Fresh bread has forever been a staple food in humans lives. It has taken many shapes and forms and looks and tastes different depending on the time period, the people making it and the location in which its made.
There is a good reason why biting into a warm piece of fresh bread with a spread of rich butter nourishes the soul so deeply.
In our modern world, particularly in my neck of the woods (America), bread has lost is splendor over the last many years. We have generations of people who have been missing out on what bread is truly supposed to taste like and provide as a nourishment for their bodies.
I am one of those people. Raised on store-bought white bread that has been produced from genetically-modified hybridized wheat that has been laden with toxic chemicals, stripped from its bran and other elements that make wheat such a nutritional powerhouse and has been pumped with artificial vitamins and preservatives to make it shelf stable and easy to mass-produce. Sound like an excerpt out of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein? Well, it really is.
HaShem did not intend for bread to be this way. Like in all other manners of food, He created plants and animals to not only sustain our life but vitalize every cell in our bodies to make us vibrant and strong and able-bodied to do His will on His earth.
I am far from an expert on wheat, or bread-making, or sourdough for that matter. I am just starting to explore what the original intention was and if I can even muster up just a glimpse of the original design I can sleep satisfied.
The way our fallen world has manipulated wheat in the last several years has turned what is a foundational, life-giving food into a dead filler that stuffs us full but strips our body of what it needs and further ravishes our gut and immune system. Such a sad twist of events, but I refuse to give up the prospect of the Father’s perfect creation to the evils of this world.
All that said, my soul and mind seek after the old paths. I want to know how my ancestors lived and ate. I want to know how they cooked and prepared everything with care and intention. I want to know where my food comes from and be able to identify the many blessings that end up at my table. I want to copy the age-old blueprint that carried on families from generation to generation.
I don’t have to live a sick, deprived life. In fact, that is not what Abba in Heaven wants for me and for you. He desires that we desire to do His will and follow in His steps. He has so much in store for those who obey Him. He is the greatest Father there is, with the best of intentions in mind for his precious creation. If only we can choose to put our trust (emunah) in Him.
Bread has traditionally been made with a live culture to help break down the wheat for consumption, add in more nutrients and healthy bacteria for our diverse microbiome, and to help it rise, even just a bit, to provide a more palatable bread in the end.
Sourdough stater/culture/etc. is a very simple living food that everyone should own and learn to take care of (in my opinion). It is simply a mixture of flour and water that has been allowed to ferment in the open surroundings by collecting the naturally occurring yeasts in the air that combines with the bacteria already present on the flour and water.
There are many ways to create a sourdough starter/culture and various ways to maintain it, incorporate it into recipes, etc. Like I said, I am by no means an expert, but I have had the blessing of learning this process from others and have done it myself several times now to feel confident enough about the basics.
Once you have created your sourdough culture, you can utilize it to add into other baked goods or flatbreads to increase their digestibility and nutrient density. You will be able to use it to rise a beautiful hand-crafted loaf of sourdough bread without the use of commercial yeast. You can even just use the starter itself to make a delicious, crunchy snack or side-dish like this.
Instructions
To ensure more reliable and accurate results, I use my kitchen scale to weigh the flour and water each time. This is not necessary, though. I will provide the amount of both ingredients by weight and by standard measuring cups (USA).
This process is much more simple than it seems and when you reach the point of having an activated culture (and you will) it is then hard to kill :-). Sourdough culture is very resilient, like many other fermented foods, so although it needs certain conditions to thrive, there is still lots of grace available which I find rather encouraging!
#1: [DAY 1]
Turn on food scale. Place a clean glass or ceramic bowl on the scale and tare the weight (press button that zeros out the weight).
#2:
Add in 100g (heaping 1/2 cup) of flour.
#3:
Once flour has been measured, tare the weight on the scale again in order to weigh the water next.
#4:
Add in 100g of filtered water (a little less than 1/2 cup).
#5:
Mix flour and water together thoroughly.
#6:
Cover bowl with a tea towel (for breathability) and secure it on the bowl with a rubber band (to keep bugs out).
#7:
Leave out on your counter until around the same time the following day.
#8: [DAYS 2 – 5]
Remove roughly half of your flour/water mixture and discard it into the trash or compost, etc. In the same bowl, repeat steps #2-7 again by adding or “feeding” to the remaining mixture another 100g flour & 100g of water, mix well, and cover and sit out for around 24 hours. This process will take place from day 2 through day 5.
#9: [DAYS 6-7]
On day 6, you will do the process of discarding half and adding or “feeding” the starter with 100g flour/100g water now twice a day. So once in the morning, once in the evening. Do this again on the 7th day.
#10:
ALL DONE! By the end of day 7, you will have cultivated an active, thriving culture of fermented flour called a sourdough starter/culture.
This sourdough culture can now be used to bake bread or be added into other baked goods.
MAINTENANCE
Keep in mind, this starter is a living organism. My sister-in-Messiah calls it a really boring pet. And there is certainly truth to that (although I find it quite exciting ;-)).
Like a pet, you must “feed” it more flour and water to maintain its vitality and life.
If kept out on the counter, you will need to feed your starter once a day. It is best to remove roughly half of your starter and add in more flour and water. DO NOT THROW AWAY YOUR DISCARD! The discard of an established starter is an excellent addition to many baked goods like pancakes or muffins or can be used to fry up a crispy sourdough flatbread for a quick addition to a savory meal.
Once my starter is established, I personally do not weigh or measure the flour and water I add in for feedings. Instead, I just add a roughly estimate of anywhere from 1/2 cup to 1 cup of flour to the bowl and then gradually pour in a similar amount of water, mix it up, and if it resembles the consistency of a think pancake batter, I call it a day and recover my stater.
If kept in the fridge, you can take it out about once a week. So you will remove from fridge, place on counter, remove roughly half, add in more flour & water, mix, cover, and set out on counter to ferment to either use in a recipe or just in order to keep it active and return back to fridge after about 8 hours of room temperature fermentation.
After each feeding, keep your starter covered and out on your counter for at least 8 hours before either using in a bread recipe or placing in the fridge for storage. The temperature of your home will affect how quickly the starter ferments and utilizes its new allotment of flour/water so it will likely need less time in a warmer climate and more time to ferment in a colder climate.
Occasionally you will find a black liquid at the surface of your starter. This is not mold, but called “booch.” It just signifies that your starter has used up all of its flour resources and needs to be fed again with more flour/water. You can either pour off this liquid into the sink or mix it in, it doesn’t matter and doesn’t pose a threat to you or your starter.