Gluten Free Sourdough using King Arthur Extra-Tangy Sourdough Recipe

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/extra-tangy-sourdough-bread-recipe

Sunday afternoon.

My newest starter has become quite active and I am curious to discover it's flavor profile.  I didn't want to make a huge mess so I found a simple recipe to test.  For the test batch I halved the recipe.  If it is delicious I will make more soon :)

I am following the King Arthur recipe for Extra Tangy Sourdough Bread making substitutions where needed.

So far I have made the sponge.

I used:
1/2 C starter*
3/4 C water (bottled, warmed to ~ 105*)
203 gram flour mix (Margorie June's GF mix)
stirred well

This will rest covered (under a towel) for 4 hours and then go into the refrigerator overnight.

Tomorrow I will add:
135 g flour (90 grams MJ mix, 45 g tapioca)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp citric acid
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

The recipe does not call for eggs or flax but based on my experience I am tempted to add some -- maybe next time.  I totally forgot about this at 7 am!

Tomorrow I will decide what type of flour/starch to use - I am tempted to add extra tapioca starch to the MJ mix to boost the starch content.

The sponge rose really well on the counter.  It was domed and really quite impressive.  The dough this morning (made with additional ingredients) had a nice texture and structure. I was able to shape it and handle it (not too sticky or loose).  I let it "rise" in the oven but it was spreading instead so I cut the parchment paper down and transferred it into a loaf pan.  I didn't want to make a loaf, but i guess i am!  Trying to patiently let it rise long enough...

ugh! dense,

Sourdough Starter Progress

I have a lot to learn about caring for my gluten-free starter.  I have thrown out several in the past few weeks.

This past week I tried 3 new starters - using equal ratios in mason jars.

Buckwheat and water

Buckwheat and water and cabbage leaves

Buckwheat and orange juice.

The two with water spoiled (I neglected them at a fragile stage).

The one with OJ survived the couple of neglect (forgetfulness).  The OJ is supposed to give the starter a bit of acidic properties until the yeasts and bacteria take over.  I think this worked.  The starter has been very active over the past couple of days and I am excited to give it a try!

OJ Progress:

Date	Notes	Grain (Ivory Teff unless otherwise stated)	Liquid (water unless otherwise stated)
2/23 AM		1/4 C (40 g) unbolted buckwheat	1/4 C (60 g) Orange Juice
2/23 PM		10 g buckwheat	30 g OJ
2/27	3 TBS Removed Transfer to clean jar add ingredients and stir = very active (bubbly)	25 g Teff	50 g H2O
3/1	3 TBS Removed	50 g Teff	100 g H2O
3/2 AM	1/4 C Removed	40 g Teff	60 g H2O
3/2 PM	1/2 C Removed	25 g	40 g
3/4	3 TBS Removed Clean Jar	35 g	75 g
3/6	2 TBS Removed Clean Jar	80 g	100 g
3/8	1/4 C removed Clean Jar	55 g	75 g
3/9	1/4 C removed Clean jar	80 g	80 g
3/10	210 g removed (enough for a loaf of bread) clean jar	25 g teff	30 g
3/11	2 TBS clean jar	50 g	75 g

Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins

It is a soggy mess outside.  A good day to stay inside watching the olympics and baking.  I decided to make a childhood favorite--blueberry muffins.  When I was in college my mom made me a cookbook with all my favorite recipes.  To this day I still use it.  I just substitute the flour with whatever all purpose GF flour mix I have on hand.  Today I used Marjorie June's Legacy Kitchen All-Purpose GF Flour Blend.  For any of you in Boise this is a local company :)

The muffins took 40 minutes to bake.  I learned a neat trick to tell when GF baked goods are done.  According to King Arthur Flour you should test for the doneness of GF baked goods (at least sweat breads) by temperature rather than the standard tooth pick test.  The internal temp should be above 200 degrees.  

Ratios

So far I have had best luck using equal parts of my sourdough starter and flour.  This does not align with what I have read about baking bread, but it is working, so I am going with it.

I also have found that adding ground flax to my warm water helps create a dough with more spring to it.  

Here is my best attempt yet:

160 grams sourdough starter

Flax Mixture:

1/2 Cup warm filtered water (99 degrees)

3 Tbs ground flax

1 tsp honey

Dry Ingredients Whisked Together:

40 grams unbolted buckwheat flour

60 g tapioca flour

30 g brown rice flour

30 g ivory teff

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 tsp sea salt

I poured the flax mixture into the starter and mixed thoroughly.  Then I added the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stirred until well combined, adding additional warm water as needed.

I let the dough rise for 1.5 hours.  It probably could have gone longer but I am impatient.

Baked in parchment paper bag for 85 minutes at 400 degrees.  

My mission

I am in the process of developing a reliable gluten-free sourdough bread recipe.  My standards are high.  I do not want a dense, gummy or heavy loaf.  I want my product to be on par with it's gluten containing counterparts.  My expectation is that to achieve this loaf will take time, many failed attempts and a willingness to learn along the way.  This process of discovery is, to me, a large part of the fun.  With this in mind, at least for a while, I am going to post what I try without outlining step by step instructions.  This is because I am by no means recommending anyone else follow me as a guide.  These are not recipes -- they are experiments  -- and good scientists write down everything they do and observe.  I will learn from both my successes and failures.  I promise, when I find something that REALLY WORKS and exceeds my expectations I will share the recipe, step by step with you.  In the meantime feel free to experiment along side me.  Let me know what has worked for you.  Or, if you really just want a good loaf of bread and you don't want to wait for it check out Luce's Gluten-Free Artisan Bread Mix.  I am not sponsored by them (yet :) I just love how reliable, delicious and beautiful these loaves turn out every single time.

Let's compare.

Example A: Luce's Gluten Free Sourdough

Example B: My first attempt at sourdough from scratch

Example C: These from scratch rolls were a serious improvement but still too dense and gummy to recommend

The start of a new blog and gluten-free sourdough culture

This fall I discovered Luce's Gluten-Free Artisan Bread Mix.  It was love at first taste.  In the months since I have been baking loaves of bread from these mixes on a regular basis.  I will continue to do so.  But as my confidence in baking gluten-free bread grows my interest in baking a traditional sourdough loaf from a starter has risen too (OK, pun intended).  So I set out to research the process of creating a gluten-free sourdough starter.  It turns out there are relatively few resources for this.  I have read as many blogs and recipes as I can find and have decided I may have something to offer to the evolution of gluten-free baking.  So I am launching this blog as a way to track my process and hopefully develop a really delicious loaf of sourdough bread from scratch.