sourdough pancakes

This thread is for discussing this sourdough pancakes article:  http://www.richsoil.com/pancakes.jsp

My son(3 yr old) loves the Betty Crocker Pancakes that I make.  I used to make them about once a week but he has since discovered frozen waffles that his mom picked up at the store.

I am interested in trying the sourdough pancakes.  He might find those better then the frozen waffles.  OR, I can make several batches and then put them in the freezer. 

Can you make sourdough waffles out of these?  (that was a question I just thought of.)

My original question is:  Whole wheat.  We are trying to steer clear of the highly refined and bleached wheat flower.  How does sourdough work with whole wheat flower?

Several batches in the freezer works pretty good!

Waffles:  I have not tried this yet.  Mostly because I do not like the non-stick stuff that is out.  BUT!  Just a few days ago I discovered a cast iron waffle maker!  I bought one on e-bay!  Soon I'll have more info along these lines!

Whole wheat:  I use organic unbleached all purpose flour.  I tried whole wheat flour, but they cooked differently and they didn't taste as good.  I would rather use the whole wheat because of the nutrition and, in theory, flavor - but somehow it took something away.  Hmmmmm  ....  that was some home-grown/home-ground flour ....  maybe I should try some store bought organic whole wheat flour and see how that goes over ....

This recipe sounds very interesting.  I'm always looking for meal ideas, especially breakfast.  I don't cook breakfast in the morning, so if I can make these the night before or make several batches & freeze them, my hubby will be a happy camper!

Thanks for the recipe.  I'll let you know how it turns out (I have to go to the grocery store first...)

Can you make a smaller batch of starter? With only 2 of us in the house and limited fridge space, the 5 cups of water and 3 cups of flour would require too large of a vessel.

Yes!  Make it as small as you like!

In addition to storing the sourdough in the fridge, a small amount may be mixed into a thick ball, and stored in a small plastic bag of flour.  The storage life is as long as that of the flour.  To re-activate, the ball of sourdough only needs to be placed in a container of flour and water (a little sugar helps to speed things up) and given a few days.
This was the way sourdough was transported in days long past, when travelers had no means for refrigerating the 'dough, but wanted to be able to whip up some pancakes in camp.

PS:  Here in Alaska, Sourdough is a term applied to long-time residents, mostly in rural areas.  At 50 years here, I'm starting to feel like one.

Forgot to mention - many things besides pancakes can be made from the sourdough starter. It's pretty much up to the cook's imagination. 
One day, when the wife made the mistake of going off and leaving me in the kitchen unsupervised, I got the cooking bug.  Had a big pot of starter sitting there waiting to be used, and it wasn't breakfast time, so I had to come up with something else.  Donuts, bread, biscuits - can't remember what all came out of the oven or off the stovetop that afternoon, but it was all good (or at least edible), and it only took a few days to get the kitchen back to normal.

Sourdough wrote:
In addition to storing the sourdough in the fridge, a small amount may be mixed into a thick ball, and stored in a small plastic bag of flour.  The storage life is as long as that of the flour.  To re-activate, the ball of sourdough only needs to be placed in a container of flour and water (a little sugar helps to speed things up) and given a few days.
This was the way sourdough was transported in days long past, when travelers had no means for refrigerating the 'dough, but wanted to be able to whip up some pancakes in camp.

PS:  Here in Alaska, Sourdough is a term applied to long-time residents, mostly in rural areas.  At 50 years here, I'm starting to feel like one.

This is one I had not heard before!  Spiffy!  I added it to the article!

jmiles wrote:
My son(3 yr old) loves the Betty Crocker Pancakes that I make.   I used to make them about once a week but he has since discovered frozen waffles that his mom picked up at the store.

I am interested in trying the sourdough pancakes.  He might find those better then the frozen waffles.  OR, I can make several batches and then put them in the freezer. 

Can you make sourdough waffles out of these?  (that was a question I just thought of.)

My original question is:  Whole wheat.  We are trying to steer clear of the highly refined and bleached wheat flower.  How does sourdough work with whole wheat flower?

Whole wheat sourdough waffles are great. I have been useing the recipe from the King Arthur baking book. The batter stores well and takes on a deeper flavor after a couple of days in the fridge. This is also a batter that can be started the day before, no need for a mature starter. If anyone is interested in the recipe I'd be happy to post it here. Jim

I would be interested in hearing about the instant starter recipe. 

I've tried some things down that path tht seemed to work fine for a few months and then died.

jimeats wrote:
This is also a batter that can be started the day before, no need for a mature starter. If anyone is interested in the recipe I'd be happy to post it here. Jim

I'm interested. The problem I have with sourdough is that you have to keep using it and making more. We don't eat that much bread/pancakes/waffles/muffins, etc anymore. So the starter goes bad. I'd love to be able to have sourdough once in a while.

Once you get an active starter you can refrigerate it for months without a problem.
A couple of days before needed it must be taken out brought to room temp, then a couple of feedings have it ready to go.

The day before method is very common. It's called a biga or pollish or sponge. This is simple and works great for most baking.
The day before bread baking  I mix all my wet igreadiants milk water butter and bloom the yeast, mix in a portion of the flour about 2 cups for a two loaf batch. Cover {plastic wrap} and let stand overnight. I have even refrigerated this step for a couple of days and then proceeded. The morning or day of baking add the remainder of flour salt sugar etc. then do the kneed and rise as normal.
This method imparts some of the sourdough flavor, but not as strong. Jim

Just as an FYI for everyone.  Sourdough can be stored pretty much indefinitely in it's dry state.  If you have a great starter, take some in its liquid state and spread it thinly on tinfoil.  Place the tinfoil in your freezer until the starter has completely dehydrated.  Once it has dried out this way (without starving to death on your counter in it's wet state) you can store it in any container in your fridge pretty much forever.  Crack it off of the tinfoil and powder it before storing.  Just add a tablespoon of it to some water/flour mixture and you have a duplicate in a day or two of the starter you had before.

