Creative uses for sourdough - there's more to this stuff than just bread

When I had my sourdough going, I made biscuits with my discard everyday. I liked them better than the loaf bread.

r ranson wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:Sourdough doesn't have to be sour

So very true.

If you are willing to ignore all the modern stuff about the proper way to use sourdough, then it is more than willing to do your bidding.  There are ways to make it so the bread lasts 2 weeks at room temperature, or more before going moldy, ways to make it sweet and light with only the tiny hint of sourdough taste (and no sugar added).  So many wonderful things you can do with sourdough if you're willing to do it 'wrong'.

So very true. I make perfect Paleo breads using sour dough starter and techniques, but it’s not sour and never has been. What it is, is the perfect artesian bread. Mine doesn’t last for 2 weeks though it’s usually eaten within a few days. I bake bread every 2-3 days and rolls or sweet breads about once a week. The recipe doesn’t change, only the way I use it changes.

I love sourdough anything.  Pity that I'm Keto now for health reasons.  This thread has made me so hungry...

Oh I get a little confused about sourdough baking, especially because I don’t want to eat any unfermented or unsoaked grains, to do away with the phytic acid, or phytates or whatever you call it.

And so I guess that means that I have to decide what I’m making, then use some starter to start a fermented batch of something or other, to  which I add other things, and then bake after eight hours, that’s the time frame I think I have read.

If that’s the way it works, where I get confused is: is eight hours really enough fermentation time for the phytase to metabolize or convert  all the phytates?

r ranson wrote:
There are ways to make it so the bread lasts 2 weeks at room temperature, or more before going moldy, ways to make it sweet and light with only the tiny hint of sourdough taste (and no sugar added).  So many wonderful things you can do with sourdough if you're willing to do it 'wrong'.

How do you make sourdough light and sweet with no sugar? That is one of the reasons I don't make it very often, sourdough just doesn't go with peanut butter.

H Hardenberg wrote:

r ranson wrote:
There are ways to make it so the bread lasts 2 weeks at room temperature, or more before going moldy, ways to make it sweet and light with only the tiny hint of sourdough taste (and no sugar added).  So many wonderful things you can do with sourdough if you're willing to do it 'wrong'.

How do you make sourdough light and sweet with no sugar? That is one of the reasons I don't make it very often, sourdough just doesn't go with peanut butter.

In my experience, sugar doesn't make sourdough sweet - instead, it makes it more sour. What makes it sweet is baking soda - and it doesn't take much.

H Hardenberg wrote:
How do you make sourdough light and sweet with no sugar? That is one of the reasons I don't make it very often, sourdough just doesn't go with peanut butter.

You'd want to minimize acidity, so make a loose, well-fed starter at around room temp. Then use a higher starter to flour weight, I do 30-50%, so it proofs quickly. In my experience this yields a very subtle sourdough flavor. Although that might be because I'm so used to a strong sourdough. Also when making biscuits the butter definitely seems to lighten up the flavor.

Carla Burke wrote:What makes it sweet is baking soda - and it doesn't take much.

That's certainly true, except it's cheating! To me at least.

Thank you both for your answers! I will be trying them as soon as my starter is fully activated again. I've left it in the fridge for far too long.... But I fed it and it still has a small amount of bubbling.

I might take advantage of the baking soda method.  Since I want thorough fermentation of the flour for the phytic acid, and I don’t know how long is required, I leave it 12 to 16 hours after the last addition of flour.  It gets very sour.

Nate Davis wrote:

H Hardenberg wrote:
How do you make sourdough light and sweet with no sugar? That is one of the reasons I don't make it very often, sourdough just doesn't go with peanut butter.

You'd want to minimize acidity, so make a loose, well-fed starter at around room temp. Then use a higher starter to flour weight, I do 30-50%, so it proofs quickly. In my experience this yields a very subtle sourdough flavor. Although that might be because I'm so used to a strong sourdough.

So I built up my starter quite a bit (ended up weighing 1700 grams) and used this in my normal bread recipe. My recipe is for 1100 grams of flour, so with the hydration of the starter I had to add more flour than usual. Everything else I kept the same. The finished loaves had a harder crust than typically but I used what was left on a butter wrapper and rubbed the top of them. By the time they were cool, they were much softer. As toast, it does have a more sourdough flavor but all my previous sourdoughs would break your teeth after being toasted. But this one toasted like normal bread. And for peanut butter sandwiches, couldn't tell it was sourdough. A little dense/dry but just needs a little working the future. Thanks for the tip! I never got around to trying the baking soda though I might in the future.

I feed my starter daily and use up most of my discard by making crumpets:

2 cups discard
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

Fry on a griddle with ghee or other high temp oil.

I got tired of using crumpet rings, so I just fry them like pancakes.

