Real homemade bread is unthinkable without sourdough. After all, only natural sourdough in baked goods preserves all the benefits of cereals, which are partially lost in yeast bread. If you care about the health of your family, then you should always have homemade sourdough in the refrigerator.
This starter is very easy to prepare and is ready in just 5 days. It is universal and suitable for preparing any yeast-free baked goods.
Product set:
- wheat flour;
- rye flour;
- chilled boiled water.
The starter is prepared in stages. First, mix 80 g of water with 60 g of rye flour.
When adding flour, you need to sift it each time.
Place the mixture in a sterile container, cover loosely with a lid, and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
The next day, take half the dough and again add the same proportions of flour and water. Mix everything thoroughly and leave again for a day.
Take half the mass, mix with 60 g of wheat flour and 60 g of water. Stir and leave the mixture to ferment for another 24 hours.
On day 4, measure out half the mass, combine with the same portions of wheat flour and water.
On the fifth day we repeat the operation and the next day we check our starter. It should double in size and have a pleasant fruity aroma.
The starter is ready for baking.
Rye sourdough recipe
Rye flour is much healthier, so rye bread must be present in the human diet. Delicious rye bread can be baked at home if you know the recipe for rye sourdough.
Product set:
- rye flour - 250 g;
- warm water – 250 g.
Mix water and flour in equal proportions (50 g each). Mix everything and transfer it to a jar or plastic tray. Cover with a clean towel and leave in a warm place for a day.
On the second day, we need to feed the starter with a fresh portion of flour and water (50 g in total). And also leave it warm for a day.
On the third day, the starter will begin to emit a more pleasant smell. We will feed her again with the same proportions of water and flour.
The starter is almost ready on the fourth day. It has a sour, bready smell and increases in volume, acquiring a porous structure. To continue fermentation, we feed the natural yeast again with the same amount of flour and water.
The next day, the starter can be used for its intended purpose, and the leftovers are stored in the refrigerator.
Sourdough is a living culture, so it needs to be fed every day.
Made from wheat flour
This leaven is made in advance so that later you can bake homemade yeast-free bread. The baked goods turn out much fluffier and tastier than store-bought ones.
Product set:
- water – 2.5 tbsp.;
- white flour – 2.5 tbsp.
In a clean place (preferably sterile) glass jar pour half a glass of flour, pour half a glass with lukewarm water and mix. Cover the container loosely and leave at room temperature for two days.
When the first bubbles appear on the surface of the mass, add half a glass of warm water and the same amount of flour to the starter. Stir everything thoroughly and let it brew for another day.
For the next three days we feed the crop in the same way, without changing the proportions.
On the eighth day, the starter can be added to the dough.
On hop cones for homemade bread
You can quickly make sourdough for bread from hop cones. They can be collected in August-September and stocked with these raw materials for future use for the whole year. This ingredient can also be purchased at any pharmacy.
Product set:
- water – 1 tbsp.;
- dried hop cones – 0.5 tbsp.;
- granulated sugar - 0.5 tbsp.
Fill the cones hot water, boil until the volume of liquid is reduced by half.
Strain the broth and return the liquid to the pan. Add sugar and flour. Mix everything thoroughly, cover the dishes with a towel and leave to ferment for two days.
On the third day, the starter is ready for making bread.
Rice sourdough recipe
From rice you can make a so-called gluten-free starter, which is used to bake special gluten-free bread.
Product set:
- water – 3/4 cup;
- sugar – 1 tbsp;
- seedless raisins – 1 tsp;
- rice flour – 300 g;
- corn flour – 300 g.
3 days before baking the bread, we begin preparing the rice sourdough. Fill ¾ cup with a little warm water. We also add washed raisins, granulated sugar and a couple of tablespoons of rice flour. Mix the mixture thoroughly and put it in a warm place for a day.
The next day, add another spoonful of whole-ground rice flour, just stir the starter wooden spoon or with a stick. Cover with a napkin and keep warm for a day.
On the third day, pour the starter into an enamel bowl, add 300 g of corn flour, and add a little warm water. Stir and leave until evening. Then all that remains is to knead the dough and bake a delicious diet bread.
Sourdough for bread without yeast
Sourdough for bread without yeast is prepared from two types of flour (wheat and rye) and plain water.
Ingredients:
- whole grain wheat flour – 300 g;
- whole grain rye flour – 300 g;
- warm water.
Take a large glass jar. Pour all the flour into it and mix. Dilute the dry ingredients with 120 ml of warm water. Mix the dough, cover tightly with a lid, and place in a cool place for two days.
Then we throw away half the mass, and add 30 g of wheat and rye flour to the rest of the starter, diluting all 60 g of warm water. Stir, cover and return to the same place.
On the fourth day we repeat the operation and wait another 3 days. During this time, the bacteria are activated, the mass will begin to grow and become covered with bubbles. At this stage the product can be used for kneading dough.
From potatoes
Boiled potatoes also make an excellent natural starter for homemade bread. It is prepared as follows.
Ingredients:
- potatoes - 1 small tuber;
- honey – 1 tbsp. without top;
- wheat flour – 6.5 tbsp;
- warm water.
Wash the potatoes thoroughly, cut them into medium pieces and place them in a small saucepan or saucepan.
Fill everything with water so that the liquid slightly covers the contents, and cook until tender without adding salt.
It is very important not to overcook the potatoes.
We drain the potato broth and puree the potatoes themselves. If necessary, dilute the puree to the consistency of liquid sour cream.
Transfer the mixture into a clean jar, add honey, mix and cover with a cloth to allow oxygen access.
Every other day we feed the culture with two tablespoons of wheat flour and 50 g of warm water. Mix everything until smooth and leave to ferment for a day.
The next day, add 1 more spoon with a heap of flour and add a little warm water. Cover the container and leave until the next morning.
Carefully take 3 tablespoons of starter on top (throw away the rest), add another 2 tablespoons of flour and 1 tablespoon of water.
