How to make starter for homemade Spelt sourdough

by Tanya Keam | Feb 3, 2015 | Bread, Cultures, DIY Wellness Tips, Fermented, Food, Gut flora, Homemade, Nourishing, Recipes, Sourdough, Sunshine coast, Vegan, Vegetarian, Wellness

Gluten and wheat free diets are becoming increasingly popular by many people these days. However, unless food allergy or sensitivity testing from health partitioners such as Naturopaths, Kinesiologists or General practitioners have been done, I’m not sold on the idea that wheat is the devil completely. The way wheat is processed in Australia though, that’s a whole other story !

In the case of digestive discomfort, pain, bloating, fatigue etc, I suggest to see a healthcare practitioner who can balance your digestive health so that these types of foods are digested well to avoid such symptoms. Acupuncture, Naturopathy and Ayurveda can be of benefit here. Having said that, for some people, wheat is better avoided completely, or only enjoyed 1 -2 times a week. For others, wheat is just too dominant in their diet – it turns out that they are basing all three meals around it. Thus, if this can be reduced, it’s got to be a good thing to use spelt. So here we are.

Spelt flour is a very viable grain to use as it ferments well. It has a lot of natural enzymes and wild yeasts in there, and it holds for a while without turning acid. This is good for the purpose of making bread. Spelt sour dough starters can also be added to other grain sour dough breads. There is gluten is sourdough, however the fermentation process changes glutens form so it is a better option than wheat if you don’t want to be completely gluten free.

So where to start…..

To get the dough to rise, we need to create a fermentation process. Fermentation involves the culture and growth of naturally occurring fungi (yeasts), as well as bacteria and other micro organisms. When fermentation occurs in the dough, carbon dioxide is given off as a natural bi product. Sourdough starter is the thing which begins and feeds the fermentation process in dough, as it is rich in bacteria, enzymes such as amalyse and naturally occurring yeasts. This combination provides a perfect medium for the process called leavening.

There are lots of ways to make bread rise, but they all rely on the same process of fermentation I just mentioned. For example, Baking soda and some sort of acid (cream of tartare, lemon juice or vinegar) will create the necessary chemical reaction to begin fermentation in dough.

The Healthy Cultures

Sourdough starter is also a culture of ‘friendly’ bacteria. This culture helps to create the ideal conditions for the yeasts to multiply, by dealing with some of the bi products of the cell division process. They keep everything clean and moving freely – kind of like cultural street sweepers.

A healthy Sourdough Starter has a relatively stable microbiology; it’s a living thing which, with the right conditions, can be trained to produce consistent and great tasting bread every time. Not only that, but most experts agree that sourdough bread is easier to digest and provides better nutrition than ordinary yeasted breads.

How to avoid Candida Albans

Unfortunately, commercial yeast is designed to be very bland in flavour. It won’t survive lactic acid either, which is present in all sourdough cultures. Cervisea can trigger infections within the body when left to reproduce in the stomach of a human being. The temperature inside us, combined with our intake of sugar and liquids, can prove to be ideal for the growth of candida albicans; a common form of yeast infection leading to many allergic reactions and gradual immune system depletion. When you couple the use of refined yeast with yeast foods such as Bread Improver, the potential for long term ill health is multiplied many times. Sourdough starter can be made quite easily to replace commercial yeast or baking powder to make the dough rise when you want to make home made bread.

Step 1

Sourdough starter has the simplest of recipes:

• one part flour to one part water!

You can try just about any kind of flour (or even cooked grain). The rule of thumb is consistency – it should be a very thick batter to start with, so it just pours.

If it’s runny, it’s too thin, and if it’s a dough, it’s too thick. You can vary the consistency later, when you know what you’re doing. But for now, work within these parameters for best results.

14 day fermentation.

In the early stages

The starter is very fragile – but over time they grow stronger, as local yeasts and bacteria take hold. The most important thing in the early days is not to ‘drown’ the starter with too much food. It’s better to leave it alone to do its thing than to fuss over it all the time.. so wait another day. Lash out if you like – wait two! What the heck! Wait a week. It’ll be better for it!

Some tips before you try the recipe

• In the early stages of fermenting a starter, you’ll get some wastage, as you need to pour off some of the batter as you go, in order to feed it with fresh food. This batter you pour off can be used in your regular yeasted dough or a pancake mix.
• To minimise wastage, start very, very small. We’re talking a tablespoon of flour to start with.
• The warmer the starter gets, the more activity there is, and so the more often you’ll need to feed it.
• The lower the temperature, the slower the fermentation process. If the temperature is too low, fermentation will be overtaken by mould and the starter will become suffocated. However, even at temperatures below 5 degrees celsius but above freezing, fermentation can still be occurring. The mould which grows on the surface will dry out, and can be peeled off and discarded to no ill effect. The remaining batter can be fed and re established quite quickly, and become active and useful again virtually overnight. In fact, the healthy starter underneath the mould is often ready for use straight away. If unsure, feed with just a bit of flour and wait a few hours.
•  The flavour of starter is strongly influenced by the amount of times it passes through a certain temperature threshold – sourdough starter becomes more sour each time it returns to a chilled state after being fully thawed. It will also become more sweeter hen fed more frequently, but will take longer to leaven your dough.

• Equally, the flavour is also influenced by how thick the starter is – if it’s made as a dough or thicker, it will ferment slowly but will make more full flavoured, classic sourdough bread.

A home for your starter

If you have a plastic container with a loose fitting lid, about 2 litres capacity, then you have the perfect vessel for starter to live in. If you only have, say, a small jar with a tight sealing lid, then puncture the lid with a knife so a little air can pass through.

Ultimately, this will become your starter’s abode. It lives in your refrigerator between uses, and will be left out before use to thaw slightly, so as activity is happening. If you are in a warm climate in mid summer, you will need to only bring the starter out of the fridge for an hour or less when you are making bread. If you live in a cold climate, the starter may live out of the fridge all the time. This of course something which you will adapt according to your experience – but I have found that the fridge is the best default storage area, as they run at a consistent temperature and are reasonably immune from airborne contaminants.

Happy fermenting! 

Take care of you, see you in the clinic,

TK xx

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