I like making sourdough English muffins, and pancakes. My wife eats gluten-free and her favorite bread is gluten-free sourdough (mostly) buckwheat. We wish we knew the recipe. The baker keeps it a secret, but it really is the best gluten-free bread I've ever had.

Jerry McIntire wrote:I like making sourdough English muffins, and pancakes. My wife eats gluten-free and her favorite bread is gluten-free sourdough (mostly) buckwheat. We wish we knew the recipe. The baker keeps it a secret, but it really is the best gluten-free bread I've ever had.

I was looking up something related to sourdough and this thread was found by the search.
Regarding your search for buckwheat bread, you might try out one of these two recipes. If you swith your google to English you should be able to understand it.

Buckwheat bread - in this recipe with conventional rye starter, but could be switched to home-made buckwheat starter:
Ploetzblog buckwheat bread

Buckwheat bread with rice, psyllium and potato:
Rice buckwheat bread

I have been on a bit of a rye bread making kick lately. I grew up eating rye bread and moved to a place where it doesn't exist, and every so often I get a hankering....
My daughter has decided she also misses it, so we've been making it every week and introducing her friends to what a good seeded sour rye tastes like.

My original recipe involves boiling a potato and making a sour wet starter that sits for two days before adding the rest of the flours. Lack of preparation led me to substitute that business entirely with the same volume of sourdough discard, which made a fabulous bread (which we could eat that same day!).

I used to have a book on Alaskan sourdough recipes. Don't have it now (gave it to one of my daughters) because youngest and I both have celiac disease, and I can't eat carbs. But the cookbook had everything in it, from regular bread to all kinds of quickbreads, to cakes and other desserts. Worth hunting for in second-hand bookstores.

I think my book was an early edition of this: https://www.amazon.com/Alaska-Sourdough-Revised-Stuff-Alaskan-ebook/dp/B091CVN3VX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3NBSFMV4EYIBD&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CpuG-FY_Co1PDf0dxEYyvsHkDhbAmJKNB97fFPzPGNNEu-HjUS4DKxMUnDCwkOf5HVNYOfLjGUG4qrAtmGrvKrNPFzWm7bNw6rX7PW6vLGSumYqg6CviYAybV8Ofj8fMsKfqtiJPYi6fFaN3UAIMKbUygK8zViUdmee_rAs1SVXZZY7IcGMZhieoxvpv0WvlSE3fBZb4Bpzal-IBVxavlOsLAb-RqwFhDlhV52sirfs.tGAcmWvv_uml_gXgAvdQ6uLLKmP2qYBnJvx5gLwTO3g&dib_tag=se&keywords=Alaska+sourdough+recipe+book&qid=1782586848&s=books&sprefix=alaska+sourdough+recipe+book%2Cstripbooks%2C227&sr=1-1

I use sourdough frequently. Not that often for a loaf of bread though. Always have pancakes & tortillas in the freezer for quick meals. Sourdough pizzas every other week or so. Sometimes I make cakes or cookies with it. Fresh pasta made with sourdough is excellent tasting & easy to do. Chicken & dumplings using sourdough for the dumplings is probably my favorite.

Check out Kate Downham’s sourdough book. You might never wonder what to do with Sourdough again.
Best kickstarter ever. (Sorry Paul).

I agree. Kate's book is excellent.

Kate Downham’s sourdough without fail!

I am also a fan!

Mike Barkley wrote:I use sourdough frequently. Not that often for a loaf of bread though. Always have pancakes & tortillas in the freezer for quick meals. Sourdough pizzas every other week or so. Sometimes I make cakes or cookies with it. Fresh pasta made with sourdough is excellent tasting & easy to do. Chicken & dumplings using sourdough for the dumplings is probably my favorite.

Mike, are you just using your starter for the dumplings?  Or do you throw a few other things in?

I use about 1/3 very ripe starter & 2/3 flour. Add enough chicken stock, or reduced water from boiling the chicken first, to make a sticky dough. Not super sticky dough but I like it to be a moister dough than bread dough when it is ready to cook. The liquid needs to have a nice strong chicken flavor. Sometimes I cook some onion in the stock while it reduces. Let it rise an hour or two but less than bread dough. Roughly 25% risen compared to fully proofed bread dough. Then mix some salt into the dough. Let it rest another 1/2 hour or so. Roll pieces into golf ball sized balls & flatten them so they cook evenly. The dough should stick to your hands a little. Gradually drop them into the boiling pot with the deboned chicken. Keep the liquid boiling hard until they are all in. Then reduce the heat & let them simmer quite a while. Until the sauce thickens up & the dumplings are perfect.

I prefer dumplings that are dense but somewhat moist after cooking. If you like poofy dumplings let it rise longer &/or add some baking soda. I'm sure my grandmother would rise from her grave & slap me down if I ever made poofy dumplings.

Thanks Mike!

I’m going to copy that one down and put it in my SD recipe collection!