On the sixth day, add a spoonful of water and flour to the sour starter. And after 4 hours the starter is ready for use.
From raisins
Anyone, even someone very far from cooking, can prepare such a starter. And the result will be delicious and very healthy yeast-free baked goods.
Ingredients:
- raisins – 0.5 tbsp;
- granulated sugar – 1.5 tsp;
- flour – 200 g;
- warm water – 1 tbsp.
We wash the raisins and soak them for half an hour in regular warm water.
For the starter we need an infusion, and the raisins themselves can be eaten or added to any dish. Add flour and sugar to the warm liquid and mix until smooth.
Leave the future starter in a warm place for 48 hours. During this time, it will grow, filled with bubbles.
Already on the third day you can bake bread or pies from this starter.
From the presented list of homemade bread starters, you can choose one or more recipes. But in any case, you will always get aromatic living bread without adding yeast, which will give strength and health to your family and friends. Bon appetit everyone!
Bread sourdough
Bread sourdough is homemade homemade yeast made from rye flour (there are other options, but this is the easiest).
In appearance, sourdough for bread is a creamy paste, similar to sourdough for kvass (both in appearance and in meaning). It takes 4-7 days to prepare (depending on the temperature conditions in the house, the hotter it is, the faster it ferments). During preparation, the starter must be fed daily, replacing half of the starter with a similar amount of fresh rye flour and warm water.
At first, as soon as the flour has fermented, the smell is monstrous, it seems that something has gone bad at home. And then it even seems that EVERYTHING has gone bad.
But, after some time, the smell improves and the sourdough smells like fresh kvass. And by the time it is ready, a sharp sour smell appears. After which the starter can be used for various yeast doughs - for baking gray, gray-white or black bread, pancakes, sour pancakes, donuts. But keep in mind that the dough will be sour and not suitable for every baking.
Store the finished bread starter in a closed jar in the refrigerator, so that pungent odors will no longer bother you.
What is needed for sourdough - composition and proportions
- Rye flour - let there be 0.6-1 kg in stock;
- The water is warm;
- A glass jar with a capacity of 0.8 to 2 liters (that is, larger so that the starter has room to grow).
Initially you need 50 g rye flour to 100 g warm water. Proportion 1:2 based on weight.
If you count in glasses (proportions by volume), then you need 1/3 cup rye flour and 2/5 cup warm water. However, you can simplify the calculations and just use 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water. The flour will sour, no doubt about it.
Rye flour, water - the composition of the sourdough. You will also need a jar with a leaky lid.
How to make sourdough
1. First day
- Combine rye flour and warm water in a jar (temperature 36-40 degrees, medium warm, not hot). Mix well.
- Cover with a lid with holes or tighten with a cotton cloth or film (in which you make holes). That is, there must be access to air, from which the bacteria necessary for ripening will enter the starter.
- Leave in a warm, windless place for a day (or 1.5 days). During this period, you need to stir the future starter a couple of times (it is better to ferment in the light, and not in a dark place).
2. Subsequent days (until ready)
Every day you need to feed (renew) the starter with a fresh portion of flour and warm water. To do this:
- Remove half of the starter (discard). Instead, add fresh flour and add warm water (take half of the original amount of flour and water. For example: 25 + 50 g or 1/4 cup + 1/4 cup).
- Stir twice during the next day of ripening.
The starter will grow (2 times). As soon as its smell becomes more pleasant and sour, it is ready. After this, the starter can be used to prepare dough.
What you need for sourdough bread 
Fill the flour with warm water 
Mix water and flour 
The lid must have holes to allow air to flow in. 
The starter is fermenting 
Sourdough lives and grows
Ready sourdough for bread
Storing sourdough in a jar
The finished starter can be transferred to a jar (so that it takes up no more than half the jar, because it will ferment and grow in the refrigerator, only more slowly). Cover with a lid (a regular one, without holes) and place in the refrigerator.
The starter needs to be fed 1-2 times a week. If you are cooking from cold sourdough, you need to remove it from the refrigerator in advance (5-7 hours before or overnight if you will be cooking during the day). And either separate the required portion and revive it, or revive the entire starter, and then take the desired part, storing the rest in the refrigerator. How to revive:
- When separating the amount required for the recipe: combine with 1/3 cup of warm water and 3 tablespoons of rye flour (you can add more sugar or honey), leave in a warm place to revive (5-7 hours or longer). And feed the rest of the starter in the jar: add 1-2 tablespoons of flour and the same number of tablespoons of water and put it in the cold again.
- When reviving the entire starter: combine the entire starter with 3-4 tablespoons of rye flour and 1/3 or half a glass of warm water. And let the starter warm up and grow (5-7 hours, overnight or even the whole day). And then you need to separate the amount of starter you need, and put the rest back in the refrigerator.
Bread sourdough
Storing dry starter
The starter can be dried. To do this, you need to take tracing paper or baking paper. Spread a thin layer of sourdough on it (using a knife or flat spatula). And let it dry. As it dries, break off pieces and put in a jar. Jars of dried starter are stored either in the refrigerator or at room temperature (with a tightly closed lid).
You will get homemade dry yeast, which, to revive, must be diluted with flour or sugar in warm water (as usual, with purchased yeast).
Bread starter consumption for dough
For 500-650 g of flour (3-4 cups) for pancakes 3-4 tablespoons of sourdough is required. The pancakes turn out great! Without the first pancake being lumpy, they bake right away, pleasantly sour, suitable for stuffing. Yes, and beautiful. Recipe .
For homemade bread, from 4 cups of flour (wheat, wheat + rye, wheat + rye + oatmeal, etc.), take, on average, 1 cup of sourdough (or a little more, you can add another 1/4 cup to this glass to get looser bread).
