Saturday, August 23, 2008

Hide and Seek: Tweaking Gluten Free Sourdough Bread



Okay... so that lovely post on sourdough gluten free bread I promised you seem to simply disappear into thin air didn't it?

Sorry folks, while the sourdough starter is going wild and bubbly with excitement...

As far as the bread... shall we say, I spoke too soon... I jumped the gun... I counted my chickens before they hatched... I dropped the ball... okay, you get the point!

The bread recipe needs serious tweaking... As I cannot seem to replicate my first awesome loaf...


But if you're interested in experimenting with your own gluten free sourdough bread, this is how to make the starter:


You'll need:
  • 1 large 2 quart glass jar, washed in hot soapy water.
  • 5 cups of brown rice flour
  • room temperature spring water -or- distilled water
  • cheesecloth, thin material, -or- a coffee filter
  • rubber band
  • wooden spoon

**NOTE: Do NOT use metal in any capacity with sourdough starters. It will inhibit the growth of the the starter. This means no metal spoons for stirring, no metal containers, etc...

Day 1:
Make sure to thoroughly wash out a large (at least 1-2 quart size) glass jar to use to house the starter. I actually rinsed the inside of my glass jar with boiling water to sanitize it before adding the starter. Add 1 cup of brown rice flour and 1 cup of room temperature spring or distilled water. Mix this up with a wooden spoon and cover the jar with cheesecloth or a coffee filter and secure it with a rubber band. Leave it in a dark cabinet or on the kitchen counter away from sunlight.


Day 2-5:
Each day feed the starter by adding 1 cup of brown rice flour and 1 cup of room temperature spring or distilled water. Make sure to stir it up with a wooden spoon! Keep the starter on the counter or in a dark cabinet. We will refrigerate the starter after we've used it for baking.






Things I've noticed:

- Day 1-3, the starter will have an odd (but not bad) smell, it won't smell like sourdough yet, but don't let the odd smell throw you off, it simply needs more time to grow and ferment!

-Each day liquid may accumulate at the top of the starter. That's okay! This is called "hooch" and you simply stir it back into the starter (with a clean wooden spoon) or you can pour it off.

-By Day 5 the starter will truly smell like traditional sourdough!

-It may take 2-3 days for the sourdough to really begin to ferment and bubble. Be patient!

-sourdough starter needs a relatively humid environment (I knew we lived in hot, humid Eastern NC for some good reason!) to work well.


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If you have any questions or have anything to add, please email me at gingerlemon_girl (at) yahoo (dot) com -or- leave me a comment below!

Please hold your horses while I try to tweak the bread recipe from this sourdough... this has definitely been an experiment in making folks!!

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