Fresh Sourdough Today from Wasatch Willy's Great Salt Lake Sourdough Starter

I made a fresh batch of sourdough bread today using my exclusive Wasatch Willy's Great Salt Lake Sourdough Starter.

Normally I make boules but the last two times I made bread I have been too lazy so instead I used my nice long Norpro pans my daughter bought me. Came out fantastic.

I have mentioned the recipe several times before in this blog but I'll repeat it for those who would rather just see it now and not have to search for it.

Ingredients:

1 batch fresh Starter (at least 8 hours after feeding)
3 cups water
8-10 Cups Unbleached White Flour. DO NOT USE BREAD FLOUR.
1 Tablespoon salt

When I say one batch I mean dump it all into your mixer bowl. Do not scrape the jar. After dumping most of it out go ahead and feed it. You do not have to save half like most Traditionalists will tell you.

Mix the starter, water and salt together until blended. Start adding flour one cup at a time. Until AFTER the dough comes away from the bowl. Knead for ten minutes.

Place the dough in a greased large plastic bowl and lightly cover and let it sit for twelve to sixteen hours in a cool place. I like to use our basement because it is always cool enough down there all year long. You can place it in the fridge but be prepared to let it sit for at least 24 hours or more until the dough hits the top of the bowl. I use one of those large Tupperware bowls. We have the older and the newer Tupperware bowls. The older bowl is wider and not as deep and the dough always hits the lid. The newer large bowl is deeper and the dough never hits the lid.

When the dough is ready to divide into loaves I like to turn on the oven at 350 for a minute and turn on the light. This prepares the oven for the loaves to sit and rise until ready to bake.

I usually divide the dough in thirds. On my scale that's about 850 grams per loaf. Divide the dough and place in loaf pans. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place for a couple hours.

If you used the oven to let your bread rise take it out and move your oven racks to the bottom two slots and heat your oven to 450 F. Place a small pan on the bottom rack. You are going to pour two cups boiling water into this pan after the oven is heated up and after you put the bread in the oven,

Be sure and use a Lame to score the tops of your bread before placing them in the oven. This is really easy if you make boules. If you use bread pans like I did it's more of a challenge unless you use more dough per pan.

Boil two cups of water.

Place your bread in the hot oven.

Wearing oven mittens, pour the boiling water into the pan and close the oven door.

Reduce the heat to 400 F and set your timer to 55 minutes. It takes a a lot longer to n=bake a loaf of sourdough.

When done, remove from the oven and let it sit for 20 minutes, The bread will continue to bake in the middle of the loaf.

Enjoy!

To order one of my sourdough starter packages click here for more info.

Three New Starters and New Buying Options

Three New Starters!
I have added three new starters:

Sierra Gold - From California Wine Country
Quinn Hartley's Kern County Sourdough Starter
Chef Don's Megaheart Sourdough Starter


New Purchasing Options!
I have also added new purchasing options. You can now buy just one, any two, any four or all ten starters.

11-17-2014
There was a problem with the four pack ordering for Canadian customers not working but it is now fixed.

Order Here

Recent Loaves Using Quinn Hartley's

My Sourdough Method is Different - It's Not A Wet Process

My style of making sourdough is different than what some might think of when they envision a loaf of sourdough. I would love to make sourdough the wet method way but it requires space in the fridge and frankly that is something we just do not have right now so instead I do it the dense loaf method. For me it works.

If you want the large holes throughout your loaves then you will need to go that route. My starters will work just fine for either method because many of my customers are doing just that. 

Wasatch Willy's Sourdough - A Fresh Loaf

The only thing missing is the most wonderful sourdough smell. But for that you can order your own starter and try it for yourself. I suggest ordering my Wasatch Willy's Great Salt Lake Sourdough Starter and Best Darn Old Alaskan Sourdough Starter. It is only $5 for the two in the USA or $5.70 in Canada. When you order you get recipes and activation instructions. 