Variant of sourdough bread composition
- Warm water – 300 g (1 glass + 2 tablespoons);
- Sourdough – 1 glass;
- Rye flour – 100 g (approximately 2/3 cup);
- Wheat flour (regular) – 375 g (2 cups + 1/3 cup) + more for sprinkling the table and baking dish (have extra);
- Salt – 1 teaspoon;
- Sugar – 1 tablespoon;
- Odorless vegetable oil – 30 g (1.5 tablespoons);
- Possible additives: sunflower seeds, walnuts or other nuts, flax seeds - 2 tablespoons of each (flax can be replaced with 1 tablespoon of cumin).
Butter, shortening or margarine for greasing the baking dish.
Making sourdough bread
- Combine all ingredients. Knead the dough. It will be quite viscous. Start kneading first in the pan or bowl in which you kneaded the dough. And then, when it becomes more convenient to work with (less liquid), transfer it to a table sprinkled with flour. Kneading such bread dough takes a long time, about 30 minutes. Baking homemade bread and preparing sourdough is generally not a quick process.
- Grease the baking dish butter(fat or margarine). Sprinkle flour on top. Place the dough into the mold. Smooth the top part with a wet hand. Cover with a towel and leave to rise (proof) for 3 hours (or longer, if the dough has not risen well, wait until it has at least doubled in size. You can even leave it overnight and bake in the morning).
- Heat the oven to 220 degrees C. Place a cast iron frying pan, mold or baking sheet with water below. Place the baking sheet with bread in the hot oven. Bake, gradually lowering the temperature.
Temperature and baking time for bread
- At 220 degrees C – 10 minutes.
- At 200 degrees C – 20 minutes;
- At 180 degrees – until done.
The readiness of homemade bread is determined in the same way as for a sponge cake - with a wooden stick. If the dough comes out dry, then it's ready. Total time - 40-50 minutes (approximately, focus on the sign of readiness - a dry stick).
- Wrap the finished bread in a clean, damp towel. Place in a plastic bag. Close and keep in the bag for 5-10 minutes (after this the crust will be easy to cut without breaking). Then take it out and wrap the bread in a dry towel, in which you leave it until it cools completely. Some housewives wait another day (it becomes tastier), and only after that they serve the bread to the table.
Another recipe for proportions for homemade bread
- Bread sourdough - 1 cup (or 1 + 1/4 cups - this bread will be more loose); Share with friends!
Shared
Bread can be baked not only with yeast, because it is only one of many possible starters. The traditional version is formed by fermenting flour diluted with water. Yeast-free sourdough for bread is formed from the activity of beneficial bacteria (acetic acid and lactic acid), which raise the dough in baked goods. The quality of flour products and their taste directly depend on its properties.
Sourdough for bread against factory yeast
The confrontation began with the increase in the number of people preferring natural products. In their opinion, sourdough for bread is better than yeast, since yeast disrupts the bacterial composition flour product. And this creates conditions for the development of mold and, most importantly, affects the health of the person who eats these baked goods.
Sourdough for bread - how to make it at home?
There are a lot of ways. You will need rye flour. And even if you want to bake wheat bread. From rye sourdough you can later make wheat sourdough. For the first portion you will need about five days. But subsequently the time spent on preparing bread will be much less. On the first day, mix one hundred grams of water with the same amount of flour. The consistency should be like thick sour cream. The water should be warm. Place this mixture in a large bowl - as it should increase greatly in size.
After a day, you need to do what is called “feeding the starter” - first mix the mixture, and then add the same amount of flour and water. The smell of this substance at this stage is not very pleasant - it smells strongly of acid. But that's okay. After another day, you need to repeat the same steps that were done on the second day. On the fourth, you need to fertilize the third and last time. And put it in a warm place again. On the fifth day, the starter can be considered ready. You can already bake bread on it.
Some nuances
The first batch may not turn out very well, because the starter is new. You can add just a little yeast to it to be sure. It is only very important to divide the starter into two parts - one for baking and one (the so-called “starter”) for storage. Yeast can only be added to the part intended for bread. The one that is to be stored must be clean. You cannot add anything to it - any amount of yeast, salt or anything else will irreparably disrupt the bacterial culture. Bread starter, after it is prepared, is stored in a cold place. Pieces are separated from it and used for dough. Traditionally, it was stored in the same container in which the dough was kneaded, but you can find any container for it at your discretion that will be convenient to store in the refrigerator.
Hop starter
Hop sourdough for bread is prepared in a similar way. It can also be made with rye and wheat flour. You will need a glass of dry hop cones. You need to make a decoction from it, and add flour to this decoction. Then the cooking sequence is the same as when making sourdough using flour.
What is sourdough and where does the sour taste in sourdough bread come from?!
First, let me briefly tell you what sourdough is. Sourdough is the dough left over from the previous preparation of bread. Many of those who try to make homemade sourdough bread are dissatisfied with the fact that the bread turns out to be more sour than that prepared with yeast. Often, excess sour taste appears due to improper preparation of the starter.
I would also like to note that we empirically came to the conclusion that bread is different types Sourdoughs differ from each other in the presence of sour taste, so bread with hop sourdough is less sour than, say, rye. So experiment :)
However, it is normal for sourdough bread to have a slightly sour taste. And now I will explain to you why: this question can be answered if the leaven is examined under a microscope. It turns out that, in addition to yeast cells (yeast), the leaven contains other microorganisms (bacteria), which enter the leaven from the air, as well as with flour. These microorganisms in the leaven, and then in the dough, decompose some of the nutrients in the flour and form various acids, and therefore they are called acid-forming bacteria. In addition to yeast, good sourdough contains lactic acid bacteria, which form lactic acid from grape sugar (glucose). Lactic acid, being a poison for many microorganisms, has a beneficial effect on yeast. Yeast is protected by lactic acid bacteria from other unwanted microorganisms that enter the dough. This acid also activates yeast activity. The quality of the starter is determined by the ratio of the various microorganisms present in it. Yeast determines the lifting force and fermentability of the sourdough, and bacteria determine the acidity.
