Sourdough Recipes to Try at Home on Trail or at Camp

News & Tips: Sourdough Recipes to Try at Home on Trail or at Camp...

Sourdough2 blogKaty and I used to make bread every Sunday afternoon. There are a million different recipes but here's a couple you can start with.

 

Trappers Soudrough Bread

  • 2 cups starter
  • 4 cups flour
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp shortening or fat

Mix flour, salt and sugar. Pour on shortening and stir into a soft batter. Add flour if too moist or milk/water if too dry. Knead well. Break off loaf size chunks and let rise until double in size. Punch down and put in greased pans. Let rise again and bake 375 for an hour.

 

Alaska Sourdough Bread

  • 1 cup starter
  • 2 1/2 cups warm water
  • 4 tbsp melted lard
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp baking soda
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 8 cups flour

Combine ingredients and knead until dough is smooth. Place in greased bowl in warm place and let rise. When doubled, knead and let rise once more. Shape in loaves and bake at 375 for about an hour.

 

Trail Bisquits

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup starter
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp dried milk
  • 2 tbsp bacon drippings
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Mix ingredients together. In the old days, they mixed before leaving camp. When they stopped for a meal they'd add enough water to mix into a soft dough. Grease frying pan and break off egg size lumps and roll in grease and pack into pan. Cook slowly. You can also add sugar and raisins to the mix.

 

Sourdough Fish Batter

Here's a recipe that I like on fish. To make the batter, dip out a cup of starter and mix with a cup of flour (or however much you are going to need, according to the amount of fish that you are frying). Instead of using water to thin the batter, use a can of room temperature or warm beer. Between the sourdough and the beer it gives the fish batter a unique taste. Dip the fish in the batter and deep fry.

 

Donuts

  • 1/2 cup starter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsps shortening
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 egg yokes or 1 whole egg
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup sour milk or buttermilk

Sift dry ingredients and stir in liquid. Roll out and cut. Heat oil to 390 and fry. Dust with sugar or mix cinnamon and sugar and put in bag and shake. To make a glaze, mix milk and powdered sugar. I like these.

If you're familiar with baking bread you'll see that you are just substituting the starter for a pack of yeast. This is how they had to do it years ago. In addition to making your loaves rise, it gives it the unique sourdough taste.

 

Tips

  • As you work out of the starter, add back equal amounts of flour and warm water.

  • Hot water will kill the starter. (They say temps above 95 degrees kills the yeast).

  • They tell me you can keep starter frozen indefinitely.

  • If you aren't using the starter you will have to feed it with new flour every so often or it will starve.

  • Never add unused batter that contains eggs, salt etc. back into the starter batch.

  • Use a glass or plastic bowl, not metal for your starter. You need a loose fitting lid.

  • Baking soda turns the sponge yellow, so you may want to use baking powder.

  • Ideal growing conditions for yeast are 75-90 degrees.

  • If you store your starter in the frig, set it out 3 hrs before use to let it reactivate. After use, add flour and warm water and let it set out a few hrs to grow.

  • Add stiffly beaten egg whites just before baking for fluffy flapjacks.

  • Bread will take a little longer to rise when using sourdough so allow for extra time.

  • In flapjacks you don't use it to make them rise, just to give them the unique sourdough flavor.