When making bread with my sourdough starters do not use bread flour. Use unbleached all purpose white flour only. You can also use wheat flour as well. Keep in mind wheat flour intensifies the sourness of the bread and you may want to shorten the fermentation period of the dough. White flour fermentation is normally about 12 hours between 65-70 degrees F.

A New Easy Sourdough Hamburger Bun Recipe

Tomorrow we decided to have hamburgers for dinner and I decided to try a different recipe this time. I saw one recently posted online at Mother Earth News and this recipe is the inspiration.

You will get about 24-4" hamburger buns from this recipe.

Ingredients: 4 Cups Wasatch Willys Sourdough Starter fully active and stirred down before measuring 1 Cube butter 1 Cup Milk 4 Eggs, Beaten 2 Teaspoons Salt 4 Tablespoons Sugar 7-8 Cups All Purpose Flour Sourdough Hamburger Buns

In your mixer bowl combine the starter, softened butter, milk, beaten eggs, salt and sugar. Blend with your whisk attachment until smooth - like pancake batter. Replace the whisk with your dough hook and start to add the flour until the dough bunches up nicely and moves around the bowl. Run the mixer for about ten minutes. Remove the dough from the mixer and let it rest for ten to fifteen minutes.  Grease and sprinkle two baking sheets with corn meal. Briefly turn on your oven for about 30 seconds at 350 and turn on the light. Turn off the oven but leave the light on. Boil a small pot of water. Divide the dough in half. Using a rolling pin flatten the first half of it out to about 1/2" thickness and cut out with a 4" circle cutter. Place the cut out dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Repeat for the second half. Place the baking sheets and the small pot of boiling water into the slightly warmed oven for about two hours to proof the buns. After two hours remove the baking sheets and the pan of water. Turn on the oven to 375F and bake for about 18 minutes. Having a baking stone will help to brown the bottoms of the buns. I found my buns came out brown on top but pale on the bottom.  If you so choose you can prepare a watered down egg wash before baking and sprink.e the buns with sesame seeds. I used the egg wash on both batches of my buns. One was with seeds and one was plain.

For more info on my Sourdough Starters

click the More Info Here button above or click here.

Sourdough Carrot Cake Sublime with Cream Cheese Frosting

There was a time I would never have imagined making a cake with sourdough starter and now, after making this Carrot Cake and the Sourdough Chocolate Cake, I don't think I will ever do it any other way. This cake is delicious! I encourage you to try it and to do it with my Wasatch Willys Sourdough Starter which is an Original Great Salt Lake product.

This is an easy cake to make. I suggest preparing your cake pans in advance and pre-heating your oven to 350°F.

The Cake - Part One 1-1/2 Cups Vegetable Oil 2 Cups Granulated Sugar 1 Cup Wasatch Willy Sourdough Starter Unfed from the Fridge 2 Large Farm Fresh Eggs 1 Cup Crushed Pineapple - Drained 2 Cups Grated Carrots 1/3 Cup Pecans - Chopped 1/3 Cup Shredded Coconut 1/3 Cup Craisins or Raisins 2 teaspoons Real Vanilla The Cake - Part Two 2 1/2 Cups Unbleached Flour 2 teaspoons Cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon Salt 1 teaspoon Baking Soda Cream Cheese Frosting 1, 8-ounce Package Cream Cheese - Room Temp 1 stick Butter (1/2 Cup) 1 teaspoon real Vanilla 3-5 Cups Powdered Sugar 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice Scant Buttermilk if needed

Part One: In your mixer bowl, combine the oil and sugar and the un-fed Wasatch Willy starter you pulled from the fridge and mix until just blended. Mix in the farm fresh eggs, one at a time (beat well after adding each egg). Add in the pineapple, carrots, pecans, coconut, dried cranberries/raisins and vanilla and mix until blended. Part Two: In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda, Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl until just combined. Spoon the batter into two greased and floured 9” round pans. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350°F for 40-50 minutes, or until the cake tests done. Toothpick method: poke the center of the cake and if it comes out clean it is done.  Five minutes after removing from the oven, remove from the pans and allow the cake to completely cool on a rack before frosting. Frosting: Combine the butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Beat until fluffy. Add the powdered sugar gradually until all is added and blended well. Add some buttermilk until the frosting is the desired consistency.

