Dough Boy

In search of the perfect loaf of sourdough bread

Author: seanlittle (Page 2 of 2)

The Starter (Pt. 2)

February 2, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Welcome back for week two of the search for the perfect loaf of sourdough bread in which I will focus on how to maintaining a healthy culture of starter.

I have been training the starter from last week’s post and it is now consistently doubling when I feed it — which I have been doing every day at the same time.

Once you have a healthy culture of starter, there are different options for storage depending on how often you plan on making bread. If you plan on making bread a few times a week, you can store it in a cool dry place. If you will be making one or fewer loaves a week, you can store it in the fridge.

Storing in the fridge

This is a great option if you don’t plan on using your starter much. When you put it in the fridge, it will ferment slower and should be fine without feeding for a week or two just fine. When you plan on making bread, take out the starter of the fridge and feed it making sure you give it time to warm up and rise. The starter should also be fed before going back into the fridge to make sure there is enough food for it while you don’t use it — though it should be fine without as well.

Storing in a cool dry place

If you plan on using the starter often, storing your starter in a cool dry place is a great option. If you do this it’s important to feed your starter every day at the same time if possible. Feeding it at the same time will help with the consistency of its rising and falling — it’s a good idea to time your feedings in a way that is consistent with when you start making bread.

When is the starter is ready to use?

It usually takes between 3-8 hours for the starter to peak before it starts running out of food (flour) and begins to fall. With this said, some recipes don’t require active starter and you can use it straight out of the fridge.

Next week I will show you my current “go-to” sourdough recipe before exploring some others I am excited to try for the first time — and I think they’ll be pretty awesome!!!

References

Gane, T. (2022, October 31). How to store Sourdough starter. Southern Living. Retrieved February 2, 2023, from https://www.southernliving.com/food/bread/how-to-store-sourdough-starter#:~:text=Sourdough%20starter%20can%20be%20stored,the%20refrigerator%2C%22%20Pellegrinelli%20explains.

Robertson, C. (2010). Tartine bread. Chronicle Books.

The Pantry Mama. (2023, January 4). How to store sourdough starter in the fridge. The Pantry Mama. Retrieved February 2, 2023, from https://www.pantrymama.com/how-to-store-sourdough-starter-in-the-fridge/#:~:text=Your%20starter%20will%20survive%20for,ready%20to%20use%20it%20again.

Reflection 3

January 27, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Today

Today we learned how to do screencasting and explored the different ways it can be useful in educational contexts. I feel like this is something I will use to explain difficult subjects, topics, and concepts and put them somewhere they can be readily accessible for my students. The H5P feature is also extremely cool and brings another level of interaction to the screencast. It allows myself and the students to check their understanding, which is very useful for formative assessments to check on how my students are doing – and how i am doing as a teacher.

Though screencasting has a lot to offer learners and can greatly enhance the teaching practice – as we have seen during the pandemic when all schools went online – there may be limitations. The first limitation that comes to mind is access. Though technology has become much more widespread and available, there may still be many learners who may not have access to computers outside of the classroom. Another limitation i can see is that not all students learn well from video. This being said, it is important that material be presented in a variety of ways that make it accessible to all the learners in your class.

A small study conducted in 2012 on undergraduate students in a single department – quite a small study – suggests that screencasts as additional resources can improve students grades as students use it to gain more concrete understandings of the material being taught (Morris & Chikwa, 2014, p. 10). The study suggests screencasts are most effective when they are clear, concise, and short (p.11). I can speak to this from personal experience.

Before my acceptance to the PDPP program here at UVIC, I had to take two math prerequisites. The most difficult of the two was finite mathematics. My professor for this class had examples in the form of screencasts for all of the different material semester. It was an amazing resource I often used and – as mentioned above – I hope to replicate in my classroom.

References

Morris, C., & Chikwa, G. (2014). Screencasts: How effective are they and how do students engage with them? Active Learning in Higher Education, 15(1), 25–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787413514654

Making the Starter

January 25, 2023 / / 0 Comments
Ingredients for making sourdough starter
Before you can make good sourdough bread you need a healthy culture of sourdough starter. Sourdough starter is basically a culture of wild yeast that you train.

The three things you need to make your starter are; flour (I will be using blended flour consisting of both white and wholewheat flour, but you can use white flour), water, and a container for your starter.

putting flour in the jar for making starter
In my container, I put about a half cup of warm water and began adding my blended flour.

It’s important that your container is clean and dry before you begin because you are growing wild yeast which is a bacteria. If your starter is contaminated, it will start growing mould and your starter will be no good.

sourdough starter after mixing
Add flour and mix until the starter is the consistency of thick pancake batter.
two sour doughstarters. one is a whole wheat flour and white flour mix and the other is just white flour.
When the starter is the right consistency, cover the top — though I am using a lid (resting on top, not sealed) you can use a kitchen towel — and put it somewhere in the shade.

At this point, the wild yeast culture needs to grow. If successful, this starter should bubble and double in size somewhere between 2 to 3 days from now. I will check back with you then and let you know how it is doing. There is always the possibility the starter has become contaminated as well…time will tell and I will bring you along for the process 🙂

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