With the permission of the respected 🔗 here is her wonderful recipe for making sourdough on grapes.SQUARE ON GRAPEIf you want to bake bread without commercial yeast, you need bread leaven.
The essential ingredients of the starter culture are flour and water, which attract "wild yeast" and "beneficial bacteria" - grapes contain the necessary elements to facilitate this process.
It will take 14 days to ripen the starter culture - 9 days to grow the starter culture and 5 days to strengthen the starter culture. If this process is successful, then you can consider yourself the lucky owner of the leaven. You just have to take a little care of the leaven by feeding it regularly, and it will live with you for many years.You will need:
- 4 liter jar, glass or plastic with lid
- gauze
- wooden spoon
- 500 gr red or black grapes (organik)
- 1 liter (4 cups) water 25 ° C / 77 ° F
- 550 gr (3 3/4 cups) flour
It is good to wash your hands, the dishes in which the sourdough and grapes will be made, so that unnecessary bacteria do not develop.
Drinking water must be added to the leaven. If the water is too chlorine, then it is better to use filtered water or spring water from bottles.
Day 1 - start of fermentationPlace the grapes (directly on the twig) on a double layer of cheesecloth, collect the cheesecloth with a bag around the grapes and tie with thread. Put flour and water in a jar and stir by hand or with a wooden spoon. Take grapes in cheesecloth and lightly knead them over a bowl of flour so that he starts up the juice. Put cheesecloth with grapes into flour mixture, flour should cover the grapes. Place the lid tightly on the pan and leave at room temperature (22 ° C / 72 ° F). If the room is colder, you can wrap the sourdough dishes with a blanket.
Day 2 and 3 - fermentationSmall bubbles will appear and the grape bag may begin to inflate.
During the ripening of the sourdough, the water separates from the flour and this is normal. For the ripening of the starter, the ideal room temperature is + 23C, it is not recommended to be warmer, since the mixture will sour faster and a "bad bacteria" may begin to develop.
In the warm season, the starter mixture behaves more actively - on the second or third day, the liquid begins to separate from the flour. Put the mixture in the refrigerator for a while to cool slightly.
Day 4 - starter renewalBy this time, the mass will begin to acquire a brownish color; if the mixture was very active on the 3rd day, then by the 4th day this activity will subside. An unpleasant alcoholic smell will appear, a bag of grapes will float. It's time for feeding.
- 250 ml water (1 cup) 25 ° C / 77 ° F
- 130 grams (1 cup) flour
Add water and flour and mix well by hand or with a wooden spoon. Close the lid tightly.
Day 5-9 - continued fermentationFrom day 5 to day 9, the leaven will not be very active.
Sometimes the separated liquid is yellow and mold appears - this indicates that an imbalance between yeast and bacteria has occurred in the mixture - if the mold is removed without delay (+ add a cup of water and a cup of flour), then it will not interfere with the further growth of the leaven. If everything is normal, then the unpleasant smell will be replaced by a yeast aroma, 2-3 days after feeding. If this does not happen, then discard the leaven and start over.
Day 10 - start of regular feedingRemove the grapes from the sourdough and squeeze the juice into the sourdough. Throw away the grapes. Stir the mixture well. Leave in 130 g of sourdough (1/2 cup) and pour out the rest (in the beginning, more flour is easier to sour). If you leave more leaven, then you need to increase the amount of flour and water when feeding - accordingly, you will get more leaven!
To strengthen the sourdough, it must be regularly fed for the first 3 days, and then it can be fed as it is used. The older the leaven is, the stronger it is and the more difficult it is to spoil it.
For the first three days, the sourdough must be fed 3 times a day (each time doubling the amount of flour and water, for example: 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup - 1 cup) every day starting with the minimum amount of sourdough (~ 1 cup). If the leaven has not been fed for a long time, then it must be revived in the same way.
Approximate dressing before baking:Top dressing can be done for
1 day - the leaven should be at room temperature (feed in the morning, afternoon and evening or add all the water and flour at a time - in the morning - the leaven will be ready the next morning) or
in three days - the leaven should be in the refrigerator.
After feeding, the active leaven always increases in volume (almost 2 times), so you need to use the appropriate size dishes.
- 1st day - 1 cup ready-made sourdough + 1/4 cup water + 1/4 cup flour
- 2nd day - the resulting sourdough (~ 1 1/4 cups) + 1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup flour
- 3rd day - the resulting sourdough (~ 1 3/4 cups) + 1 cup water + 1 cup flour
Sticking to such a schedule is not entirely necessary - over time, you will develop your own schedule - but if you are going to bake bread using only sourdough, then this feeding method will provide you with a well-ripened and non-acidic sourdough ready for baking.
The sourdough has the consistency of a pancake dough, only more stringy (if the sourdough consistency is too thin, then do not be afraid to add more flour).
The sourdough is in its strength 8-12 hours after the last feeding, after which it begins to weaken quickly.
I usually use the starter directly from the refrigerator, but you can leave it at room temperature after the last feeding.
If the sourdough has not been fed for a long time, a dark liquid will separate from the flour, this indicates that the sourdough is over-acidic and too hungry. This leaven cannot be used immediately for baking, as it is very weak. You need to stir the mixture well, leave ~ 1 cup of sourdough and pour out the rest and start regular feeding.
The finished starter culture has a pleasant non-yeast smell, is covered with large bubbles and is very airy.
For one loaf of yeast-free bread (out of 4-5 cups of flour), take 1 1/2 cups of sourdough (2-day bread).
P.S.
There are many ways to grow sourdough - sourdough on grapes is one of them. I have been using this starter for several years now and am very happy with the baking results.