Application Guide

Starters should be fed every 10 to 14 days when not in use to keep them fresh and
active. There is nothing worse than a bright pink or black starter that has broken
down and become unusable from lack of food and the presence of unfriendly bac-
teria! See Bread Machine Baker’s Hint: Tips for Sourdough Starters for more de-
tails about feeding. You can freeze any of your sourdough starters if you are bak-
ing only sporadically. For optimum potency, freeze for no longer than 2 months.
Sourdough starters should always smell fresh and yeasty. If a starter smells bad,
discard it immediately and make a new starter. Never chance working with a
starter that may have taken in harmful bacteria.
Use a glass liquid measuring cup to measure your starter. Just pour it from the cup
into the bread pan; then measure the recipe’s milk or water using the same cup,
without rinsing it out. The liquid will bring any remaining starter along with it as
you add it to the pan.
If the flavor of your sourdough starter is too strong, add
1
/
2
teaspoon of baking
soda, which neutralizes acid, into the flour portion of the feeding or primary batter
ingredients. You can also add the bit of baking soda to the ingredient list when
making the bread dough.
While most bread machine breads benefit from the addition of gluten, I found that
gluten in combination with sourdough starter made too light textured a bread, so I
have not included it in these recipes. If your bread is too dense, add 2 to 3 tea-
spoons gluten to your recipe next time you bake it.
You don’t need as much yeast to raise a loaf when adding sourdough starter. The
starter has substantial rising power on its own.
The dough ball for a sourdough bread will be firm and shiny. After the kneading,
the ball will relax and look slack. This is okay.
It is very important that sourdough breads cool completely before you slice them.
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