Please welcome Katie from Kitchen Stewardship, sharing with you a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the wonderful art of sourdough! I never knew you could make so many delicous foods from sourdough! I think you’ll be as excited as I am as you read on…
“I have captured YEAST!” I cried, in the midst of my sourdough happy dance, the day I first saw bubbles in my starter. (You can picture the scene if you overlay it with Tom Hanks in Castaway screaming, “I have created FIRE!”)
I used Laura’s photo tutorial to help me get started, but I was so nervous that I would fail, I refused to even take pictures for my own blog. I had zero confidence.
Fermentation and, you know, helping bacteria to grow and proliferate, is my hardest challenge as a real foodie. Sometimes I just need to see and experience something to really ‘get it’ and wish for someone to hold my hand a little. I wish the GNOWFGLINS Sourdough eCourse would have been available last fall to encourage me and ease my fears. I might have jumped in with both feet instead of stewing about sourdough for a year before trying a starter.
Now that I have a jar of flour and water bubbling away on my counter, I’ll never go back. I love my sourdough.
3 Reasons I Love My Sourdough Starter
- It’s More Forgiving Than a Fish. When someone overheard me explaining the care and feeding of my sourdough starter to someone with whom I was sharing a jar, she said, “Goodness, it sounds like you’re talking about a goldfish!” She’s not too far from the truth.I feed my starter some whole wheat flour every day and stir it well, adding water every other day or so. The starches give the natural yeasts something to eat, and they produce the bubbles that will make a lovely sourdough loaf.The difference between feeding my sourdough starter and feeding my son’s goldfish is simple: The starter doesn’t mind being forgotten in the refrigerator for a week. Sometimes we all need a break, and our kids goldfishes won’t “rise up” without constant TLC!
- I’m “in the club.” With my sourdough starter, I get to rub shoulders with sourdough masters Wardeh Harmon and Erin VanderLugt as they share 20 weeks of recipes. I tried to count how many actual things these women can make with their sourdough starters, but I lost count. From tortillas to spice cake, pita bread to cinnamon rolls, I quickly realize I’m a little fish in a big sourdough pond.Plus, I get to throw around terms like “active, domed state” and sound important!
Mmmm, cinnamon rolls. I think I know what’s going on the menu plan for Saturday morning!
3. I Make the Healthiest Bread on the Planet. Did you know whole grains can cause mineral absorption problems? God wisely created seeds to be difficult to digest, which is for the good of the seed and the proliferation of that species.
For the good of ourspecies, however, we like to eat the bread of life. To be most life-giving, whole grains need to be properly prepared to neutralize the enzyme inhibitors and phytic acid that hinder digestion. There’s much talk of soaking vs. sprouting vs. sourdough, but in my research, sourdough is the most traditional and Biblical form of bread. It’s also the most backed by scientific research on human beings. Added bonus!
Click HERE for more information on the art of sourdough baking via video, downloads, and recipes for everything you can imagine using sourdough.
The unique Pay What You Can philosophy allows you to preview the course and pay a fair price according to your means, and you can choose which lessons interest you the most and skip the rest without feeling like you’ve wasted a registration fee. Get a free thank-you gift every month when you make a payment! Enrollment never closes.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by GNOWFGLINS eCourses.
I love sourdough starter. Some years ago I received a starter from a wonderful elderly woman that had been going since before she was born and she was 90 years old. I had it for some years and just loved it. It was the best starter I ever had. Unfortunately, we had to make an emergency move and the packers came in and saw in the fridge this blob and dumped it! I grieved over that starter. Never had another one quite like it.
Hi Laura,
Those Cinnamon Scrolls look yummy. I’m going to make a Sourdough Starter:) Been promising for ages…now to do it.
I just got a sourdough starter free in the mail. It’s made with white flour but I’m going to try and switch it to whole wheat. If it doesn’t work it cost me the price on an envelope and a stamp! If it doesn’t work I’ll try the recipe for sourdough starter from Kitchen Stewardship.
Just be sure to switch over the feedings SLOWLY!!! Otherwise, you may kill your starter. Best wishes!
I did get a sourdough starter started, and made a loaf of bread, but it did not taste like store bought sourdough bread (it was pretty blah). What do they do to get that wonderful sour taste?
I think the main thing is that the older the sourdough starter the better (which maybe isn’t very helpful for right now but…). I have found that the more I work with my sourdough, the better it tastes and the easier it is to work with.
Many of your questions are probably answered in this GNOWFGLINS eCourses.
Rebecca, try a stiffer starter.
My starter has been in the fridge untouched for a few months, I think there is about 6 inches of liquid on top. I wonder if I can revive it . . .
Ooh, I bet you can!! I’ve revived mine after months of neglect before.
In my former life…life before a gluten intolerance…I loved sourdough. I’ve even made my own starter before. Now, I make everything with a freshly ground gluten free flour mix. I basically substitute gluten free flour mix in all my recipes and they are turning out great. Do you think I could make sourdough starter gluten free?
You’d have to do some research to see if it’s possible, wouldn’t that be GREAT if you could!!
On the gnowfglins ecourse site, there’s quite a bit of information about making sourdough gluten free. I never knew it was possible, but it looks like it really is.
Thanks so much. I’ll have to check it out. It would be so awesome to
have gluten free sourdough bread!
I recently signed up for the Gnowfglins course and I love it. One short week later and I have a happy bubbly starter. I made pancakes yesterday. Today was English muffins. Yummy.
I found a recipe for sourdough pizza crust and sourdough coffeecake yesterday! Can’t wait to try these out!
Loving the Gnowfglins courses! Just started my starter this morning… trying not to peek at it till this evening.
I am wondering why my sourdough started exploded after only one day on the counter. Literally, today is day two and I came home fro church to find it exploded. Is climate a factor? I do live in South Louisiana. What do I do?
Oh, and it smells putrid!
Wow, after only ONE DAY?! Yes, I would think that it’s a climate factor. The stink is normal. That should settle down a little.