Alaska sourdough starter | for sourdough bread

What is sourdough

Sourdough bread is made by the fermentation of dough using naturally occurring lactobacilli and yeast. Sourdough bread has a more sour taste and better inherent keeping qualities than breads made with baker’s yeast, due to the lactic acid produced by the lactobacilli.

About our Alaska sourdough starter

Alaska has a rich sourdough culture. Anyone who has ever been to Alaska has probably heard – or tasted – a sourdough starter handed down from the Gold Rush era. Sourdough is such an important part of Alaskan culture that people who have spent more than one winter in Alaska are allowed to carry the honor title of ‘sourdoughs’. This remote location brings some unique yeasts that give our Alaska sourdough starter an equally unique flavor.

How does the Alaska sourdough compare to San Francisco sourdough?

Compared to our San Francisco starter, it adds a much milder, sometimes almost sweet flavor to everything it is used in. If you want to experience an American sourdough but are not a fan of the fairly sour San Francisco style, we recommend trying this starter!

Content Alaska sourdough starter

• 5 grams of dried Alaskan sourdough
• It only takes about 1 week to activate once you start!

Why a dried starter?

• A dried starter has a long shelf life
• easy to ship / take with you, also abroad
• do not deteriorate due to transportation
• light in weight (shipping)
• you can buy it even if you do not plan to make sourdough bread that week
• you can keep some in hand in case your sourdough dies
• after activation, the operation of the sourdough is identical to fresh sourdough

Activating

General tips

Maybe it’s best to do this on a weekend (maybe start on a Thursday) when you’re in the area.
Read through this before you begin with an up-front idea of ​​what supplies and ingredients you’ll need each day.
A note about metal: it is best to avoid metals when working with sourdough, especially aluminum and copper, which can react hard with the microorganisms and acids. Stainless steel is great for mixing or making bread, but opt ​​for glass, china, or a food-grade plastic for storage.

Sourdough is a living organism and working with it has a learning curve. Just like a pet or plant, it will behave differently with different temperatures, climates, flour, etc. You will quickly learn the subtle rhythms and preferences, simply through simple day-to-day observations. You can even name your sourdough starter like many others do!
No matter how detailed this may seem, you don’t have to feel intimidated or concerned, as long as you care, life will!
You can bake with this starter once activated, in about 5-10 days!

Requirements

• a clean, clear (easier to view) glass, plastic or ceramic pot or bowl or large cup (which can hold at least 2 cups, this little starter needs room to grow!)
• a wooden or plastic spoon to stir
• measuring spoons and / or scales
• a room with a reasonably stable (room) temperature.

Ingredients

• The starter (save a bit just to be certain)
• White flour
• Tap water

The steps

1. Take 25 grams of lukewarm water and put it in a pot or bowl.

2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the starter from the bag to the water and stir. Allow the starter to hydrate for about 5-15 minutes. Now mix very well, so that you see air bubbles.

3. Add 25 grams of white flour.

4. Mix until evenly distributed.

5. The consistency should not be too smooth or too stiff to stir. Just nice and thick.

6. Cover your pot / dish with something clean and breathable (cloth, paper towel, loose lid, loose plastic wrap, paper, etc.). Store somewhere out of direct sunlight, at room temperature.

7 . After about 12 hours,. Feed another 25 grams water and mix vigorously. Add another 25 grams of white flour. Stir the mixture well.

9. Put the cloth over it again and let it ferment for another 12 hours.

10. You may or may not already see signs of bubbling, and the consistency of the dough will be more pancake batter-like. You now have 100 grams of starter. Throw away 50 grams of your starter and add 50 grams of water, mix vigorously, and add mix in 50 grams of flour. This gives you 150 grams.

11. Let sit again for 12 hours

12. You may already see signs of bubbling. You now have 150 grams of starter. Throw away 100 grams of this starter (or use it to make pancakes or something) and add 50 grams of water, mix vigorously, and add mix in 50 grams of flour. You again have 150 grams.

13. Repeat step 12 until you have a nice and bubbly starter that smells yeasty, perhaps somewhat like yoghurt.  This could take anywhere from 4-7 days usually.

Your starter is ready for use. Let’s bake! You can use the 100 grams of your starter for baking, and will always have 50 grams left to create a new starter for the next day.

Save your starter in the fridge and feed (step 12) at least once every 2 weeks. If you want to bake, take it out of the fridge and feed 12 hours before you make your dough.

Online English spoken workshop ‘how to make your own miso’

During this online master class, Dutch foodwriter and fermentation expert ‘Meneer Wateetons’ will teach you how to make your own miso. Thanks to a special form of fermentation, two very modest and rather boring ingredients come together to form one of the most beautiful, complex substances on earth. Mister Wateetons tells you exactly how that fermentation works and what you need for it, how you can make miso at home from now on, how you can speed up the process of making miso, how you can vary endlessly on these two basic ingredients and what kind of cool things you can do with miso. Click here for more info.