Elaine recipe

Elaine

Ottawa, Canada
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Age

60Years
Color

Country of origin Canada

Taste
& Flavour

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Mixture

50%
50%
Liquid Flour Other
Elaine

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Since 1964

My stepmother Elaine created my starter in Sparks, MD, USA, 1964. She made amazing bread & biscuits, & shared it with my sisters & me, as well as friends all over, including one who used it for bread served in her restaurant. I have shared this starter with friends all over the U.S. & Canada, & as far away as New Zealand. I am currently experimenting with drying it to mail to a friend in Iceland.

Characteristics

When I first began working with it (mid-80s), it took time to rise. Bread sat overnight before kneading and shaping, and then rose for several hours. Biscuits took at least 8 hours to rise. In recent years, the starter's rising power has become as fast as commercial yeast. It has a pleasant flavour, but if these breads had been named after my starter, they would not have been called "sour"dough.

Taste & flavour

Elaine top shot
Elaine jar shot
Elaine front shot
Elaine rising shot

Recipe

Starting ingredients

  • 50% Flour
  • 50% Water or milk

Feeding ingredients

  • 50% Flour
  • 50% Water (sometimes milk)
1
These slider options don't apply! My starter never gets the same treatment twice, & can sit for months in the fridge. I've also frozen some in case I kill the one in regular use, but that's never happened. Feeding temp can be 17C in winter or 35C in summer, depending on the temp of my kitchen! 21C is an guessed average. I add equal parts flour + water or milk, mix, & leave it uncovered overnight
50% Flour 50% Water (sometimes milk)
2
Mix, not worrying about lumps. Leave uncovered overnight.

Working method

1
I buy good-quality commercial flour from the grocery store, unbleached if possible. I add equal parts by volume of flour and water (sometimes milk--usually organic) to the starter, mix it but don't worry too much about lumps, and then leave it at room temperature overnight.
50% Flour 50% Water or milk

Result

Sourdough biscuits and bread from an old Sunset Cookbook of Breads

Instead of slashing, the family tradition is to carve into the loaf the initials of the person for whom it is made.
Elaine Sourdough biscuits and bread from an old Sunset Cookbook of Breads first overview
Elaine Sourdough biscuits and bread from an old Sunset Cookbook of Breads second overview
Elaine Sourdough biscuits and bread from an old Sunset Cookbook of Breads first slice
Elaine Sourdough biscuits and bread from an old Sunset Cookbook of Breads second slice

Preserve your sourdough for the future

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Comments

Orlando Rodriguez

In case it helps, I have managed to dry it for transport or storage for a long time.
The dough that I remove to refresh it, I place it in a thin layer on baking paper, inside the oven with 45 degrees Celsius maximum, until it is completely dry (about 8 hours) then I grind it with a coffee grinder, I place it in bags nylon sealed in the refrigerator for up to 3 years !!!
When you want to reactivate it, put 50 grams of dried dough, 50 grams of flour and 100 grams of water and in a few hours it "starts".
Good luck!!