U.S. presidents come and go; Joe Stefanic’s sourdough starter endures. The stock market soars and tumbles; Joe Stefanic’s starter chugs along. Most marriages don’t last as long as Joe Stefanic’s starter.
For more than 35 years, Stefanic, an Oak Park resident and retired steel salesman, has used his ever-maturing starter to make sourdough bread for his family at least once a week, sometimes twice.
“We do not buy store bread,” he says.
The simplest sourdough starters are nothing more than fermented flour and water. Others may contain active dry yeast, milk, yogurt, cornmeal, potatoes or other ingredients. Exposed to air, they attract wild yeast spores that help the dough rise and affect its flavor.
The sourdough starter Stefanic uses, made with milk and flour and replenished weekly, is actually his second starter. The first, started in 1961, didn’t survive the cross-country car trip he made while moving his family from Napa, Calif., to the Chicago area in 1964. It is the only time a starter has ever completely died on him (“It got too hot.”) He started his new one the following spring.
He usually makes bread by turning some of the starter into a “sponge” and letting it sit overnight before adding the rest of the flour and kneading. When pressed for time, he skips the sponge stage and adds yeast, which produces a slightly different taste and texture.
When he uses yeast, he may add other ingredients to the mix, including molasses, flaxseed, amaranth seed, quinoa, steel-cut oats or oat bran. Rye, whole wheat and multigrain flours sometimes find their way in with the unbleached white flour that is his mainstay. Sourdough muffins, biscuits and pancakes also are in his repertoire.
Sourdough baking has ancient roots. Centuries before Gold Rush prospectors hauled sourdough starter by mule, getting a buzz off the alcoholic “hooch” that formed when the mixture separated, Egyptians had discovered the leavening properties of fermented flour-water slurry. In this country, sourdough bread is still associated with California. Airborne yeasts near oceans produce a stronger taste than the ones found farther inland.
These days the bread is a staple in many restaurants and homes, its sturdy texture, crunchy crust, and slightly tangy taste distinguishing it from regular yeast-based breads.
A sourdough baker’s relationship to his starter is not unlike a parent-child or human-pet relationship. It requires a commitment to the future as well as the present: Starter must be regularly fed or it dies. The standard technique is to use some for bread-baking every week or two and feed the rest. If you’re not going to bake that week, you need to throw part of the starter away and feed the rest, anyway.
Between uses, starter is best kept refrigerated in a glass or crockery jar with room for expansion as the mixture ferments. Metal lids corrode; plastic wrap secured with a rubber band is a better choice.
Sourdough cookery is not a good hobby for flibbertigibbets. When Stefanic goes to stay with his 99-year-old mother in New Jersey for a month every year, he takes his starter with him in a glass jar and feeds and uses it there. (It’s hard to find a good starter sitter.) He takes it as a carryon, but says he doesn’t buy it its own seat on the plane.
Nobody likes to throw away starter. Most bakers, like Johnny Appleseed, would rather give it to other people than dump it. Two of Stefanic’s sons (he and his wife have six children) carry on the family tradition using starters made from their father’s brew.
“I’ve given starter sets to quite a few people,” says Stefanic, who is too polite to ask if they follow through. “I just give it to them, and if they stop talking about it, I figure they’ve stopped using it.”
Fans of sourdough baking are a passionate bunch. They are constantly telling the rest of the world it really isn’t that hard, doesn’t take that much time, then proceed to numb their listeners with a blizzard of scientific-sounding rules.
But it really isn’t that hard. The dough does take longer to rise than yeast-based doughs, but the overall time frame is flexible, with only about half an hour of hands-on work. The rest of the time is waiting and baking.
The most dictatorial sourdoughists insist their methods are the only ones that deliver the goods, but Stefanic takes a milder view, readily admitting many methods work. He’s been at this a long time, goes with what he likes, feels free to experiment and takes occasional disappointments in stride.
His preferences include letting the dough rise in a closed Tupperware bowl; he can tell it’s ready when the top pops. He sprays his baking pans with olive oil rather than sprinkling them with cornmeal. For a crunchy crust, he puts a pan of warm water in the oven with the baking bread, and sometimes sprays water into the oven partway through the baking time. (Many large-scale sourdough bakeries have ovens with built-in misters.)
Even when he’s not experimenting, starter and dough behave differently at different times. Who knows why? Temperature? Humidity? Wild yeasts not cooperating? Was the starter tired? Weary starter can usually be revived by disposing of most of it and feeding the rest.
“I could never do this commercially,” Stefanic says. “I can’t duplicate the results. Over four or five different sessions, I’ll get four or five different loaves.”
His results may not be franchisable, but they are deeply satisfying to this enthusiastic home chef, who bakes and cooks multi-ethnically. “Mexican, Italian, you name it,” he says. “I’ll make fruitcake, stollen, chopped liver, matzo balls. My mother is Polish, so I make pierogis, stuffed cabbage and Polish Christmas bread.” He is guided by instinct and experience, and mostly doesn’t measure.
The basic bread recipe he uses came from a 1961 Sunset magazine, which he still has. He says he can see how sourdough baking isn’t for everyone, but thinks more people would like it if they tried. “All it takes is an interest and a desire to feed the family,” he says.
Is he ever going to stop?
“No,” he answers, as if that’s an odd question. “I like eating it. And I like giving it away.”
