Quick Overnight Sourdough Starter

Back to the Basics (in our kitchen) include baking with sourdough. It can be somewhat intimidating so I'm sharing the explanations and tips that have guided me since 1978. That's when I purchased  a sourdough cookbook (Rita Davenport’s Sourdough Cookery). Although I was intrigued, I was also a bit overwhelmed with all the terminology and techniques so I wrote a letter to the author. She responded (adding her answers to my many questions directly on the letter I had written) and clarified many things. I’ve been  making sourdough breads ever since.using her Quick Overnight Sourdough Starter. 

About Sourdough Starters in General

Before the advent of commercial yeast all bread was made from sourdough starters. Sourdough starters are basically combinations of flour and water that are used as a nutrient-rich medium to grow and maintain colonies of wild yeast. Wild strains of yeast are present in many milled grains, and abound in the air around us. These yeasts find a home in the starter mixture and grow. Each sourdough starter has its own unique flavor and characteristics. Most homemade sourdough starters are given a 'jump start' by adding 'domesticated' dried yeast to the starter mixture. Sourdough starters, if properly taken care of, can live for years and years and years. They help to produce loaves of bread that have complex and full-bodied flavors.  

Quick Overnight Sourdough Starter

To prepare:

2 scant tablespoons active dry yeast  or 2 (1/4 -ounce) packages

4 cups lukewarm water  (105 to 115 °)

4 cups all-purpose flour (Pride of the Prairie flour from Farmer Direct Foods, New Cambria, KS)

1. In a measuring cup or small bowl, dissolve yeast in a small amount of lukewarm water.  In another bowl, stir flour into remaining water and add bubbling yeast mixture.  Mix well and cover.  
2. Let mixture stand in a draft free area that is near 85° for at least 6 hour or overnight.  Starter is now ready to use.  
3. Store in refrigerator in a stoneware or plastic container, or in a quart canning jar..  Make a hole in to top of the plastic container or canning jar lid to allow accumulated gas to escape; place a loose fitting lid on stoneware.  

Note:  This recipe makes a sizable amount and can easily be cut in half. 

---Rita Davenport’s Sourdough Cookery, HP Books, 1977, p 15.

To use: The sourdough starter may be removed from refrigerator and used as needed.  Always save at least 1/2 cup  and then add equal amounts of flour and water to replenish (ex. 1/2 cup water & 1/2 cup flour). Don’t worry about lumps in mixture, fermentation will dissolve them. Mix and let set at room temperature until bubbly; then refrigerate until next use.  Or, if the recipe calls for a large amount of sourdough starter, I have added equal amounts flour and water  to the starter and used within several minutes.  However, the longer it stands at room temperature, the more pronounced the sourdough flavor.

If you do not use weekly: Add a small amount of water and flour (equal amounts) and set out for 20 to 30 minutes before returning to refrigerator  (actually I’ve left mine for 2 weeks without doing a thing to it & it’s fine)

To freeze: I place plastic container in a freezer bag and place in freezer if I do not plan to make bread for awhile.  Thaw and use. (Can be frozen up to 3 months.)

Additional Notes about Starters:  Fermented, fully developed sourdough will appear bubbly and may have a very strong odor (actually quite smelly and even a bit unpleasant!!!!).  Sourdough that has been sitting in the refrigerator will often form a yellow or clear liquid on top. This is alcohol which Alaskan Indians called hooch. When it forms, just stir it back into the mixture. 

If starter does not seem as bubbly after continued use, sprinkle with small amount of dry yeast and mix well. This is also recommended if thawed frozen starter does not resume its former bubbly appearance.

If the sourdough starter turns pink, discard and begin again.  

Our sourdough recipes include:  I'll be adding more in the near future)
Sourdough Sweet N' Spicy Bread
Old Milwaukee Rye Bread (this recipe refers to the starter as a sponge; a sponge is made of flour, water and yeast, allowed to set at room temp overnight — same as starter but a sponge is then used in its entirety rather and saving back a portion for the next batch of bread)