality wheat flour. Keep in your freezer; 2 pounds white bread flour, eight cups, kept in your freezer; 1 pound dark rye flour plus 1 pound wheat flour, also eight cups, kept in your freezer; 2 thumbnail size pieces of ripe banana for each sour dough starter jar; Bake sour dough french bread

Hobby Horseman @HobbyHorseman

California, United States

We have a famous sour dough bread maker in San Francisco called Tartines Bakery. These are their recipes, I took their class twenty years ago. I still use their original sour dough starter every week, and I remember how much fun it was to make this the first time.

I have learned a lot about bread flour since then, and gladly share what works for me in here. 2024 update: the world champion sour dough baguette maker is the Utopie Bakery in Paris. They share their recipe. They add fresh banana and lemon to their sour dough starter when repleneshing. I adjusted my recipe to reflect theirs.

Hobby Horseman @HobbyHorseman

California, United States

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Ingredients

Seven days to make starter, good forever

2 people, one week

2 poundswheat bread flour, eight cups. Grind your own unhulled red wheat kernels, called spelt flour, or buy any good quality wheat flour. Keep in your freezer
2 poundswhite bread flour, eight cups, kept in your freezer
1 pounddark rye flour plus 1 pound wheat flour, also eight cups, kept in your freezer
2thumbnail size pieces of ripe banana for each sour dough starter jar
Bake sour dough french bread
California Farm Soft Crust and Hard Crust Sourdough Bread
Equipment: 2 large glass salad bowls, holding twelve cups, 2 pint mason jars
Cost: 25 cents per loaf of french sour dough bread

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Steps

Seven days to make starter, good forever

1

Lets first prove you have wild yeast floating in your kitchen. Mix a cup of flour with a cup of warm water, put on your kitchen counter without cover till it starts fermenting, bubbling, smell it. If it tastes sour, develops molds, you got wild yeast. If it doesnt smell sour, add a slice of banana and a slice of lemon to the flour-water mix. It will ferment (rot) and create wild yeast.
2

You are going to catch the yeast floating in the air in your kitchen by throwing four cups of flour up with your hands. Trust me, it works. Wait till the mornings are cool, the air conditioning was off all night. Clean hands, clean bowl, make flour cloud, save one cup of airborne flour. Next day, throw three cups in the air, save one cup. Put one cup flour in container every day till flour is used.
3

Put two cups aired flour and two cups luke warm water in a glass bowl, mix with your fingers till smooth dough, cover with kitchen towel, put on kitchen counter.
4

Check every morning to see when dough has doubled in size. Make two more cups every morning. Smell, you will notice the yeast developing.
5

With eight cups of sour dough starter, follow my recipe for wheat sour dough french bread. Bake fresh bread every week from each jar of starter till you find one you really like, that is your keeper.
6

Refill the uncleaned jar of sour dough starter with a cup of flour and a cup of water. Add two thumbnails of fresh ripe banana and one slice of meyer lemon, mix well, let sit in kitchen sink till it overflows, use next time. Endless sourdough starter from now on. Remove lemon, stir in fermented banana when using.
7

Do the same with white bread flour and the dark rye flour.
8

If your airborne dough fails, here is another way:
fill pint size mason jar with a cup of water, two thumbnail slices of ripe banana, and a slice of lemon, plus a Tbs sugar. Steep in sink till water starts to foam, about 7 days. Sieve cup of fruitwater in clean jar, add cup of wheat, white, or rye flour, set in kitchen sink till it overflows from fermentation.

Linked Recipes

California Farm Soft Crust and Hard Crust Sourdough Bread

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Cooksnaps

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Hobby Horseman @HobbyHorseman

on April 06, 2023 07:21

California, United States

I teach people at the farmers market to grow small scale fruits and vegetables. My grandparents and parents taught me growing, cooking and preserving home grown fruits and vegetables, eggs, meats and fish. I got certified by the University of California Master Gardener Program in 2005. I try to bring out the original flavor of ingredients, then add layers of spices, herbs and flavorings that enhance, not distort the taste. These are the global, organic and vegan family recipes we use.