SOURDOUGH STARTER WITH YEAST AND SUGAR RECIPES

Steps:

• For starter, dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix with 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar or honey and 1 cup milk (lowfat or 2% milk is OK). This is day 1 of 10 day prep. Use a plastic or glass container.
• Leave starter on the counter covered, and stir daily.
• On the 5th day, add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar or honey (or combination) and 1 cup milk. This is called 'feeding' the starter.
• Continue to stir daily. On the 10th day, add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar or honey and 1 cup milk. Starter can now be divided and given away or frozen. I usually wait a day to bake after feeding starter.
• If you are not baking the next day, you can refrigerate starter, but bring to room temperature on baking day, or the night before, if frozen.
• If you receive a cup of starter as a gift, feed immediately and wait a day before baking, to give starter a chance to ferment, at room temperature.
• To bake: Place 1 cup of starter in bowl of mixer. Put mixer on slow speed using a dough hook, and add all ingredients. All ingredients should be room temperature.
• Add 2-1/4 tsps. yeast, 1 cup water, 1 cup milk, 2 tbls honey, 1/4 cup oil, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 2 eggs, 2 tsps. salt, approximately 6-7 cups white flour. You can add more whole wheat and less white, as preferred.
• Knead dough for 10 minute in mixer. Dough should be slightly sticky, but smooth and shiny and should mostly all be on the dough hook when done.
• Remove dough from mixer bowl to a floured board and knead by hand two minutes, shaping into a large ball. Oil inside of mixer bowl.
• Place dough back into bowl, swirl around in oil, and turn over so all sides are oiled. Press down, cover with a clean towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled.
• Punch down and divide into two loaves. At this point, 1 ball can be made into 12-14 rolls. Divide into even balls, (if you have a scale, about 2-1/2 oz. each) place on greased cookie sheet, pressing down to a flat disc. Brush tops with beaten egg white mixed with 1 tbl water and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds, if desired.
• Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour, or until double in size.
• Preheat oven to 375° and bake rolls for 15-20 minutes, until browned.
• For loaf of bread flatten 1/2 of dough into a rectangle, to remove bubbles and roll up to a log. Roll two sides under and place log seam side down in greased loaf pan. Brush top with egg white and sprinkle with seeds. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Remove from pan and thump bottom of loaf. It should sound hollow when done.
• You can bake 1/2 of dough and shape other half into a loaf, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. When you are ready to bake, remove from wrap and place in greased loaf pan. Cover and allow to defrost and rise in a warm spot. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with seeds. Bake as usual.

Steps:

• First make your starter. In a large jar (a 1litre kilner jar is good) or plastic container, mix 100g of the flour with 125ml slightly warm water. Whisk the batter until smooth and lump free, whisking will help incorporate some airborne yeast particles to get your starter going. Leave the jar or container lid ajar for an hour or so in a warm place (around 25C is ideal), then seal and set aside for 24 hrs.
• For the next 6 days you will need to ‘feed’ the starter each day. To do this, tip away half the original starter and add an extra 100g of flour and 125ml slightly warm water, whisking well each time, try to do this at roughly the same time everyday. After 3-4 days you should start to see bubbles appearing on the surface, and it will smell yeasty and a little acidic. This is a good indication that the starter is working. The time it takes for fermentation to begin can vary between 1 to 5 days depending on temperature and environment, persevere for up to 6 days, if you still don’t see any signs of life, or the starter smells unpleasant, throw it away and start again. On the 8th day the starter should be quite bubbly and smell much sweeter. It is now ready to bake with.
• Now you can make your first loaf. Tip the flour, 225ml warm water, salt, honey and sourdough starter into a large bowl, or a table top mixer fitted with a dough hook. Stir with a wooden spoon, or on a slow setting in a machine, until combined, adding a little extra flour if it’s too sticky or a little extra warm water if it’s too dry. Tip onto a work surface and knead for about 10 mins until soft and elastic, if using a mixer, turn the speed up a little and mix for 5 mins. The dough is ready when it bounces back when gently pressed with a finger.
• Place the dough in a large, well oiled bowl and cover with an oiled sheet of cling film. Leave in a warm place to rise for 3 hrs. You may not see much movement after this time, but don’t be disheartened, sourdough takes much longer to rise than a conventional yeasted bread.
• Line a medium-sized bowl with a clean tea towel and flour it well, if you have a proving basket you can use this. Tip the dough back onto your work surface and knead briefly to knock out any air bubbles. Shape the dough into a smooth ball and dust it with flour. Place the dough, seam side up, in the bowl or proving basket, cover with a sheet of oiled cling film and leave for 6-8 hrs, until roughly doubled in size.
• Place a large baking tray in the oven, set to 230C/210C fan/gas 8, to heat up. Fill a small roasting tin with a little water and place this in the bottom of the oven to create some steam. Remove the large tray from the oven, sprinkle with flour then carefully tip the risen dough onto the tray.You can slash the top a few times with a sharp knife if you like. Bake for 35-40 mins until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped. Leave to cool on a wire rack for 20 mins before serving.