Just something I picked up years ago.  My family has had a sourdough going for decades.

Cool. Thanks!

Wow Darwinslair, great tip, that would work for rye or any other starter then too. I tried to just freeze a small portion, and haven't tried to restart it yet, but drying it first probably works better.

Also, back to the older thread on the use of flours, I have taken to adding quinoa flour to my in my waffle recipes, it's great nutritionally and flavorful but still fluffy. I also add buckwheat but that does make it heavier for those that are fussy (like children). 

How did the cast-iron waffle maker turn out? I'd love to hear more.

sour dough and whole grains go fine together,  i usually use 1/4 white flour, more or less.  i've been working on perfecting my pancakes for a while now, and have been told by more than one person, 'these are the best pancakes i ever ate'.  the secret is, us a mix of grains, whole wheat pastry, buckwheat, cornmeal, ry, oat bran, spelt, kamut, you name it, throw some in.  in the SD starter, is stick to wheat, sometimes whole, sometimes white, depending on what's close by.  i don't really cook with exact recipes, and when i do, i change it some, but i can try to come up with something if anyone is interested.  there are a lot of ways to make a good pancake. 
and yes, waffles too, just add a bit more oil to the recipe, and maybe an extra egg. 
and bread, buscits, corn bread, chocklate cake, doughnuts, and so on.  and for anyone not eating diary, in baking, SD can produce a finished product that is as tasty as if you used butter milk.

making your own starter is relatively easy if you have the attention and time for it. just mix flour and water together in equal amounts in a jar with a loose fitting lid. i've heard it's easier to start with rye flour than wheat, but you can switch later on. just keep it some place warm, and stir it whenever you think of it to keep mold from forming on top before the culture you want to form takes over (the yeasts and bacteria you want are already in the flour- they're everywhere. they just need a couple days to grow their population).

i learned about sourdough from ran prieur. here's his page about it: http://www.ranprieur.com/misc/sourdough.html

Thanks for the info. on sourdough. I studied the info. at the links below this post, and it says that the souring process in sourdough breaks down the nutrient (Phytic Acid) that inhibits the absorption of the minerals in the grains. A lot of people have low level intolerance of gluten, not a full blown allergy, but it can cause intestinal problems throughout life as people age, as well as Parkinson's symptoms and in general plaque in the brain and lymph system, due to poorly absorbed gluten protein. So I try to minimize gluten in my diet. Therefore I am trying to get into sourdough stuff because I believe this process might make the gluten more digestible? I'm hoping so anyway. Also, the links below say that just sprouting the grains doesn't necessarily help reduce this Phytic Acid nutrient that inhibits the absorption of grains, in fact it can increase this acid, so there goes my idea of making sprouted wheat berry bread a staple!

In general I find if my greens intake is very high, I can do without meat and if I use whole grain, hopefully fresh ground, and turn it into sourdough, I find this is very digestible, and it serves my protein needs fairly well.

One thing I've been doing is sprouting wheat berries until they are 1/8 inch and putting them in the freezer and grinding them in my vitamix blender and adding them to recipes. I am still experimenting with all this stuff.

Also, have you seen this type of syrup? http://www.amazon.com/Lyles-Original-All-Natural-Cooking-11-Ounce/dp/B001FA1KO4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1312907631&sr=8-3 ; I like it!

http://www.phyticacid.org/grains/sprouting-grains/

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment?ui=2&ik=0a565f5c4f&view=att&th=130f7a9148e45a18&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_gpq407ze0&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8MNpYGB95HKsLQJZhgL0Wx&sadet=1312922598135&sads=_RTka5Mtq4gbVT87X5xDsuTpMCA

I made a simple sourdough starter by mixing 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of lukewarm water in a large glass jar, giving it a stir, and then letting it sit out on the counter (keep in mind it took several days for this to work for me, because it's winter time down here, and our house is usually quite chilly.)

Let it sit.

After 24 hours or so, feed it with half cup of flour and half cup of water.

Let it sit.

Every 24-48 hours, pour out half cup of starter and feed with half cup flour and half cup water.

Let it sit. You learn to be very patient when making true sour dough starter.

Eventually your starter will start to smell very sour, like beer dregs, and some hooch (clear brownish or yellowish or even grayish liquid) will start to form, and after giving it a few more days on the counter, you can put a cheesecloth cover over the glass jar, and stick it in the fridge to be used whenever you want it.

It's good stuff.

To make sour dough starter all one needs is flour water sugar and vinegar that’s what I do and the vinegar I use is what I make . I make vinegar from different fruits one is apple , another pine apple and so on . Well I made some sour dough starter using pine apple vinegar and the bread is sweet so good . try it . some add a little salt as well see this recipe .
OLD TIME SOUR DOUGH STARTER
2 c. unsifted flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. salt
1 1/2 c. water
1 tbsp. vinegar

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a stone crock. Mix well. Add water. Beat to a smooth batter. Add vinegar, cover with cheese cloth. Set in warm place until thoroughly sour. You determine this by the yeasty smell, usually takes about 12 hours.
After this process you refrigerate starter in loosely covered containers between bakings. When you take out starter replenish with 2 cups warm water and 2 cups flour.

I haven't made bread for years and was thinking of catching a new starter.   Then I stumble on this gem of a thread.

These pancakes sound amazing.   Just what I need if the starter gets too lively.