Back in March when everyone got on the sourdough starter train, I ignored it because I don’t eat gluten. Then my sister shared some of her starter with Llew and he made a couple loaves which smelled amazing, so I started my search for a gluten free sourdough starter recipe.
They all seemed simple enough: I would need some combination of rice flour (some called for white and brown, or one or the other), buckwheat flour (not actually wheat!), or gluten free 1-to-1 or all purpose flour, water, and a mason jar. Over the course of five to seven days I would discard and feed the starter until it doubled in size and got nice and puffy.
I began my starter with lots of enthusiasm as I watched Llew feed his starter and it would grow almost right away, it was definitely healthy and active. I diligently fed my starter each day for a week and it still seemed small and just looked like flour mixed in water. There were no bubbles, no activity at all. After seven days of this I was convinced I’d done something wrong and it just wasn’t going to work for me. But, I looked over the recipe again and read a few more blogs about gluten free sourdough and they all said that it could take longer than a week to see any activity from my starter. So, I kept at it.
Then around day 10 the starter was looking different; it was finally puffy and full of bubbles. She was alive! I was so excited and ready to make some bread. I pulled up the starter recipe I had used and followed a link to a bread recipe. WTF?! How many ingredients did I need to make this starter into bread? Like 20! And what is psyllium husk? I was not prepared for this at all … Llew just needed the starter, more all purpose flour, salt, and water. I had naively assumed I would need the same, just with gluten free flour. But without the gluten I would need the extra ingredients to get the same result as Llew. If I wanted my bread to rise (and not be a brick!) I’d need to get the psyllium husk and five different types of flour. There wasn’t going to be any bread today.
Once I had found a slightly simpler recipe and tracked down all the ingredients, I got my starter ready again. The one blessing with a gluten free sourdough is they don’t require any kneading. You mix, let it bulk ferment for 12 hours, and then bake. I made two loaves, one in a round casserole dish with a lid and one in a rectangular loaf pan. Neither one really rose and it was looking like I was going to end up with two paper weights. When they came out of the oven though, they smelt right and had a nice golden colour, maybe they’d be ok after all! I patiently waited while they cooled before I cut into them. Then it was time to taste test.
I cut into the round loaf and it was cooked but maybe could have used a little longer in the oven. It was still a little gummy and it stuck to the knife. I bit into the slice, it was delicious! Now, maybe I’m a little biased because I baked it and since I can’t eat regular bread, this was a treat. It was sour and chewy and still a little warm in the middle. I sliced a piece from the other loaf and it was even better (I had ended up with two starters because I wanted to try another recipe to see if it would get active quicker, it had.) For this loaf the starter used gluten free 1-to-1/all purpose flour instead of brown and white rice flour. This one was less sour but still flavourful. I was hooked!
A week later I baked a few more loaves to give to my parents so they could taste test them against Llew’s bread. Apparently, it was a tie (not sure if I totally believe them!). Then the starters were left in the back of the fridge, getting fed almost every week … if I remembered. I was a very neglectful sourdough baker. Then, about two weeks ago I decided I better revive them and bake some more bread.
My two starters had turned into three, and even with my months of neglect two of them had survived. Down to two, I fed them both every day for a week and then they were ready to make bread. The problem was, I couldn’t remember which recipe I had used to bake the bread. I scoured my bookmarks for the one I had all the ingredients for and looked familiar. I’m not sure if I found it, but there were two recipes that I had the ingredients for so I went with them. I baked two loaves again, one round and one rectangular, and once again I preferred the taste of the rectangular one. Unfortunately, the recipe used up all of that starter (the all purpose GF flour), so now I’m down to just one. Which is probably for the best, one less starter to neglect!
This week I pulled the starter out of the fridge again so I can bake bread this weekend. I’ve been alternating feeding it with brown rice flour and the gluten free all purpose, and pouring out the hooch when it appears, hoping this will reduce the sourness of the bread. I also keep all my discard to make gluten free crumpets which are so simple and tasty, or gf sourdough crakers. I’ll include links to all the recipes I’ve used below.
Happy Baking!
Recipe Links
Gluten Free Sourdough Starter from Fresh is Real – no weighing required!
Gluten Free Sourdough Starer from Vanilla and Bean
Gluten Free Sourdough Bread from Homestead and Chill – the round loaf
Gluten Free Sourdough Bread from Gluten Free on a Shoestring – my fave taste
Gluten Free Sourdough Discard Crumpets – if you’re in Squamish you can buy the rings at Karin’s Kitchen Corner or you can DIY it and take the bottom off a tuna can!
Sourdough Discard Crackers from King Arthur Baking – I switch out the flour for gf all purpose and the butter for vegan buttery spread