The quality of rye bread, especially in terms of taste, depends on the quality of the sourdough starter. Low-quality sourdough - with a high content of acids and a small number of yeast cells, will produce bread with a poor taste and low porosity. In order to prepare a good starter, you need to create appropriate temperature conditions (26-27° C) during its fermentation and monitor its condition.
Now we will share with you our proven recipes for the most successful starters:
Sourdough for bread without yeast based on SPROUTED GRAINS:
So, first you need sourdough. We germinate the wheat grains for 2 days (it all depends on the temperature) until white tails appear (1-2 cm). Grind the grains (you can just crush them). Add a handful of flour, sugar and water (all by eye), mix until the consistency of sour cream. We put the future starter in a warm place and wait for it to sour. The starter should rise a little due to fermentation (twice).
Place about a tablespoon or more in a glass bowl, without covering tightly with a lid, put it in a cool place (refrigerator) - this is a starter for next time, which can be maintained constantly. It will need to be periodically revived with a portion of sugar, flour and water.
You will find a recipe for bread with sprouted grain sourdough.
Sourdough for bread without yeast from HOPS (homemade yeast):
From dry hops.
Pour hot water (1:2) over the hops and boil in a saucepan. If the hops float, they are drowned in water with a spoon. When the water has evaporated so much that the broth remains half the original amount, it is decanted. Dissolve sugar or honey in the cooled, warm broth (1 tablespoon per 1 cup of broth), mix with flour (0.5 cups of flour per 1 cup of broth). Then the yeast is placed in a warm place for two days to ferment. The finished yeast is bottled, sealed and stored in a cool place. To prepare 2-3 kg of bread you need 0.5 cups of yeast.
From fresh hops.
This is our favorite sourdough, the recipe for which we spied on from our friend :)
— You need to collect or buy 50 grams of hop cones at the pharmacy. There are different types of hops, the more bitter they are, the better. The bitterness of the hop determines how well it will ferment.
— Next, you need to add 1.5 liters of water to the hops and boil for 30 minutes.
More is possible, but not less. Let cool. Strain into the container where you will prepare the starter. Be sure to make it metal or heat-resistant glass, as it will need to be heated.
— Add wheat flour, whole grain flour and bran in a ratio of 30/30/30%. Stir until the pancake batter becomes thick. And put in the stove or oven to saccharify at a temperature of 65º C for 3 hours.
— After the future starter has cooled, add 100 grams of honey or sugar, mix and place in a warm place. Sugar will provide food for the yeast and after a while the starter will begin to foam (photo 1) and acquire an unpleasant, bitter-sour smell.
— The starter must be stirred every 4-6 hours with a whisk, enriching it with oxygen. It should stand like this for 72 hours in a very warm place. The optimal temperature for it is +30 °C.
— After 72 hours, the leaven will take on the same appearance as in photo 2. And it will become like a dough dough. It will still smell unpleasantly bitter and sour. If you taste it, it will be bitter. This is not the end yet :) You need to add a glass of warm water, add 100 grams of sugar or honey, flour and bran equally and mix. And let it stand for another day. Don't forget to stir it every 4 hours! 
— The starter will bubble strongly (photo 3) and gradually begin to acquire a pleasant smell. This means that lactic acid bacteria have developed in it.
- But in order to make the leaven as strong as possible, so that our bread will be fluffy in the future, we give the leaven another meal - a glass of warm water, 100 grams of sugar or honey, flour and bran again in equal parts. Beat with a whisk and leave until strong bubbles form, as in photo 4. At this time, the sourdough acquires a very pleasant smell, and if you taste it, it is not bitter. And it is at this moment that it is at its strongest.
- That's it, the sourdough is ready. Then you can either place it in a jar and in the refrigerator and make a dough based on it. Or you can pour it onto flat dishes and dry in a warm place until brittle. Break up and store in a dry place. This way it takes up less space and can be activated at any time.
You will find a recipe for bread with hop sourdough.
Homemade yeast:
Here are some more recipes for making homemade yeast.
Homemade raisin yeast.
Take 100-200 grams of raisins, wash with warm water, place in a bottle with a wide neck, fill with warm water, add a little sugar, tie 4 layers of gauze on top and place in a warm place. On the 4-5th day, fermentation will begin, and you can put the dough.
Homemade malt yeast.
Malt is bread grain sprouted in heat and moisture, dried and coarsely ground. 1 cup of flour and 0.5 cups of sugar are diluted in 5 cups of water, 3 cups of malt are added and boiled for about 1 hour. Cool, pour the still warm solution into bottles, cover loosely with corks and place in a warm place for a day, and then in the cold. The consumption of this yeast for making bread is the same as yeast from dry hops.
Homemade yeast from wild berries.
You know, that smoky coating on berries like blueberries, blueberries, plums... This is wild yeast! It is found on all wild berries!!! Only in gardens, if the berries were chemically fertilized. fertilizer, it is better not to use them.
Dry such berries or plum skins. You can start bread by mixing flour with water and adding wild berries. The taste and quality of the bread will be different, but still natural and healthy.
Sourdough for bread without yeast on KEFIR:
A little sugar is added to the sour milk (after the peak of sourness, but not yet kefir) (for fermentation), mixed with rye flour until the consistency of sour cream. Leave it for a day or two. It’s important to seize the moment here, because... If you wait, mold will appear and you will have to do everything again. As soon as the first bubbles, holes, etc. appear, remove everything and put it in the refrigerator, the starter is ready.
You will find a recipe for rye bread with kefir sourdough.
Sour dough with kefir is made in three steps:
1. 100g rye flour, 100 ml water, 1 tbsp. spoon of kefir. Mix everything, transfer to a tall glass (ceramic, porcelain) form, cover and leave to stand at room temperature for 24 hours.
2. Mix well and leave again for 24 hours.
3. Add 300g of rye flour, 200 ml of water, mix and leave again for 24 hours.
After all this, the dough is ready. Can be stored for 1 month in a covered jar in the refrigerator.
