Late to Sourdough (But I’m Here Now)

My first creation was cinnamon poppy seed muffins. They weren’t bad, but I’m not much of a muffin person – too dry. But the recipe was easy and I had the ingredients, so the muffins were my guinea pig. Most notably, they weren’t distinctly sourdough-y, which was a let down. No one was poisoned, so I tried again.

I took my second stab at tradwifing yesterday morning with sourdough pancakes. They’re in my fridge now, where they’ll serve as snacks throughout the week. Unlike the muffins, the pancakes are overwhelmingly sourdough-y. Their wild funk smells, borderline, like alcohol.

Sourdough starter is a wet, doughy goop that you have to occasionally “feed” with flour and water. As it eats, it expands, and sometimes you have to discard part of it for it to maintain whatever container you’re keeping it in. There are recipes for recently fed starter as well as for hungry starter. I haven’t a clue what the difference is.

Starter needs to be fed often if left at room temperature, but you can let it go weeks if kept in the fridge. I haven’t baked with it frequently, so mine’s in the fridge. It had been a while since it’s last feeding, and even since the last time I looked at it, when I pulled it out for the pancakes. There was a separation of liquid at the top that first hit me with that yeasty, alcoholic smell. But I know starter can smell pretty funky, so I did the responsible thing and didn’t look up what was going on before just mixing everything back together.

I now know that liquid is called “hooch,” it is alcohol, it’s a normal part of the sourdough process when starters get hungry, and that’s why my pancakes are drunk. Mixing it in was fine, but I could have also poured it off for a less wild starter.

Next up certainly needs to be bread. After all, it’s why I’m here! Wish me luck.

Helpful Resource

KingArthurBaking.com
Want to dip your toes into sourdough? Check out the King Arthur Baking website. You can learn the basics, buy starter, and find recipes.