To frost the cake I leveled the top of one of the layers and placed it on the cake holder. Then I put a layer of frosting in the middle and placed on the top layer. I will admit I am not very good at frosting a cake so I asked my wife, Annette, if she would please finish frosting it for me. I owe her big time! I love my wife, she's the best and we've been happily married since 1979. She's as beautiful today as the day I married her.

How to Order One of My Sourdough Starters: For a description of all seven of my starters please go to my ORDER page by clicking HERE. There you can order all 7 starters for one low price or order one single starter which now includes a second FREE starter of your choice. My contact info is there as well if you have any questions.

Sourdough Chocolate Cake Divine

There is more to sourdough than bread and this Chocolate cake recipe is a prime example of what you can do with sourdough. The beauty of it is it does not taste really like sourdough thanks to the cocoa but the sourdough does enhance the flavor and this is a very moist cake as well. If you like chocolate cake you will love this recipe. Try it, you will not be sorry. See the order link below on the right side column to order one of my sourdough starters.

The Cake 1 Cup Wasatch Willy's Sourdough Starter (Fed and bubbly) 1 Cup Milk 2 Cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 1-1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar 1 Cup Vegetable Oil 2 teaspoons real Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon salt 1-1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda 1/2 Cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa 1/4 Cup Hershey's Cocoa 2 Large Eggs, farm fresh The Frosting 6 Cups Powdered Sugar 3/4 Cup Butter, Softened 1/2 Cup Buttermilk 1/3 Cup Stephen's Cherry Chocolate Powder 1/3 Cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa 1 Tablespoon Hot Water Drizzle for the Sizzle 1/3 Cup Dark or Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips 1 Tablespoon Milk 1 Tablespoon Corn Syrup Preheat your oven to 350F. The Fresh Egg Provider

The Cake In your mixer bowl, combine the Wasatch Willy live and active starter, milk and flour. Mix until just combined. Cover and rest for 2-3 hours. Don’t worry if it is not bubbling but it should have doubled in size.  In another bowl beat together the sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla, salt, baking soda and cocoa. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after adding each one. In the picture lower left I show three eggs. This is because they are medium-sized and from one of my Leghorn hens. They are among her first eggs ever layed. Gently fold the two bowls into one until the combined mixture is smooth and immediately pour into two greased and floured 9” pans. Tap out the bubbles quickly and place the pans immediately in the oven. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350°F for 30-40 minutes, or until the cake tests done. My oven took exactly 30 minutes. I set it to 25 and tested. Toothpick method: poke the center of the cake and if it comes out clean it is done.  After removing from the oven, remove from the pans and allow the cake to completely cool on a rack before frosting.   FROSTING: Sift the powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa powder, Stephens Gourmet Hot Cocoa Cherry Chocolate powder, add the butter and buttermilk. Mix well. Add hot water a few drops at time until frosting is of the consistency you prefer. Frost the cake when cool. You can try other frostings as well, whichever you prefer the most, the possibilities are endless. Drizzle: Combine the Drizzle ingredients in a large coffee mug. Microwave until the chips soften and then stir until smooth. Drizzle or drip over the icing for a creative effect! I find that it is helpful to squirt the drizzle onto the cake otherwise you get blobs. Hint: If you use the Cherry Cocoa from Stephen's as I did, prepare the cocoa in a bowl by itself and add 1 Tablespoon boiling water and stir. I find not doing that leaves the frosting a little grainy. Top with a cherry and enjoy! If only I had thought of that the other day at the store.... To Order My Starters: Go to my ORDER page and you can see a description of all my starters. You can also get there by clicking here. Contact info is also listed on the order page as well. Special Thanks: I want to thank my daughter, Jennifer, for all her help. Without it this recipe and blogpost would not be possible. Other Thoughts: My grand daughter, who normally does not like sourdough, likes this recipe and was blown away after sampling it because I sort of forgot to mention the sourdough part when she was sampling it. 8/5/2014 My daughter made this for my birthday and used the Cream Cheese Frosting from the Carrot Cake recipe. It was pretty darn good. So much for weight loss and all. Well, birthdays only come once a year! Right?