You will find a recipe for rye-wheat bread with potatoes made from sour dough with kefir.
RYE sourdough for bread without yeast.
I think many people will be interested in the fact that in the Soviet Union, rye bread was prepared exclusively with sourdough.
So, if you prepare the starter from the very beginning, it will take two days. And the next time, after pinching off a piece of the finished dough, the bread is baked throughout the day.
Now I’ll tell you how to prepare sourdough from the very beginning. If one of your friends or acquaintances is already preparing bread with this type of sourdough, it’s better to take a piece of dough from them and start immediately by kneading the dough.
If this is not possible, then here is the recipe for rye sourdough:
In the evening, dissolve 1 tsp in a glass of water. honey, add rye flour to the consistency of sour cream, put in a warm place. In the morning, add another glass of water and the same amount of flour and return to a warm place. By evening, the starter will be ready and you can start kneading the dough.
You will find a recipe for sourdough rye bread.
Storing bread starter.
When you pinch off a piece of dough during kneading, you need to decide how to save this piece (sourdough) until next time. If you plan to use the starter for 2-3 weeks, then just put it in a jar and cover it with a cloth (the principle is not to block access to air, but also not to leave it open). Place the jar in a cool place: in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf or in the basement. The starter is suitable until mold has appeared on it, although if mold has just appeared, you can cut off more of it and immediately make dough from the remaining piece.
In case you have no idea when the next time will come, I advise you to turn a piece of dough into a dry cake or powder. To do this, add as much rye flour to it as the dough can take. Roll out thin flat cakes or crumble the dough and dry it all in a warm oven, or somewhere dry. When all the moisture has evaporated, the dry starter is ready; now it can be stored for as long as you like. The only thing is that dry sourdough takes a little longer to “revive”, but still, it’s faster than preparing it again.
If you set aside liquid sourdough for your next bread, keep in mind that it will not last long. Due to the fact that there is a lot of water in it, it becomes moldy faster. In this case, you either add rye flour to it (turning it into a dense piece of dough) or use it within 7-10 days. If you want to store liquid sourdough for a long time, then you need to periodically “feed” it: To do this, add a little water and rye flour to it and wait until it bubbles, then put it back in a cool place. And so on every 10-12 days until you use it for its intended purpose.
If you want to bake buns or pies with wheat flour, you can also use rye sourdough.
To do this, starting from the stage of preparing the dough, add only wheat flour. The dough will cook faster because... wheat flour is lighter. When kneading, you can add any other ingredients: oil, honey, etc.
Having mastered one of the recipes for bread with natural sourdough, you can easily prepare homemade bread with any other sourdough.
The birth of sourdough
The starter is prepared once, and then only used and replenished. It is a living dough that can lie dormant in the refrigerator, or can actively rise if you feed it. Sourdough biomass consists of natural microorganisms (fungi, bacteria, etc.) that live on rye grains.
The point is to revive, multiply and grow these microorganisms so that they self-organize into a stable symbiotic colony. Life itself in nature is built on the principle of symbiotic colonies of micro- or macroorganisms (for example, soil, ocean, intestinal microflora). Organisms in symbiosis support and complement each other.
Sourdough is prepared simply from flour and water. Ratio: 2 parts flour and 3 parts water (exactly one and a half times more water). You will need a room thermometer, digital kitchen scales, a glass saucepan or jar with a capacity of 1.5 liters, and a wooden spatula. This will take four days, and by the fifth you can start baking bread.
Sourdough should be prepared exclusively and only on the basis of rye flour, because rye sourdough, in comparison with wheat and other sourdough, is the most stable, healthy and strong. Those microorganisms that live on rye grains are quite sufficient to organize a well-coordinated symbiotic colony.
Washing the grain does not have a significant effect on microorganisms, so you don’t have to worry about it. But high-temperature drying kills most of the necessary microorganisms, so sprouted grains for sourdough should be dried at a temperature no higher than 41 °C. Obviously, industrially produced flour is not suitable for creating high-quality sourdough.
As already mentioned, the starter is prepared once, then it can be used continuously, saving part of the batch for the next baking.
Cooking technology:
1. Load the measured weight of grain into the mill, grind the flour directly into the pan, rice. 13. The grinding degree should be set to the finest fraction.
2. Measure out the required amount of warm water on a scale, at a temperature no higher than 36–37 °C. The water must be clean, filtered, not chlorinated. You can take spring water, boiled or distilled, infused with shungite and flint.
3. Pour water into the pan with flour and stir with a wooden spatula so that the flour is evenly combined with water. You will get a dough with the consistency of thick sour cream, rice. 14.
4. Cover the pan (or jar) with a lid, not airtight, cover it with a cotton napkin from light, and place it in a secluded place, away from drafts and electrical appliances. Optimal temperature feeding the starter – about 24–26 °C, not higher. Find such a place in the kitchen using a thermometer. Closer to the ceiling - warmer.
This procedure will need to be repeated four days in the morning and evening:
Day 1. Morning 40 g flour, 60 g water. Evening 40 g flour, 60 g water.
Day 2. Morning 40 g flour, 60 g water. Evening 40 g flour, 60 g water.
Day 3. Morning 40 g flour, 60 g water. Evening 40 g flour, 60 g water.
Day 4. Morning 40 g flour, 60 g water. Evening 40 g flour, 60 g water.
Day 5. In the morning we already have 800 g of starter. 500 g will be used for the first bread. We put the rest in the refrigerator until the next baking, rice. 15.
The starter should have a pleasant smell of natural kvass. If the leaven has a bad smell, it means that you violated the technology in some way or used dirty dishes. If everything is done correctly, but the smell is still nauseating or chemical, then perhaps the environment in the room where the starter is made is not environmentally friendly. Or the raw material - grain - was found to be of poor quality or containing some foreign impurities. In this case, you should find grain from another manufacturer and trader.
