Since I had no luck getting a normal sourdough starter going, I figured a little experiment to test the rye flour might be worthwhile. What better way to test it than to make a rye sourdough starter? A rye starter is much more sour than your typical white flour starter, and very active. The flavor is a tangy sour one and the odor is very strong. Almost as strong as smelling salts.
If you get bored making bread recipes with cane sugar or prefer a healthier alternative, honey can be substituted with a couple of minor alterations to the recipe. Essentially, think of honey as 3/4 sugar and 1/4 water. So if a recipe requires 1 cup of sugar, then you’ll use 1 1/3 cups of honey (1/ (3/4) = 1 1/3) and reduce the liquid by 1/3 cup. Please note that I’m only talking with regards to yeast bread baking. Honey is acidic, which might cause issues with quick bread recipes (those leavened using baking powder), so this substitution could cause problems in those recipes.
For the recipes I’ve posted here, the amount of sugar is small. Therefore, the amount of extra water added is negligible. For instance, a recipe that calls for 1/4 cup of sugar would use 1/3 cup of honey. The extra water there is 1/12 of a cup- that’s a little over a tablespoon of water. If using a high-gluten flour like KA, clearly substituting honey in these amounts is not a problem.
As to why bother substituting? Well, honey is a natural sugar versus the highly processed white stuff that comes in a bag. There are all sorts of health benefits that come along with that difference. There’s a nice (long) article about the benefits of honey over sugar here. Personally, I can’t taste a difference when using honey but my taste buds aren’t the most discerning out there. I switch them up just for a change of pace in how I make the bread, simple as that. Although after reading that article, I may use honey more often.
UPDATE: Well, that article I linked is pretty screechy. I guess that’ll learn me for linking before reading the whole thing. At least the first half isn’t bad. At any rate, I don’t think I’ll get too much argument about the notion that honey is healthier than cane sugar, which was my main point.
Alright, my sourdough starter problems are officially ridiculous. I had to throw away the original batch because it couldn’t raise the dough. I decided to try again, but this time with a fresh batch of rye flour. That was really the only thing I could think that might have caused problems.
No go. I even gave it an extra day. I went through the whole refresh process and it didn’t raise the dough after 4 hours. Something is definitely amiss. Another waste of flour and time.
One characteristic I have noticed about the two failed batches of starter is that they never congealed like the previous batches. In other words(for bread people)- no gluten formation. Now lack of gluten in the starter sort of indicates to me that there is too much acid in the starter. If the problem is too much acid, then I’m thinking perhaps shortening the refresh periods might inhibit the acid production. On the flip side, the starter didn’t taste too sour which would tend to indicate the acid levels were not the problem.
At this point, all I can do is experiment and see what works. Still, having made this exact sort of starter a number of times previous, this episode is very curious. Clearly, something has changed. I’m just at a loss as to what.
Possible captions:
The sourdough starter. Yum.
Well, not the starter itself- rather, what you can do with such a starter. This one is in its third day. They are usually ready after day 4 and this one looks to be right on schedule. Including the lovely smell of fermenting apples or fruit.
This one started life as 2 parts water, 1 part rye flour, 1 part white flour. No yeast. They just seem to invite themselves after a day or so. The rye flour is supposed to be good for developing yeast. After a day, I add 1 part white flour and 1 part water. Did the same thing tonight. I’ll do it again tomorrow. And the next day, I’ll bake.
But that will be another post.
My intention was to make this bread recipe. I had everything more or less ready to go and then I realized something crucial- I’d used whole wheat flour instead of white whole wheat flour. A fairly serious problem for white whole wheat bread. So, I did the logical thing- I improvised.
Here is the resulting recipe:
You should be able to cut the recipe in half across the board for a smaller loaf.
This recipe is very similar to the Wonder Bread recipe. The ingredients:
Interesting- a little more water (because of the whole grain flour), a little more yeast(same reason).
Dissolve the sugar in 1 cup of water, then add 1 cup flour and the yeast and set aside. Work the butter into the remaining flour using the mixer, then add the salt to the flour. Finally, add the remaining water and then wait about 20 minutes.
Add the flour-yeast mixture to the rest of the flour and start kneading. Start at a lower speed, once the liquid is adequately absorbed increase the mixer speed up to about medium. Continue kneading until the dough gets smooth and glistens. It will not be as loose as the Wonder Bread dough.
From hear, follow the same steps as for the Wonder Bread. Allow to rise 2-3 hours, then shape the dough and allow to proof for about an hour. Stick it in a 400 degree oven on the middle rack until the crust turns a deep brown color, then allow the bread to cool for half-an-hour before eating.
I’ll just note that I allowed mine to proof too long and when I finally put it in the oven, it collapsed as it baked. Most likely because the oven spring caused it to become unstable. It still tastes OK, but it doesn’t look as nice.
You’ll need the following:
You’ll also need your mixer (I’m using a KitchenAid Pro 6), a tall clear container, a loaf pan for baking (1 that’s about 14″ long or two of the more normal sized loaf pans), a small mixing bowl larger enough to hold 2 cups of liquid, and non-stick spray.