HOW TO FEED YOUR STARTER
– If you plan to use your sourdough starter (short or long method) within four days, leave it at room temperature. But each time you use part of the starter, you will need to feed it, by stirring in 1/2 cup milk or water and 1/2 cup flour. Leave it at room temperature for 24 hours until it bubbles again. If not used within four days, store covered with plastic wrap in refrigerator.
– If the starter is not used for two to three weeks, divide the starter in half and replenish half of it with 1/2 cup milk or water and 1/2 cup flour. Stir to mix. You can discard the other half or give it to a friend. Try to maintain about 1 1/2 cups of active starter. The longer you keep an active starter, the more pungent and flavorfulful it becomes.
– For more information on sourdough cooking, turn to Betsy Oppenneer’s “The Bread Book.”
SLOW-METHOD SOURDOUGH STARTER
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Resting time: 3-6 days
Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Joe Stefanic’s preferred method takes the slow route.
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1. Place milk in glass jar or bowl; cover loosely with plastic wrap or cheesecloth. Let stand 24 hours at room temperature.
2. Stir in flour; cover with plastic wrap or cheesecloth. Let stand at room temperature until bubbly and sour smelling, 2 to 5 days. Use in any sourdough recipe.
FAST SOURDOUGH STARTER
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Resting time: 24 hours
Yield: 1 1/4 cups
Joe Stefanic offers this starter for those who want a faster method. It will not smell or taste as sour as starter made without yeast, he says.
1 cup milk
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1 cup flour
1. Place milk in glass jar or bowl. Stir in yeast to dissolve; let stand 3 hours at room temperature.
2. Stir in flour; let stand at room temperature until bubbly, about 1 day. Use in any sourdough recipe.
SLOW-RISING SOURDOUGH FRENCH BREAD
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Rising time: 18 hours
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Yield: One 2-pound loaf, 32 servings
Joe Stefanic prefers this longer method for the breads he makes for his family.
5 cups flour, preferably unbleached
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 cup sourdough starter, see recipe
2 teaspoons each: sugar, salt
1. Mix together 4 cups of the flour, water, starter, sugar and salt in large bowl. Place in oiled bowl. Turn to coat entire ball of dough with oil. Set aside, covered with plastic wrap, until doubled in size, about 18 hours.
2. Place dough in bowl of electric mixer fitted with dough hook attachment. Knead, gradually adding remaining 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough begins to pull away from side of bowl. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if necessary, about 10 minutes. (If done by hand, knead on lightly floured surface, until smooth and elastic, about 30 minutes.)
3. Shape dough into one round loaf or two baguettes. Place on greased baking sheet. Let rise until almost double in size, about 2 hours.
4. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Make diagonal slashes on top of bread; brush top with water. Place ice cubes in shallow pan; put pan on bottom rack of oven. Bake bread on rack above ice cubes until lightly browned and sounds hollow when tapped, about 50 minutes.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 80 Fat ………. 0.4 g Saturated fat .. 0.2 g
% calories from fat .. 5 Cholesterol … 1 mg Sodium …….. 150 mg
Carbohydrates ….. 17 g Protein …… 2.7 g Fiber ………. 0.5 g
QUICK-RISING SOURDOUGH FRENCH BREAD
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Rising time: 3 hours
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Yield: One 2-pound loaf, 32 servings
This recipe from Joe Stefanic cuts the rising time dramatically, but the loaf is still flavorful.
1 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1 cup sourdough starter, see recipe
5 1/2 cups flour, preferably unbleached
2 teaspoons each: sugar, salt
1. Pour water into large bowl. Stir in yeast to dissolve. Add starter, 4 cups of the flour, sugar and salt; stir to mix. Place in greased bowl; cover with towel or plastic wrap. Let rise in warm place, until double in size, 1 1/2-2 hours.
2. Place dough in bowl of electric mixer fit with dough hook attachment. Gradually add remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough begins to pull away from sides of bowl. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if necessary, about 10 minutes. (If done by hand, knead on lightly floured surface, until smooth and elastic, about 30 minutes.)
3. Shape dough into 1 round loaf or 2 baguettes. Place on greased baking sheet. Let rise, covered with towel or plastic wrap, until almost double in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Make diagonal slashes on top of bread; brush top with water. Place ice cubes in shallow pan; put pan on bottom rack of oven. Bake bread on rack above ice cubes until lightly browned and sounds hollow when tapped, about 50 minutes.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 90 Fat ………. 0.5 g Saturated fat .. 0.2 g
% calories from fat .. 5 Cholesterol … 1 mg Sodium …….. 150 mg
Carbohydrates ….. 18 g Protein …… 2.9 g Fiber ………. 0.6 g
SOURDOUGH CORN BREAD
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Yield: 12 pieces
Using a sourdough starter turns cornbread into something special. This recipe is adapted from a recipe by Joe Stefanic.
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup sourdough starter, see recipe
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, cooled
1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in large bowl; set aside. Mix buttermilk, starter and eggs in medium bowl. Mix liquid ingredients into cornmeal mixture just until blended. Mix in butter.
2. Pour into 10-inch greased cast-iron skillet or greased 8-inch square baking dish. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Serve warm, cut in wedges or squares.
Nutrition information per piece:
Calories ………… 195 Fat …………. 6 g Saturated fat .. 3.1 g
% calories from fat .. 27 Cholesterol … 50 mg Sodium …….. 385 mg
Carbohydrates …… 30 g Protein ……… 6 g Fiber ………. 1.7 g