Some recipe writers write that the smell of burp or something else in the sourdough starter is “normal.” But this is not normal. The starter should not have any “disgusting smell”. If on the fifth day the starter smells of alcohol, acetone, vinegar, or even moldy, you can throw it away and start over. Try not to violate the technology, and you will succeed.
At the same time, excessive perfectionism is not required here. The behavior of the starter is quite stable, so all parameters can be slightly varied. For example, it is desirable to maintain the temperature, but not necessarily too pedantic. Now several practical advice.
It is better to choose electronic scales that have a reset function. The principle is as follows: a container (container) is placed on the scales, a button is pressed, the scale readings are reset to zero, then the product is loaded into the container, and the net weight is thus displayed on the display. It's convenient.
To store that part of the starter that goes into the next baking, you need to choose a container - made of glass, ceramics or food-grade plastic. The lid should not be airtight, but not too open, so that the starter does not absorb odors from the refrigerator. If the lid is plastic and closes tightly, you can make several holes in it with a needle. Dishes for fermentation should not be washed with household chemicals. Everything is easily washed off with warm water.
The starter can be stored in the refrigerator, on the top shelf, where the temperature is not the lowest. Long breaks in baking bread are undesirable. The starter must be renewed regularly. Personally, I tried leaving it for half a month, and it came back to life safely. Perhaps the starter can survive for three weeks, but it is better not to leave it longer than this, otherwise you will have to start it again. After all, sourdough is a living colony of microorganisms, and you need to treat it like a living entity. If you are going away for a long time, assign someone to look after and feed you at least once a week.
Flour should always be ground just before use. There is no need to store it - it is a perishable product. Vitamins and nutrients oxidize quickly when exposed to air. This is why industrially produced flour cannot be considered natural product- Manufacturers will do any tricks just to increase the sales period.
The grinding degree is set to the finest fraction. This is done because in a home electric mill it is still impossible to achieve the same degree as is achieved in industrial conditions. But this is not required. The quality of bread, what REAL bread should be, is determined by completely different parameters:
1. Sprouted grain.
2. Freshly ground flour.
3. Natural, natural leaven.
4. The presence of shell and germ in flour.
5. Lack of chemical and synthetic additives.
Flour should not be white like starch, even if it is wheat. It is impossible to describe what it should be like. When you first make your own flour, smell it, taste it, feel it, you will understand what REAL flour should be like.
Bread should also not be white and fluffy. It must be REAL, not synthetic. Real bread is also impossible to describe in words. When you try it, everything will become clear to you. It has both a special and noble smell.
One question remains open: if you don’t yet have a mill or a dehydrator, but you want to bake your own bread now, what should you do? You can try your luck by looking in local stores or on the Internet for whole grain rye flour or at least first grade flour. If you are lucky and come across a product from a conscientious and honest, and, importantly, sane manufacturer, then both the sourdough and the real bread (well, or almost) can be obtained.
In any case, it is better to get everything you need to get rid of system manufacturers and traders who care only about profit, but not your health, as well as from a system that is directly interested in your UNHEALTH.
100% Rye bread
To achieve the best result with the least amount of time and effort, it is advisable to use a bread maker. Of course, you can get by regular oven, but it’s easier with a bread machine. This is the case when the system's products are used to bypass the system itself.
The bread maker works simply: all the ingredients are loaded into it, a baking program (recipe) is selected, a button is pressed, and then it does everything itself - kneads the dough, heats it so that it rises, and then bakes.
All programs are hardwired and designed exclusively for yeast. Don’t be fooled if you see a bread machine with such “natural” programs as “yeast-free”, “gluten-free”, “whole grain”. At best, this means that the recipe does not use yeast, but a chemical leavening agent. The system is hypocritical.
For our purposes, we will need only two programs: “ Yeast dough" and "Baking". In fact, we will deceive the system, we will not use yeast, and we will ignore the firmware programs. The main thing is that in the “Yeast dough” mode, the bread machine must be able to knead the dough and warm it up a little so that it fits. You also need a timer to set the time in the “Baking” mode.
It is not necessary to choose a multifunctional and expensive bread maker. The two named programs are all that is needed for our real bread. The presence of additional options and programs, such as a dispenser, delay start, pie, jam, cupcake - at your discretion, if you need it.
A bread machine should be chosen with a power of at least 800 W, otherwise it will not cope with heavy rye dough. The working container (bucket) should have two mixers and be shaped to form a “brick”. The weight of the baked bread is at least 1 kg. For convenience, it wouldn’t hurt to have a window so you can observe the process.
Another important point: the design of the bread machine should allow you to open the lid during operation. If the display and buttons are located on the body and not on the lid, then, most likely, this is possible.
Recipe for 100% rye bread:
500 g rye sourdough
400 g rye flour
200 g water
3 tbsp. flax seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
14 g salt
The process begins with awakening the starter left in the refrigerator. During the very first baking, our starter is already ready, so we skip the first 7 points.
Cooking technology:
1.
Remove the starter from the refrigerator and place it in a warm place for an hour until it wakes up. The optimal temperature for sourdough is 24–26 °C.
2.
After an hour, measure out 220 g of rye, load it into the mill and grind the flour into the same container in which the starter was born, for example, a saucepan. Obviously, whatever the weight of the grain, the same weight will be the flour.
3.
Measure out 330 g of warm water, temperature 36–37 °C, and pour into a saucepan with flour. For example, put a glass on a digital scale, reset the readings, pour cold water, and then add a little hot water from the kettle, so that it turns out to be exactly 330.
4.
Stir with a wooden spatula until the flour is evenly combined with the water. The ratio of water and flour for sourdough is 3/2. For the test the ratio is different. Why are these numbers 330/220? Because we need to get 500 g of starter, and at the same time take into account that the dough partially remains on the dishes, so we need to take it with a reserve so that the amount of starter does not decrease each time, but rather increases. It might come in handy for pancakes.
5.
Load the awakened starter into the pan and stir again with a spatula, now not so diligently so as not to particularly disturb the living entity - the colony of microorganisms.
