ZOURDOUGH SOURDOUGH STARTER
Larry: Back around 1980 I started visiting the California foothills, specifically Arnold California. On your way there you had to pass through Avery, a small nothing of a town, really only a blink on the map, but a main stop was Larrys 4 k's restaurant. As I recall the 4 k's represented his wife and kids names, anyways the mountain breakfast was a must have, it consisted of three eggs, hash browns, sausage, ham slice, bacon, toast and two big SOUR DOUGH pancakes. It was a time when life was perfect and I was young enough to eat and really enjoy this mountain of food. As time would have it, Larrys closed sometime in the 90's and that great breakfast was left as just a memory.
I started my obsession with sour dough starters in the late 90's. Why do I have 8 of them, yep, im O.C.D. or as those of us with it prefer to refer to it as C.D.O. (proper order):>....I have starters from real San Francisco bakery(Sally), real Gold Rush country(Larry and BIG JOHN and Secret Special Larry), from Chile(Sasha), from The Bastard(bahahaha), from Washington( Walt), from Bella, from Granzell. My starters are cared for and fed on a regular basis and my stories of how and why I did this will grow as you will see.
Each of my babies has their own story, as you have started to see with Larry. I actually moved to Arnold Ca. in 1985 out of the bay area (grey area as we locals call it). Sometime by 2009 I had already brought back to life and raised five sour dough starters. Ok, why so many? Seems that after my first starter (Sasha) from Chile, I thought I needed one from San Francisco (Sally), why? because everyone needs a sour dough starter from San Francisco, duh!
Well, when baking bread from each starter I noticed some very different qualities. First off Sasha had smaller air bubbles in the bread and made a denser loaf (really nice for olive oil dipping), while Sally blew bigger bubbles and made a loftier loaf (just great sour dough bread). Hmmm, what if I got more starters from other places, will they be different? Yes indeed they were, and the C.D.O. (O.C.D. or obsessive compulsive disorder for those of you who just don't get my humor) took over. Maybe you have now noticed that I also have A.D.D. AND A.D.H.D. and A.B.C.D.E.F.G.:>
So what's the scoop with Larry? Well I was chatting it up with a local and was talking about my starters and lo and behold this gal asks if I remembered Larrys 4 k restaurant, of course I do, she then exclaims that she has Larrys starter. Seems she was friends with Larry and when he was closing she asked for some of his starter and got it. Along with the starter, she found out that it was given to him by his grand father along with his grand fathers secret recipe for a way to change the starter. (you are not getting this), but I got it all from her and started to revive what is now known as Larry.
Larry is a real SOUR dough starter. He blows big bubbles and is a very active starter. He makes great bread, pancakes, rolls and basically anything you want from a sour dough starter. Larry was born and raised in the foothills of California (the real gold rush area) and the original starter has never been moved out of the foothills, well at least not by me and I live in the foothills still.
YOU WILL GET: LARRY!!!! MAILED TO YOU. WITH DIRECTION ON HOW TO BRING IT BACK TO LIFE.
YOU WILL GET: LARRYS STORY AND MAYBE MORE OF THE STORY AND SOME BASIC BREAD RECIPES AND PANCAKE RECIPE. I MIGHT EVEN INFORM YOU HOW TO MAKE BROWN AND SERVE BREAD. HECK I MIGHT EVEN SEND YOU MY THOUGHTS ON LIFE, OK, MAYBE NOT:>
Activating your sourdough starter
Mix 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm pure water (because impure water is just dirty),1 tablespoon of sugar (this time only) and package of starter powder in a bowl. Cover bowl with CLING WRAP, this helps to keep the starter from drying out and forming a crust on top, and put on the counter or in a warm place if it is cold.
On the second day just stir it up. On the third day add an additional 1/2 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 cup pure (there is that word again. I live in the mountains, we have great water, if you live in a city, you have crap, use filtered water) lukewarm water, stirring to mix.
By 48 hours you should see bubbles and signs of life. It’s alive! Be careful to recognize if the starter is really alive at this point, it will be showing bubbles and that is good, if it just gurgles, you have created a Zombie and the only true way to kill a Zombie is with two shots to the brain. (If your not watching the walking dead on AMC you might be a Zombie yourself)
On the fourth day add 1/2 cup lukewarm water and 1/2 cup all purpose flour. (seems to be a pattern here)
Feeding your starter daily for about 5 days will help it reach full activity and flavor. Whats that you say, your bowl is going to overflow, pour some out you dummy. Really, do I have to spell it all out for you, use common sense.
At day five you may continue to keep your starter at room temperature feeding it daily or put it in the refrigerator and feed it at least once weekly. The secret to successful sourdough baking is FRESHLY FED STARTER !
NOTE: hang a red scarf on the oven and tell everyone that your baby is in there (don't put a real baby in the oven, you will go to jail and it makes them taste funny) Learned this the hard way, not the real baby taste thing sheesh, the sour dough starter in the bowl thing. Seems my wife forgot and preheated the oven without looking inside, which is normal to do, even though I accused her of trying to destroy my hobby, well, a melted plastic bowl, almost lost my starter along with a big mess in the oven was the result. What did we learn? Hang a red scarf on the oven handle, although she did it again a few months later and the scarf was in place. The battle between my wife and I over this hobby is just another story.
My other starters and their stories will be listed as I find time or as my A.D.D. allows, I may even sell them in groups, but for now it is just Larry.
Cheers and great bread
Christopher
p.s.
ADDED: Red scarf is not enough it seems. As of today, another batch has been toasted, maybe pull the handles off the oven or tape a big note on it also.