I love sour dough bread

[madokie]

Just finished eating a schlotzsky sandwith and it got me to thinking that I need to start a culture of sour dough bread.
I'm looking for some reading on the subject, even a recipe that someone here cherishes

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. excellent info here

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/SourdoughStarter.htm

I've been meaning to start a starter too

[madokie]

2. Thanks

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. Spend a few bucks on "The Bread Bakers Apprentice" by Peter Reinhart!

My current edition is falling apart from use. Also, King Aurther Flour (made in America and employee owned since 1790) has a starter kit with a crock and instructions for not much money. They can be found on the google.

[LancetChick]

4. I second that!

Fantastic book. It really delves into the science of bread baking in a fascinating way, and I have yet to see a better book on the subject. Except maybe his similar book called Whole Grain Breads. I'm a big Peter Reinhart fan.

[TheManInTheMac]

9. I love that book. And the King Arthur website has every kind of bread recipe imaginable!

[Graybeard]

5. Bread, rolls and pretzels too.

Sour dough bread and rolls are great. And the pretzels are a real treat. Baking my own would be too ambitious for me but I search for good bakeries. Thanks for posting.

[pengillian101]

6. I miss Schlotzsky's

The Original is my favorite.

I used to get them all the time - their bread really makes the sandwich! Now we live too far away, so I'm craving one. If you come up with a bun recipe, post it, would you please? Isn't Schlotsky's bun more like a a pita-type bread style?

[madokie]

7. Yes it is

My favorite sandwich. When we go to tulsa (35 miles) we try to make it a point to stop at schlotzsky.
I think I'm a ways from figuring out their bread though, sorry

[TheManInTheMac]

8. Starting you own sourdough starter is as simple as creating a dough of 100%

hydration (equal parts flour and water by weight), covering the jar with cheesecloth (optional, but good for keeping flies out of the mix), and letting the yeast in the air get caught. You'll have a very active starter in about a week or so. However, that can yield unpredictable and even nasty results. You can add a pinch of any type of bread yeast to it, but you still may not get that sour flavor you really want.

The reason San Francisco is synonymous with sourdough, and the envy of the entire world, is because of the strain of L. acidophilus that occurs naturally. Now you can buy these starters anywhere in the world (recently I read that a bakery in Los Angeles won a sourdough competition in, of all places, San Francisco).

There are many suppliers of San Francisco starters out there. Amazon has several. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_18?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=san+francisco+sourdough+starter&sprefix=san+francisco+sour%2Caps%2C214

[madokie]

10. Thank you

If I make my own do I just set it on the counter and let it collect yeast from the air inside or do I want to locate it out on the back deck to do this? Will there be a taste difference with this starter I make compared to using yeast from the store? I'd really like to have a unique taste, thats what I'm shooting for. something as close to Schlotzsky's as I can get. As I don't have any cheese cloth can I use a paper towel. One more question, what kind of flour do I use. I've got self-rising flour but something tells me that isn't what I should use. Also do I use the same flour as I used to make the starter with each time I make bread with that starter?
thx

[TheManInTheMac]

11. Do not use self-rising flour. It contains baking powder, and that's not something you want in a

yeast bread. Sourdough starters can use bread flour, all purpose flour, but I think rye flour is the most commonly used. If it is warm enough outside, you can certainly place it on the deck, but inside is ok. Catching your own yeast is unpredictable, so you might make a couple of them and place in different locations and see what comes out.

Yes, you can use a paper towel. You might want to poke a few fine holes in it, just to make it more permeable. Don't be afraid of "bad" bacteria. Your nose will tell you if you're on the right track. It will smell like what it is: beer.

What you might want to do is go to Schlotzsky's and ask them for a little bit of their raw dough. Just a golf ball sized hunk and mix that in to your flour and water mix.

If you don't care for the results, adding a pinch of bread yeast (doesn't matter if it's cakes, instant or regular) is foolproof and you will have a starter ready in a couple of days. That's because the store bought yeast will take a foothold on the starter and will kick everything else out.

Another great tip to get a pleasant tasting acidophilus strain is to add a spoonful of plain yogurt to your starter. Remember, there are two elements to the sourdough equation: yeast and acidophilus. Yeast gives the rise and acidophilus gives the sour, and both vary wildly by location.

The reason I like to use a 100% hydration is it makes it easy to factor that in to convert ANY bread recipe to sourdough. You'll want to research on using baker's percentages, if you aren't already familiar with it. Basically, the weight of the flour is 100% and everything else is a percentage of that. I usually don't go down to the detail of factoring the % of salt or sugar, I just use measuring spoons for that.

For example, if you have a recipe using 500 grams of flour (I prefer metric for this, but it can be applied to US measurements) and you want a 60% hydration (typical for French bread) multiply 500*.6 and you know you need 300 grams of water. For US, if you are using 1 pound of flour, the formula is 16*.6 so you need 9.6 oz of water.

It's simple once you get the hang of it.

[madokie]

12. Off to the store to get some flour

If they've got rye flour I'll make two starters, wheat and rye to see which l like best.

[TheManInTheMac]

13. Remember, though when you make the bread, you'll want to use

bread flour or all purpose flour. Rye and whole wheat flour are low in gluten, so without regular flour you will end up with a dense loaf.

Good luck and have fun!

[madokie]

14. Thx, will do