There comes a time in the life of every bread baker when yeast is not enough. Then you have to catch, cultivate and pet that wild beast; the sourdough. If you are new to the concept, sourdough breads are breads made out of naturally cultivated yeast rather than relying on those little packets of the instant variety.
It's a long process, success is never guaranteed and you end up with a living pet on your refrigerator shelf forever. Yet, every bread baker does it. And finally, I am doing it too. I've read about sourdoughs for years. There are recipes that start with just plain flour and water. Some that resort to exotic stuff like red cabbage. But the one I picked from the melange is Debara Wink's pineapple juice starter. Paul over at Yumarama created this starter alongside another competing recipe and his step-by-step detailed instructions give me confidence enough to take the plunge.
But I couldn't find unsweetened pineapple juice. Trust me, I looked everywhere. There's orange juice and there's apple juice but there's no pineapple.
Then last night, I mixed 2 tbsp of wholemeal rye flour with 2 tbsp of unsweetened mixed fruit juice. And my starter's officially started. Maybe it will work; maybe it won't.
At least, nothing much had happened when I got home tonight. The mixture was just as I left it. Just now, I've added the second shot of rye flour and juice (2 tbsp of each). Going by the time it took Paul's starter to bubble, next 24 hours is when the magic should work. Stay tuned.
It's a long process, success is never guaranteed and you end up with a living pet on your refrigerator shelf forever. Yet, every bread baker does it. And finally, I am doing it too. I've read about sourdoughs for years. There are recipes that start with just plain flour and water. Some that resort to exotic stuff like red cabbage. But the one I picked from the melange is Debara Wink's pineapple juice starter. Paul over at Yumarama created this starter alongside another competing recipe and his step-by-step detailed instructions give me confidence enough to take the plunge.
But I couldn't find unsweetened pineapple juice. Trust me, I looked everywhere. There's orange juice and there's apple juice but there's no pineapple.
Then last night, I mixed 2 tbsp of wholemeal rye flour with 2 tbsp of unsweetened mixed fruit juice. And my starter's officially started. Maybe it will work; maybe it won't.
At least, nothing much had happened when I got home tonight. The mixture was just as I left it. Just now, I've added the second shot of rye flour and juice (2 tbsp of each). Going by the time it took Paul's starter to bubble, next 24 hours is when the magic should work. Stay tuned.
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