Sourdough Bread

My mother-in-law Elaine Harvey

The sourdough starter I use was given to my mother-in-law Elaine Harvey 65 years ago by an aunt. She called it "everlasting yeast". Friends and family all loved Elaine's bread, which my sister-in-law Cathy calls "Mama Bread". Elaine passed on, but we’ve kept the yeast and her memory alive. My sister Dianna also received a start of the yeast, and she and I have been baking it for at least 40 years. Dianna was a lifesaver one day when I accidentally mixed up my whole starter into bread and forgot to save back some back. I contacted her in a panic. "Tell me you still have a start of the bread." She assured me she did, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
If you can't get a start of sourdough yeast from someone, you can make your own starter. Pinterest has a plethora of instructions. It takes several days to create the correct sourdough consistency. Many of the recipes talk about feeding and discarding part of it, and leaving it out at room temperature all the time, but I am sharing the process as Elaine taught it to me. I keep my starter in a glass Mason jar and bake weekly.

Sourdough Starter in a Mason Jar

At night:

The night before you want to bake, take your starter from the refrigerator and fill it with water. (Elaine used unsalted potato water, drained from the mashed potatoes she often made, but you can use regular water.) Put it in a big bowl and add about three cups of flour to make a batter, kind of the consistency of pancake batter. Cover and let stand until morning.

Next morning:

Fill the starter jar almost half full of the mixture that has been sitting overnight and add ½ cup sugar. (I actually add about ¼ cup, and if you have given up sugar, you don’t have to add it at all.) Put lid on and set on counter to raise. Don’t stir this – the sugar will go to the bottom and feed the yeast. Let stay at room temperature until evening, then put in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake again. It is best not to let it go too long, though. I bake every week, but it can go two weeks.

To the remaining batter, add 1/3 cup sugar (I add a tablespoon of honey instead), ¼ cup salad or olive oil, and a teaspoon of salt. Mix well, then add flour until dough is no longer sticky This may take 4 or more cups of flower. Turn out on pastry cloth or counter and work more flour in it. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic. (I actually use the dough hook on my Mixmaster instead and run it 3 minutes on 1 and 4 minutes on 2.)

Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let rise until double in size. (This can take up to three hours.) Make into loaves of bread, rolls, or cinnamon rolls and let rise again. (Another three hours, depending on the temperature, humidity, etc.)

To bake:

            Place in cold oven and set temperature to 325 degrees. Bake large loaves for about an hour, rolls about 45 minutes until lightly brown. I bake little mini-loaves for about 35 minutes. Your house will smell wonderful, and this warm, crusty bread is delicious!

Mini-loaf of bread to share