Preserving Sourdough

I have been doing a lot of research on Sourdough lately,

And I found that you can dry and rehydrate the dried Starter.

I'm going to give it a try and see if it works....

And then I can send some to my Darling  Niece in California.

It takes a few days to dry, then you just store dry starter sample in a 

Baggie or sealed container until needed.

It seems that you just need to make sure your Sourdough is healthy and

Bubbly for several days with feedings before doing the process

Of drying starter for long term storage.

It's a good idea to do it when you have a vibrant starter, to have a backup 

Incase you kill your current Sourdough Starter.

Well, off to feed my starter for the day, and check on my two bowls of rising

Sourdough Bread.  One of which I had to place in the refrigerator over night because

Of time issues.  Can't wait yo see how that loaf turns out.

The other is the crockpot bread I blogged about yesterday.

The first loaf is almost gone, and I need to get another baked for our

Dining pleasure... 

~ Brat~

Carls Sourdough Starter Recipe

In my adventures around the internet looking at Sourdough Recipes, 

I came a cross this site where you can send for a sample of a starter from the

Oregon Trail that has been kept alive by people for many years.

All you need to do is send a self addressed stamped business sized 

Envelope, and they will send you a dried sample with instructions on bringing it back to life.

This starter has been kept active for over 150 years.
And has been sent by requests, for over 80 years free of charge.

This is a community effort now that Carl passed away...


Oregon Trail Sourdough Sample

I think I'll send for a sample and see how it differs from mine...


Happy Sourdough Trails... 


~ Brat~

Having Fun With Sourdough

Well this past week I have been babysitting a lot....

Like constantly.  Feeding every 8 to 12 hours... keeping close supervision

On my baby, because I want it to grow strong, and get bigger...

Well my baby is healthy, and active, and has already given birth!!!

My baby is a beautiful bubbling Sourdough Starter....

Yes, yes, I know... your not as excited as me, but this is an awesome thing

To behold... something from my childhood years growing up in Alaska.

Sourdough pancakes were Devine, and people carefully cared for their Sourdough

 starters for years.  Some Starters could be traced back a hundred years or more.

I finally created a successful Starter that has great taste, and is active and happy

Living in my kitchen in a mason jar on my stove.  It gets fed and bubbles away

Happily, waiting to become bread, or English muffins, or pancakes or waffles...

I have been going back through my cookbooks, and familiarizing my self with

The world of Sourdough... It has Been a fun adventure.

My first try out of the Sourdough Jug was Crockpot Sourdough Bread.

It baked in my 2.5 quart Crock pot, and it turned out really flavorful.

Definitely a first attempt  success!!!

This is the website that helped inspire me to give Sourdough

A try again, and also taught me that I can use my crockpot to bake bread!!!

Crockpot Sourdough Bread.

This website also had the recipe and instructions for starting my 

Sourdough Starter. Here is the link below.

Basic Sourdough Starter Recipe

This is what a Starter looks like when it is happy and well fed!

This is from the link.  

Mine looks pretty much the same, only it lives in a mason jar...

Now what to do with all the extra Starter.... A person can only eat so much 

Bread, pancakes and waffles....

The fun part about this bread, is that I am making it from the no knead artisan method.

So even if you don't have a kitchen Aid, or have bulging muscles, you can still

Make fantastic bread with very little effort....

You just have to be very patient and let the bread just sit in a warm place...

Hanging out, bubbling away for 12 to 18 hours.... 

It takes another couple hours in second rising and baking.

But it really is easy and forgiving on the time table.

I'll post more links as I make my way on my Sourdough journey....

If anyone local wants some starter, just let me know..

I have plenty, each and every day, bubbling away....

~ Brat~