UPDATE: Wasatch Willy's Great Salt Lake Sourdough Starter

There is nothing quite like sourdough bread and I would like to introduce you to my latest sourdough starter, Wasatch Willy's Sourdough Starter. The flavor is somewhere between Valentina's and Alaska Sam's.

Update 7/22/2014 - When activating Wasatch Willy's Sourdough starter it smells exactly like Babo's San Francisco Starter. I have not tested Willy's under a microscope but the flavor is nearly identical. I can't call it a San Francisco Sourdough Starter because it's not from San Francisco such as Babo's or Valentina's. It was created from grapes grown in Syracuse, Utah which is on the shore of the Great Salt Lake.

Wasatch Willy's Sourdough Bread

1 Cup Wasatch Willy's Starter
3 Cups Room Temp Bottled Water
2 Teaspoons Salt
6-8 Cups Bread Flour

Mix the starter and water together for a minute, add the salt and then start adding the flour until the dough comes clean from the side of the mixing bowl. Let the mixer run for 5 minutes.

Place the dough into a large greased bowl and place in a cool spot for 12-24 hours. 

Lightly spray a baking sheet with oil and sprinkle with corn meal.

Form the dough into balls pulling from the sides and pinching at the bottom until the sides of the ball start to tear apart and place onto the baking sheet. Makes two medium or 4 small bowls. Let rise two hours.

Place your oven racks on the bottom two settings. Place a cast iron frying pan on the bottom rack. Pre-heat the oven to 450 F (230 C).  Boil 2 cups water and pour into the frying pan just before placing the bread in the oven. Place the bread in the oven and set your timer for 55 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 400 F (205 C). Check the bread at the 45 minute mark. It should be just starting to turn brown. 

Remove the bread from the oven and place on a cooling rack and wait at least 15 minutes before serving. The bread is still cooking internally.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  My Sourdough Starters

In early 2013 I started selling a San Francisco Sourdough Starter, Valentina's, which I obtained while in the US Army stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco in 1978. Since then I have extended my starters to an old family starter from San Francisco which I have named after my Grandmother whom I affectionately called, Babo. I also created a non-sourdough starter (Tara) for use in normal bread recipes and it works fantastically. I have two Alaskan Starters as well, Alaska Sam's and Best Damn Alaskan Sourdough Starter, both of which are good and sour. 

A friend gave me an old Mormon Pioneer Sourdough Starter which came across the plains in the 1800's which I call, Parley's. 

My favorite starter is named after me, Wasatch Willy. It's made from locally obtained wild yeasts and is a real crowd pleaser. Everyone who has tried it really likes it.

All orders include:

• Two packets of dried starter. The one you order and one other at my discretion. Usually Alaska Sams or the other Alaskan starter. Limit one free starter per customer and does not include the Super 7 bundles.
• Activation Instructions with recipes
• Jar Label

New Packaging Front Label

New Packaging Reverse w/Instructions

Shipping Rates

All Prices include shipping. The US Post Office recently raised rates and so I have had to modify my prices slightly. I ship First Class mail. Orders are shipped in a #10 envelope. 

Where Do I ship to:

I will ship to anywhere in the United States or Canada. 

Questions: Call us at 801-784-8090 Monday - Friday 10am to 4pm Mountain Time.

To Order:

So as to simplify the updating process of my blog entries I have created a single ORDER page you can go to by clicking here. As the blog slowly grows in size (a few posts each month) it becomes an arduous labor updating each and every one of them so hopefully this will make the pages easier to peruse and more enjoyable. Thank you.

Making a Bread Lame - Redoux

There is a link at the bottom of the page for more info regarding my seven different starters and how to order them. I offer a Super 7 bundle pack at a nice discount and also a single order starter pack that includes any two starters of your choosing. You can also click here for more info as well.