6. Cover the pan with a lid, not airtight, cover it with a cotton napkin from light and place it in a secluded place, away from drafts and electrical appliances, as was done before. If you are going to bake bread in the morning, this procedure should be done in the evening. Conversely, if the bread is baked in the evening, the leaven is introduced in the morning.
7.
The point of this whole procedure is that we take part of the leaven left over from last time, awaken it, feed it, as a result of which the colony of microorganisms grows, develops vigorous activity (good party!), the leaven rises, then falls, bubbles slightly, and after It takes 10–12 hours to reach the desired condition, when she is moderately hungry and active, fig. 16.
8
. An hour before preparing the bread, soak three tablespoons of flax seeds in water. room temperature or you can warm it, rice. 17. Flax seeds quickly swell and become softer. Soaking is also required because at this time the seeds wake up and neutralize their “preservatives” - inhibitors.
9
. After an hour (or maybe half an hour), put the flax in a sieve to drain the water, rice. 18.
10
. Measure out 400 g of rye, load it into the mill and grind it into a large food-grade plastic container with a tight lid. Measure out 14 g of salt (fine, preferably sea salt) and a teaspoon of cumin seeds, add them to the flour and rice. 19, close the container with a lid and swirl slightly to mix everything.
11
. Measure out 200 g of warm water, preferably around 40 °C. Remove the mold (bucket) from the bread machine, pour water into it, lay out 500 g of sourdough and flax, rice. 20. The principle is this: first, liquid ingredients are loaded into the mold, then thick, then dry. To conveniently measure exactly 500, you can place the mold on the scale, reset the readings to zero and unload the starter directly from the pan to the desired weight.
12
. Unload the rest of the starter from the pan into a specially designated container and put it in the refrigerator. This will be the basis for the next baking. It is better to maintain the amount of this reserve at about 200–300 g. When the excess accumulates, you can use it for other purposes, for example, for kvass or pancakes.
13.
Pour flour from container into pan, rice. 21. The preparatory stage is over. Now it's up to the bread maker.
14
. Insert the pan into the bread machine. Start the “Yeast Dough” program. First there is a batch, about 25 minutes, with possible stops. During this period, the lid can be opened. You will see that rye dough, unlike wheat dough, is not mixed, but pounded in place, since rye dough does not have the binding gluten fibers that are found in wheat and rice. 22. Therefore, you need to help from time to time with a wooden spatula, directing the dough from the walls to the middle. It is not necessary to do this all the time - mainly at the beginning and end of the batch.
15
. When the kneading is completed, the stove switches to low heating mode. The lid should be closed and the stove should be covered with something on top for insulation, for example a folded terry towel. The temperature inside should be around 37°C. You can check this by placing a thermometer on the dough to also make sure that your oven is actually heating. (If there is no heating, you will have to remove the mold and place it in a warm place, for example, above the back wall of the refrigerator or above the radiator.) This will continue for about an hour.
16.
When the program is finished, the bread maker beeps. You will need this signal for counting next period. Yeast dough rises within an hour. Sourdough dough takes twice as long. This is why standard sourdough programs are not suitable. So we don’t remove the towel from the stove, we don’t do anything, we wait another hour or an hour and a half.
17
. So, it took 2–2.5 hours to rise after kneading. The dough should almost double in size, fig. 23. Now we launch the “Baking” program, having previously set the “Medium crust” option (if available), as well as the time on the timer. Baking time depends on the weight of the loaf and should be indicated in the instructions. The weight according to our recipe is a little more than a kilogram. The average baking time for this weight can be about 1 hour 10 minutes.
18.
Finally, the oven beeps, the bread is ready. You can pull out the mold, but not with your bare hands, but with oven mitts. Let it cool for about 10 minutes (no more, otherwise the bread will sweat), lay a linen or cotton towel on the table and shake the bread out of the pan, rice. 24.
19
. Wrap the bread in a towel and place it upside down on a wire rack or wicker rack to allow the bottom to breathe and not sweat. So you need to let the bread cool.
It may seem that all this is very difficult and long, but this is only the beginning. When you master the technology in practice, you will be convinced that your eyes are afraid, but your hands are doing, and that everything is actually elementary, and your actual participation only takes a few minutes.
The whole process comes down to weighing, pouring and transferring raw materials from one container to another. Moreover, by performing all these manipulations, especially with living substance, you tune in to the frequency of vibrations of living Nature. At this moment, your “usb ports” are freed up - you disconnect from the matrix, which means you begin to think freely and SEE the real state of things.
Other options
You will be convinced that even the very first bread made using this technology has an exquisite taste. And the older the starter, the tastier the bread will be. In some countries, in some bakeries, where they know how to value and preserve traditions, there are sourdough starters that are several hundred years old. But you won’t be able to buy bread like the one you get at home, because even bakeries that follow old recipes don’t use sprouted grains. This is the most ancient and long-forgotten technology.
Of course, this same technology can be implemented in industrial settings. There are no special difficulties here. But the general race for profit zombifies people - they cease to understand and see what they are doing and why. Do you think a technologist at a bakery is aware of what surrogate ingredients he is dealing with and what kind of surrogate product is obtained as a result? Nothing happened. His consciousness once and for all stuck at one point: “this is how it should be.” How exactly it should be done is determined not by his consciousness, but by the system, the matrix.
The Matrix distributes programs to both bread makers and people – it is equivalent. Both producers of surrogates and their consumers cease to understand and see what they are eating and where they are going. More precisely, they do not go, but they are led. In the system - you become a cyborg - you eat synthetics, you eat synthetics - you become a cyborg. However, maybe some people are quite happy with this. Well, God bless you.
So, you have become acquainted with the unique technology of pure rye bread. Why should you bake rye bread? Because it is healthier, easier, more pleasant for the body in every way. However, wheat-rye bread is also very good if the wheat is sprouted. Here is his recipe.
