Article on Using Sourdough Starter in More Baked Goods

Home Forums Baking โ€” Breads and Rolls Article on Using Sourdough Starter in More Baked Goods

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  • #17848
    BakerAunt
    Participant

      I read an article on using sourdough starter in more baked goods than bread:

      Most of us here probably know that "discard" should be used in pancakes, etc., and KAF has at least one coffee cake recipe. I use it in my crackers all the time. It's nice that this info is now getting some new attention.

      Spread the word
      #17849
      Mike Nolan
      Keymaster

        Professional bakers never throw away sourdough starter when they feed it, I've always thought it was kind of dumb that home bakers did.

        Google on 'sourdough cookbook' and you'll come up with at least a dozen titles.

        #17860
        Joan Simpson
        Participant

          The only time I throw it away is if I've not used it in along time,otherwise I just stir up and feed and use.I agree about not throwing away,you have to know back in the day they didn't throw it away as flour was a staple and very precious to them.

          #18014
          aaronatthedoublef
          Participant

            I'm about to make and keep my own starter.

            How can I use it? For example, can I start to use it in some of my regular recipes like my pizza dough? What about my rye bread recipe that calls for making a poolish. Can I sub in a regular sourdough starter and skip the day it takes for the poolish to develop flavor?

            Thanks

            #18015
            Mike Nolan
            Keymaster

              The simple answer is you can use it in anything that uses yeast, as well as in things that use other forms of leavening. HOW you use it is where the art is. ๐Ÿ™‚

              Most instructions for maintaining a sourdough starter at home basically go like this:

              Divide in two
              Throw half out (or find something to do with it)
              Feed other half, possibly using some to make bread tomorrow

              Most commercial sourdough instructions go like this:

              Feed
              Divide in two
              Use half to make bread

              With the former, you have to find things to do with the half you throw out, for example, use it in pancake batter. With the latter, it assume every time you feed it you're also planning on baking with it shortly thereafter.

              A sourdough culture is generally most active during the period from a few hours to a day after it's been fed. If you're a commercial baker, you're probably baking sourdough every day anyway, and you have the space available to feed your starter without throwing half of it out.

              One exception is if you follow the Chad Robertson's (Tartine Bakery) method. He has you use just 5% of the starter to start the next batch, so it is what he calls a 'young' starter, meaning it isn't as acidic. He also talks about how refrigeration of a starter changes the bacteria composition to favor ones that produce more acid. I doubt that he throws out 95% of his starter in his bakery on a regular basis, so I suspect that the routine he gives for home use is different than the one he uses for mass production.

              #18018
              BakerAunt
              Participant

                I've had my starter for 25+ years, which I made from a recipe in Sunset magazine, a popular publication in California (food, house projects, places to travel). Mine is a milk-based starter, which is apparently not the norm. It is not as thick as what King Arthur seems to have. It does ok with a bit of "neglect"--but it is definitely thicker and more active if I feed it once or twice a week. Since my husband adores my Sourdough cheese crackers and prefers the sourdough pan pizza (adapted from a King Arthur recipe), and I like sourdough breads, it gets used a lot.

                I've not tried using it in recipes that don't call for sourdough starter, but I do have to adapt the KAF ones that use starter. I usually need about 1/4 cup more flour per cup of sourdough that their recipes use. To get more of a sourdough taste, it usually helps to give it some

                I plan to try adapting this starter in some recipes that require rye starters, etc., for which the recipe authors give their own starter recipes, and which I really do not have room to keep around. I'm sure that it will change the taste, but tasting different is not necessarily a negative.

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