When making French Bread or Sourdough Bread you need to score the tops of the loaves before placing them in the oven. This allows the bread to expand and  not tear apart. A Lame is used to score the bread. Finding a Lame locally can be a bit tricky and you could order one from Amazon or make one for yourself.

What You Will Need:

For the Lame itself:
1 piece 1/4x20 Bolt or Screw
2 Pieces Washers
1 Piece Wing Nut
A stick - Piece of Paint Stick or Yard Stick
Safety Razor Blade or Scraper Razor Blades*

Tools Needed
A Drill
A 1/4 inch Drill Bit

Before drilling the hole in the wood, determine the position of the Screw.

I used a paint stick from a Big Box store made for a gallon or smaller paint cans. The larger sticks may be better.

Assembly

Drill the hole and then insert one washer onto the screw and push the screw through the hole. On the other side place the other washer and the wing nut. Slip the blade between the wood and the washer and angle it as needed for use. When not using, simply loosen the wing nut and reposition the razer blade.

Here are some pictures of my semi-finished Lame.

Lame - Blade in Position

Lame - Wing Nut Back Side

Lame - Blade in Storage Position

Bread Scored with Lame before baking.

Bread Scored with Lame after Baking.

* Some thoughts on razor blades. A while back I bought some blades at Walmart and when I decided to redo this project I went back and could not find any double edged razor blades. I ended up going to Target and Walgreens but found them at my local Kroger (Smith's).

At Walmart I picked up some single edge blades in the paint department which also work but the Double Edged blades are thinner and sharper.

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To simplify the updating process of my blog entries I have created a single ORDER page you can go to by clicking here. As the blog slowly grows in size (a few posts each month) it becomes an arduous labor updating each and every one of them so hopefully this will make the pages easier to peruse and more enjoyable. Thank you.

A DIY Easy to Make Baking Stone - Part Two

aka DIY Pizza Stone

UPDATE 4/5/2014
One of the pieces or Travertine has cracked! But I have others. I have thought about heating the stones in stages. Not sure if this will help or not. The cracking is caused by my boiling water which I pour into a cast iron pan which sits directly below the stones.

I have this big bump on the back of my head from a slip on the ice in my works dimly lit parking lot on Monday night and it kept me up all night. I ended up with about two hours of sleep so if I am rambling and making no sense, please forgive me.

In Part One we discussed the options of Baking Stones such as ceramic tile, actual baking stones, and Travertine. I showed a picture of the stones I purchased at my local Big Box Store. I spent about $17 for two 18x18 Tuscany Travertine square tiles and they were snug from front to back on the rack. I almost thought I would not be able to close the oven door but it was no problem.

Since I was restless (my head hurting like a son of a gun) I thought about the dimensions of the oven rack and at 3AM I got up and measured. I determined the ultimate size would be 11" x 14" for my oven and after only a few hours sleep, I went to my BBS (BIG BOX STORE) with the tiles from yesterday and bought two more. I then had a fine gentleman cut them down for my on their tile saw. The cuts were free, by the way.

Free Cuts at Lowes - Travertine as Baking Stone

I had intended to double up the stones but they just weigh too much. 24 pounds of tile is just too much for our ovens rack to handle. So now I have an extra set and a side effect of cutting the tiles I now have 3 pcs of 7x14 inch Travertine as well so I effectively have three sets of baking stones.

Tomorrow night we are having 15 Bean Soup with bacon and Turkey Sausage served in bread bowls. Tonight I made six. The first three were baked on sheets on the Travertine and the second set of three were baked directly on the stones.

Sourdough Soup Bowls baking at 425 F

Sourdough Soup Bowls Cooling

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To simplify the updating process of my blog entries I have created a single ORDER page you can go to by clicking here. As the blog slowly grows in size (a few posts each month) it becomes an arduous labor updating each and every one of them so hopefully this will make the pages easier to peruse and more enjoyable. Thank you.

