Sourdough, Sourdough, Sourdough!!!!!!

For the past week practically all I have been able to talk about, think about, and even dream about is sourdough. Sourdough, sourdough, sourdough!!!!!

I am gluten free because my body does not process gluten well so I decided to try making sourdough. My theory is that the fermenting process might be able to help my body digest the gluten.

So I started researching. I found a basic sourdough recipe and put it to the test. I made a white flour starter, a whole wheat starter, and then I decided to bust out and create a yogurt based starter!

The white flour and water starter turned out to be a flop; it got black flecks on top and had an awful smell so I threw it away! I'm not sure why it did this.

White flour starter before I threw it out!

My whole wheat starter (Wheatdo for short) has been by far my most interesting starter to watch. After I feed it it goes crazy! It nearly doubles in size and gets beautifully bubbly. It smells nice and sour too.

Wheatdo on day two

 I have almost thrown out my yogurt based starter (Yodo for short) on several occasions but my parents talked me out of it. It had a very strong smell, almost like nail polish remover, and I read somewhere that that was bad. It turns out that that smell just means that it is nice and yeasty. Yodo actually has made the very best bread!!!

Wheatdo is on the left and Yodo is on the right.

I transferred them to two nice glass containers that I got at the market.

Wheatdo

Yodo

I would feed them as was needed and checked on their progress throughout the day. All the while I was exuberantly talking about every intricate detail and boring people to death! :-) Grandma B. and Aunt Diane have worked with sourdough and gave me some great pointers.

This morning I plunged in and made the dough! I was so excited. The dough turned out soft and stretchy; two things that are most important. I set them in a warm oven for two hours for the first rising.

Here they are, partly risen:

Wheatdo

Yodo

After the first rising they were nearly double in size!!!

Yodo had wonderful bubbles and texture!!!

I formed the dough into loaves, and left the loaves to rise while I went to church.

Baking them proved to be challenging and I learned about a couple of things that I won't do next time.

Yodo in the baking process.

Wheatdo turned out to be a little bit on the dense side but has a great sour flavor. 

I need to work on Wheatdo a little bit more so it is not quite so dense. It could just be the whole wheat flour. I love Wheatdo because it has a nice, tangy, sour flavor to it.

Yodo tastes just like Trader Joe's and no joke!!! 

Yodo is INCREDIBLE!!! I am so thankful that I did not throw out the starter!!! It has a wonderful crumb, crust, and sourdough flavor.

I hope I didn't bore you with all of this sourdough talk, but I had to share it with someone!

Your exuberant, sourdough baking

Emily Jo

Promise: John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.