Sourdough

As I was growing up, I had a great uncle who made the best sourdough bread, biscuits and pancakes. He had taught me how and even gave me some of his starter when I was in my teens. For those who don't know, making bread & such with sourdough starter and no yeast is labor intensive. It even takes some (just a little) effort to keep the starter going. Being a typical teenager, I forgot about it for a while then was surprised when my starter had spoiled.

A few times during the 30some years since, I have played with sourdough. Some homemade starters, some commercial bought. They would work, but seldom would I stick with one long enough to keep it going and to let it get that real sourdough taste built up. That does take time.

Recently I had made my own starter, and things were looking promsing. Then one night, after separating some starter, mixing it into a bread dough and refreshing the remaining starter, I went to bed. The next morning when I checked my dough and starter I was surprised to see them both flat, no rise on the bread, no bubbles in the starter. Then it hit me. I had used tap water not bottled spring water the previous night. The chlorimine in the water had killed the yeasts and lactobacilli.

So I forgot about sourdough for a bit.

Last week, I purchased another commercial starter. It began working right away. I made some pancakes using a recipe found on the 'net, and they turned out ok, but not great. I had not noticed down out the bottom where the recipe stated the pancakes would be thin. They were, almost more like crepes. The flavor of them was good, but they were flat and missing the light taste I remember from my uncle's pancakes. So now I have my starter built back up some and will try it again tomorrow using a different recipe.

I'll keep you posted. :-)