A DIY Easy to Make Baking Stone - Part One

or: The Search for the Alternative to High Priced Baking Stones

I have searched and searched for a Baking Stone (Pizza Stone) for use when making my sourdough breads and the costs were just unreal in my opinion. Comments on Amazon were filled with story after story of how the Baking Stones either arrived broken or they broke in the oven on the first use. So I went looking for a solution.

Kiln Shelves
Kiln Shelves are half round stones and cost about $60 each, uncut. You then have to cut them to shape. Not a perfect solution. If you look locally at a Ceramics Supply store you can find these but there has to be a better way.

Ceramic Tiles
I have tried these in my oven previously and they have to be unglazed but they crack eventually.

Travertine Tiles
The other day I loaded up You Tube on my Galaxy Note 3 and there was a video by Noreen of Noreen's Kitchen espousing the virtues of Travertine. This really caught my attention and I did a little more research and watched another video from someone else and decided to go for it. 

Our local Lowes sells A&R Tuscan Travertine 18 inch square tiles that are just under half an inch thick and they sell for $7.76 each here in Northern Utah. Prices may vary elsewhere. I bought two. After taxes it was about $8.26 each. Stacked together they are about 7/8" thick and they are kind of too big for the depth of our even. I am going to go back and get another one and bring the two I bought with me to have them cut down a little so they fit the oven. The optimal size for my oven is 22 x 14 inches. I figure on making them 11 x 14 inches. 

Here is a photo of the uncut stones on the bottom rack of the oven.

In Part Two I discuss baking bread directly on the Travertine using my Wasatch Willy Artisan Sourdough Bread made with my Wasatch Willy Organic Sourdough All Natural Yeast (aka Sourdough Starter).

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So as to simplify the updating process of my blog entries I have created a single ORDER page you can go to by clicking here. As the blog slowly grows in size (a few posts each month) it becomes an arduous labor updating each and every one of them so hopefully this will make the pages easier to peruse and more enjoyable. Thank you.

Simple - Easy to Make Sourdough Hamburger Buns

A Simple - Easy to Make Sourdough Hamburger Buns

Last night I baked a ginormous loaf of bread using Valentina's San Francisco Sourdough Starter. I have been doing that a lot lately, making different things all with the same Starter. A change of pace is in order and I decided to make something with our latest starter, Alaska Sam's Sourdough Starter. Got it from a friend up in Alaska, of all places. Imagine that.

A friend of mine, Donald Gazzaniga of Megaheart.com, had made hamburger buns using Valentina's and his turned out really nice. Click on the link to see his recipe.

Don's Valentina Buns

NOTE: If you are coming here from Megaheart.com, please note: Chef Don used our Valentina San Francisco Sourdough Starter. The above link has the recipe for Don's bun recipe and should be followed for no sodium cooking. 

Sourdough bread rises faster when salt is omitted. Salt is usually added to sourdough as an inhibitor to slow down the process.  Lack of salt may reduce the sour taste somewhat due less time fermenting.

The following is my recipe.

Our Sourdough Hamburger Buns


Ingredients:

2 Cups Sourdough Starter (bottom of page)
1 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
5-6 Cups Flour

In a mixer bowl combine all ingredients except the flour and mix well. Slowly add the flour until the dough cleans off the side of the bowl. Knead the dough for ten minutes.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover loosely until doubled. Remove the dough from the bowl after doubling and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Divide the dough into 18 pieces or flatten to about 1/2 inch and cut out as many buns as you can. 

Place the buns on a greased cookie sheet and let them rise until double again.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes until light golden brown on top.

Optional: Egg wash last 5 minutes and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

And here are the results of our buns. Formed by hand.

Here's a recent recipe posted on Mother Earth News.

Buns! Fresh from the oven!

Owen! Grampa made hamburger buns! We're having hamburgers for dinner!

Grampa's Burger (Mine)

Dad's

To simplify the updating process of my blog entries I have created a single ORDER page you can go to by clicking here. As the blog slowly grows in size (a few posts each month) it becomes an arduous labor updating each and every one of them so hopefully this will make the pages easier to peruse and more enjoyable. Thank you.