Last Updated on
As a new feature on Cooking Traditional Foods, every Wednesday afternoon we’re going to feature one of our most popular posts from the past. There are many great articles and recipes in the archives and we hope you’ll find some new favorites.
—
I have tried and tried to make sourdough the ‘traditional’ way, in the way Nourishing Traditions describes in its sourdough recipe. I have let my starter sit out and fed and stirred it faithfully, time and time again, only to have it get moldy and fail after a period of time unless I kept it in the refrigerator. Maybe it’s because I live in the humid South, who knows the reason. But I have never been able to get sourdough to the point where I could bake with it and have it out on the counter so I could produce enough to use it daily. Keeping it in the fridge just resulted in too many jars to be able to keep up with the demand of daily baking, it soured so slowly.
That is, until I tried the method Lozt Nausten, one of the moderators on the CTF forum, recommended in her wonderful sourdough bread recipe. If you are gluten-free and you need a regular bread, I strongly suggest you look at her four versions of sourdough, including the grain-free and egg-free versions. I have tried every version of her recipe and have enjoyed them all.
Using kefir made with apple juice instead of water to make the sourdough starter speeds the process up considerably and gives the starter a major boost of beneficial bacteria to ward off mold. You can use the starter in as little as 24 hours if you want a very mild flavor. Allowing it to go longer while feeding it daily creates a stronger sourdough flavor.
You can use any fermentable flour to make sourdough. Nuts and starches, like coconut, almond, tapioca starch and the like, will not ferment and can not be used for the starter but they are fine as an ingredient in the dough. If you need a grain-free starter, you can use bean flours to make your starter. In fact, on Lozt Nausten’s blog, you’ll see a grain-free recipe that uses bean flour to make the starter.
Sourdough pizza crust, ready to be baked
To make your starter, combine equal amounts of a flour of your choice and apple juice kefir. 2/3 cup flour and 2/3 cup apple juice kefir makes 1 cup of starter. Leave it on the counter for 24 hours. If you need a mild sourdough, use it to bake at that point. If you want a stronger flavor, feed it more and let sit longer.
If you need to take a break from using the starter, stash it in the fridge and feed it once a week. I use my starter to make pancakes, pizza, bread and much more. In the coming weeks, we’ll be going over a variety of recipes and techniques to help you add sourdough to your meals.
Image adapted from Pauline Mac on flickr
I'm 
This is very interesting. I have never even thought of doing apple juice kefir out of milk kefir grains. Water kefir sure, but not milk. I would think that it would damage the grains. Would the apple juice kefir work if I did it with my water kefir grains, adding the juice for the secondary ferment? I am very intrigued by this.
Jennie@ Pure Homemaking recently posted..An Intro to Dairy Kefir-A guest post I did at another blog
Jennie, I use water kefir grains to make my apple juice kefir.
I literally pour the apple juice in with the kefir grains and let it sit on the counter for 24 hours then strain and use it to make the sourdough starter. You can also do it with grape juice on occasion to make a sparkling grape juice. My family loves it.
So, I’ve had this going for over a day now and all I got was a bit of hooch on top. I added a bit more flour and apple juice kefir. Do you think it maters that I did a secondary ferment with the apple juice and used WWPF and not white flour? It wasn’t fluffy at all. It had some bubbles on the top but was pretty thin and had a very sour smell-pretty gross smell actually.
Jennie@ Pure Homemaking recently posted..Hot off the press- Dairy is OUT for soaking grains
It should smell alcoholic-ish. It doesn’t bubble until day 2-3 sometimes, but it still works just fine for making sourdough breads. It should be thin since it’s an equal mix.
Do you just use homemade apple juice and grape juice, or can I use store bought organic juice?
Carrie, I use either. I do keep store-bought apple juice on hand for when apples are not in season and it is the cheaper option.
KerryAnn Foster recently posted..Crock-Pot Roasted Chicken
Hi KerryAnn,
I’ve been reading about almond flour/meal being fermented using probiotics to form “cheese”, my point is, if it does react with the probiotics, then why could it not be used in the sourdough starter??
Thanks for the post! I enjoy following your blog.
I made a starter per the Nourishing Traditions recipe. I used part of it then put the rest in the fridge. I took it out today to get ready to make some bread and found that the jar was too close to the back of the fridge. It has a big chunk of ice in it. Do you think it’s still good or should I start over?
Freezing it won’t kill it, it just means it might take longer for it to become active again. Go ahead and use it, just allow it an extra day or two if you can.
KerryAnn Foster recently posted..Freezer Cooking: ‘Bourbon’ Chicken
I currently brew kombucha, but I’ve never made WK. Can I use kombucha in place of the WK for the starter?
Angie, I’m not sure if it would work or not. I’ve never tried it. I know KT contains probiotics, but it also contains other acids and ingredients that might effect the flavor profile. I’d say give it a whirl to see if it works.
Hi Kerry Ann,
Can you use a probiotic strain to do a starter?
What is the difference between using a bacteria and a yeast as a starter for Sourdough starters?
Thanks in advance!
You can use a probiotic starter, but it would not include beneficial yeasts. Sourdough has both bacteria and yeast, and if you don’t have yeast, you won’t have any leavening or lift.
Ah. OK. So it it the yeast that makes a good sourdough?
Also, why do some companies or people say they stay away from commercial yeasts? Is it because they don’t have anything special to them and don’t really give the breads the taste they want? Or is there another reason?
So if I want to make a good sourdough bread for Gluten Intolerant friends and family, do you suggest attempting the longer fermentation process with wheat flour? I know I can use rice flour but I have been reading about how longer fermented wheat flour sourdoughs have a very low gluten measurement.
The issue isn’t commercial yeast, per se, unless they have a yeast intolerance or a condition such as candida. The issue with commercial yeast is that traditionally prepared breads were sourdoughed (or fermented) in order to break down the bread to make it more digestible and less allergenic. Commercial yeast skips that step entirely, making the bread more problematic.
I don’t recommend fermenting with wheat at all for a celiac or for anyone who is gluten intolerant. Studies done showing it was a possibility were limited to just a few people, had an extremely short duration (no long-term to see if visible damage showed up after a couple of weeks or a few months) and used specific strains of probiotic that you aren’t likely to be able to get in a home kitchen, much less in the right ratios. I’ve known people who returned to sourdough, only to have their health deteriorate and symptoms re-appear with a vengeance after a few months. It’s not worth the risk.
Quick question…what type of flour must be used in the starter if we are GF? Or would it be okay to use wheat flour since it’s just a small amount?
CHristi, please don’t use wheat. Rice, brown rice, buckwheat, amaranth, millet of a combination of any of those will work just fine.
Great! Thank you for taking the time to answer. Praying for you and your family.
Hello-
I’m pretty knew to trying to cook gluten-free and I just stumbled across almond flour. I read above that you can’t use almond flour in the starter…but I wanted to clarify…can I use it for the rest of the process?
Joy, you can use it in the rest of the process, no problem.
I am wondering how you “feed” the sourdough exactly. I would like to try making some but it would be nice to keep adding somehow so I always have this on hand. Can you share what you do?
I add equal parts freshly ground flour and water to feed it. Stir it in, let it sit on the counter for 24 hours then pop it back in the fridge. When I need to use it, I pull it out of the fridge, feed it and let it sit 24 hours before use.