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.

How Long Does It Take to Get My Order? and Biscuits!

For those of you in Canada, in case you are wondering how long it takes to get your order, here is a note I received yesterday from Barb in Lethbridge Alberta  Canada. Her order was shipped on the 29th of December and she received it on 1/12/2015. Her order was for all ten of my starters. In all it took 14 days. 

From Barb on 12/27/2014
"I’ve been looking for a sourdough seller for years! I didn’t realize you could ship it across the border. I was so happy to find you!..."

From Barb on 1/12/2014

Hi, Bill!

Your package arrived today! I’ve never been so excited to receive a powdered substance in the mail before! Your packaging so well done! Also, I realize now every sentence but this one ended with an exclamation point and I’m usually a lot more reserved with my punctuation. This is going to give me so much enjoyment. Thanks so much!

Barb

Lethbridge Alberta

How to Order one of my sourdough starters.

Biscuits
If you like biscuits and sourdough you will love my Sourdough Biscuits. Pre-Heat to 375F/190C

Ingredients
2 Cups fully active Sourdough Starter
1-2 Cups Flour
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Baking Soda

You need an active and bubbly starter. Any of my sourdough starters will do. In a large bowl combine all ingredients. Stir until you have a soft dough formed. The amount of flour used depends on the consistency of the sourdough starter.

Knead the dough briefly on a floured surface. Fprm it into a square about ½ inch thick and cut with a biscuit cutter. Place the biscuits on a greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place for an hour.

Baking Your Biscuits: Place in your pre-heated oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven. Brush the tops with melted butter if desired. Serve away!

Sourdough Biscuits

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.

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.

My Sourdough Starters Are Super Easy To Activate

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.

March 5, 2015 - Activating one of my Sourdough Starters can be done one of several ways. There is this method (below) that works or the method that is now included when you order a starter package. Either one is ok.

All of the starters offered here are very robust and are super easy to activate. When you order one of my Sourdough starters you get a packet of dried starter granules, a jar label and instructions with recipes. Six of the seven starters are actual sourdough starters and one is a natural yeast starter that is not sour and is meant for making bread and rolls.

What You Will Need

• When activating a Sourdough Starter you need a large wide-mouth jar such as a quart Mason jar or I like to use a re-purposed 40 ounce peanut butter jar because the lid is wider.
• You also need something to stir the starter with and I like to use the blunt end of a chopstick. 
• Bottled Water

Step One:

In the morning, place half a cup of lukewarm bottled water into your quart sized jar. Pour the packet of Mister Sourdough Starter into the jar. Swirl the starter around in the water and let it sit for 15 minutes.

Step Two:

Pour half a cup of flour into the jar and stir. Later that evening, before you go to bed, add another ½ cup flour and water and stir. Place a lid on the jar but do not tighten because it is best to allow the starter to breathe. Place in a warm location. In the oven with the light on and the door closed will work as long as you do not forget it is there. A counter in the kitchen will work just as well as long long as the temperature is not colder than 72F. 75-80F is ideal.

Step Three:

The next morning, dump out half of your starter and add a cup of flour and  3/4 cup water, stir. Loosely cover the jar and place back in a warm spot. Repeat this step on a daily basis until the natural yeasts in the starter are thriving. This can take 1-3 days. For a normal feeding once the starter is doubling I usually leave half a cup of starter in the jar and add 160 grams water and 160 grams flour and stir.

Scroll down for a description of each starter with PayPal buttons for ordering.

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New Packaging Example - Front

New Packaging - Reverse w/Instructions

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.

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.