Wheat-rye bread
500 g rye sourdough
400 g wheat flour
150 g water
3 tbsp. flax seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
14 g salt
As you can see, less water is taken here because wheat is less hygroscopic. Rye absorbs more water. Everything else is done in the same way. The only pleasant feature is that the bread machine handles wheat-rye dough itself; there is practically no need to help with a spatula (except a little).
This feature is also one of the reasons why 100% rye bread is not produced industrially. (Other reasons are that wheat bread is white, soft, airy, but these are dubious advantages.) Rye dough is more difficult to knead. Although, of course, this problem is not a problem, everything is being solved. But we don’t care about this issue, especially since we have hands and a few minutes of free time.
I don’t know which way you like best, but personally, I find it more convenient to knead the rye dough by hand, without the help of a bread machine. To some extent, doing this yourself is easier and more convenient than using a stirrer. Try the manual method. Here are the amendments to the technology (see pp. 288–292), starting with paragraph 9:
9.
Remove the pan from the bread maker. Start the “Yeast Dough” program. The stove will “knead the dough” as much as it should according to the program, but in vain. During this time, you can knead the dough by hand.
10.
Place the flax in a sieve and then prepare all the other ingredients.
11.
Pour flour mixed with cumin and salt from the container into an enamel bowl. Make a depression (crater) in the flour. Unload flax, leaven and water there. (Like making a stove, only in reverse.)
12.
Mix all ingredients until smooth, rice. 26. It is convenient to do this with a wooden spatula, making turning movements from the edge to the middle and at the same time turning the bowl with the other hand. Rye dough, unlike wheat dough, does not require complex manipulations (kneading, resting, kneading again, proofing, etc.). Rye protein is water soluble, so you just need to mix the dough well for 5-7 minutes.
13.
Place the dough in the mold, first removing the mixer blades from it, fig. 27. It is not necessary to level the dough too much; it will spread and settle on its own.
14.
As soon as the bread maker finishes stirring and starts heating, carefully insert the pan into it, using oven mitts to further protect against any stray voltage that may pass through the heating elements, especially if the network is not grounded. Next - everything is the same, starting from point 15.
Instead of flax, you can try soaking sunflower or pumpkin seeds or pistachios in the same way. Only the soaking time for them is several hours. Instead of cumin, you can put coriander seeds, perhaps you will like this taste better. Or don’t use seasoning at all, although it’s more interesting, of course.
Instead of wheat, you can just as well use spelt (spelt). The advantage of spelled is that it is usually grown without the use of chemicals, and is superior to wheat in protein content. Everything else is a matter of taste.
Finally, let's consider another option - baking in the oven. To do this, you will need one or two non-stick pans and a frying pan that can be placed in the oven (no plastic parts).
Oven technology:
1. Knead the dough by hand as described above.
2. Place in molds, fig. 28. It is better to bake rye dough in molds, because it spreads on the baking sheet.
3. Place the molds in the warmest place in the kitchen and cover with a linen or cotton towel. Proofing time is 2–3 hours. The dough should almost double in size, fig. 29.
4. Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 240°C. At the same time, pour water into the frying pan, bring to a boil over heat, and place on the oven floor. This is required to prevent the bread from drying out.
5. When the oven has warmed up, place the pans with dough on the top shelf.
6. After 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 200 °C. Bake for another 35 minutes. Or another 40–50 minutes if all the bread is in one pan. Time can be controlled using a timer.
7. Bread is ready, rice. 30.
Some people may prefer an oven rather than a bread machine, it's a matter of taste. Both options have their own merits. The advantage of a bread machine is that it itself maintains the required temperature when proofing dough and baking.
Finally, some practical tips:
– You can eat hot bread, but it’s better to let it ripen. The bread continues to ripen for several hours, adding quality and richness of flavor.
– Bread is better preserved in a food-grade plastic bag, such as polyethylene. Only cooled bread can be placed in the bag.
– If the top of the bread has sagged, then you should slightly reduce the amount of water in the recipe. The proportion of water can depend significantly on the moisture content of the grain and other ingredients, such as soaked seeds.
– Do not greatly underestimate the proportion of water in the dough. Rye bread should be “damp” in consistency; this does not spoil it at all. Dry bread is less tasty.
– If the dough does not have time to rise sufficiently, you should increase the proofing time by half an hour to an hour. Or it indicates that the proofing temperature is low. Or the starter is weak for some reason. Read the technology carefully.
– It makes no sense to allocate more than three hours for proofing. The dough may first rise and then fall. You should not wait until the critical point when it begins to subside. During baking, the bread will also sag a little, this is normal.
– A new bread machine can produce bad smell. Then this smell will go away.
– Basic safety rules. It is advisable not to touch the metal parts of the bread machine with bare hands or metal objects. Use a wooden spatula and oven mitts or oven mitts. Your feet should have slippers with rubber soles. There is nothing special to be afraid of, but low voltage can sometimes break through, especially if there is no grounding in the network.
– If the dough is kneaded in a bread machine, you will have to put up with such an inconvenience as the presence of blades from the mixer in the bread. You need to take them out immediately or cut the bread carefully.
– You shouldn’t cook bread in a bad mood. Unkind emotions have a negative impact on the quality of bread.
– Real bread is an independent and self-sufficient food. But in small quantities it is compatible with many dishes. Goes well with vegetables and herbs. A special delicacy is a crust of bread, spread with a dessert spoon of cedar or pumpkin oil, with garlic and cayenne pepper to taste.
* * *
Now you know everything you need to know. It remains to add that real bread in your home is not just an everyday dish - it is a philosophy, a lifestyle, freedom. Freedom from the conditions and framework that the system imposes on you. And what is also obvious is your health and clear consciousness. A healthy body will make your life complete, and an unclouded mind will allow you to create your own world. Real homemade bread is your green oasis in a technogenic environment. Your new hope. Your new Arkaim. But not the only one and not the last. It happens that the past lies ahead.
