Making the Legit Leaven (pre-dough)

Holy Toledo you guys! It has been some time. Listen, I'm just going to keep it real here. I am a perfectionist.. so this whole blog ordeal, well it was taking me a lot of time until I could get it "just right." Therefore I ended up falling off on posting because it was taking me far too much time until I was completely happy with it.  SO, why in the heck am I writing now? 

  

WELL— Once I started my blog and showing pictures of bread I had a lot of people start asking me how to do it. My response was usually something like “YAY,  that's awesome! Here is my blog for how to get started with making a starter..” Then.. I had, uhh.. well. Nothing. Notta. So that wasn’t very helpful for anyone wanting to learn to make a much healthier bread and live a healthier lifestyle.  I have decided that I am going to give this another shot and tell my perfectionist inner Lauren to go away. I am trying to rearrange my schedule so that I can fit some short blogs in once a month at least. Will I write more? Will I write less? Can I stick with it? Your guess is probably as good as mine. 😉 So let’s jump on board together, eh?

Onto making a legit Leaven! I like to call this the “predough.” If you have not read my previous post “Kevin my Leaven” and are wanting to learn to make beautiful, legit sourdough loaves of bread go back and give that baby a read. Once you have read that and started your "starter" come back here in a few days or so to give this a read.

Making the Leaven (pre-dough)

Materials Needed :

1. 1 tablespoon of fed bubbling starter (meaning not immediately after you've fed it but once it starts to rise)

2. 1 smallish mixing bowl 

3. A Scale

4. 200 grams of water Or (7/8 cup)

5. 200 grams of flour Or (7/8 cup)

Instructions:

Alrighty! This part again is pretty simple however, after this it can take little time and patience (making sourdough bread is a wonderful lesson in both patience and perseverance). Please don't get discouraged if loaves come out flat or not exactly to your liking. The health benefits, and skills you're developing through the process are well worth it. Work with those hands God gave ya and I promise you will get it! 😉

Get your scale out, put your bowl on there, and set it to  0 grams. (you can do this without a scale but I promise it is so much easier with one) Once it is set to zero with the bowl on it, add in your 200 grams of water. Then add in a tablespoon of mature fed starter (again, don’t overanalyze and get out your measuring spoons. I literally just scoop out a spoonful).  *Here is an important part, your starter should float on the water (notice picture ⇒)! To put it simply it's from the bubbling and gases of a mature starter. Bubbles and floating= starter can raise bread and has good bacteria in there. Stir in the starter and make the water foggy, add in your 200 grams of flour. Stir until there are no more dry bits. Now you wait until it doubles in size and has bubbles on the top.  

Next step -- The Dough! I will be making separate posts for the dough, shaping & scoring, and lastly baking and steaming! I know it seems like a lot but the more you do it the less you'll need me and this blog and be confident all on your own. (I have not read instructions in over a year now)

Last little tidbit--

I usually make my leaven before bed and let it ferment over night, then I make the dough in the morning. It can take anywhere from 8-12 hours to double. However, I do want to mention there are a lot of different factors that play a part in the rising which I talked about in the last post. Making sourdough bread can be totally customizable to your life and schedule. (maybe ill do ANOTHER post on adaptability..hmm)
That's it for me peeps! Happy pre-doughing. (yeah... I made that up but it sounds kind of legit, right? ) 😏 Please feel free to comment below with any questions or find me on FB and Instagram at "the skeptic naturalist"

xoxo, (gossip girl).. j.k. 

-Lauren 😉