Age
6Years
Color
Country of origin United States
Taste
& Flavour
Mixture
50%
50%
Liquid
Flour
Other
élise
Since 2018
Fermentation is a process that has always fascinated me. Then, the idea of bringing to life a starter that could be shared, evolve and live on long after me, seemed fantastic. That concept, along with the inability to find decent bread around my university campus cemented my will and need to bake my own bread, the only way that seemed right to me: with a sourdough starter.
Characteristics
Elise is unique as it is made out of rye flours from two continents. It is very resistant to time and to the cold as it came back to life on multiple occasions from having stayed frozen for a year. It is very bubbly when it has been fed frequently and lets me know it is ready to inoculate bread dough by developing a lovely sour smell.
Taste & flavour
Recipe
Starting ingredients
- 50g Rye flour
- 50g Water
Feeding ingredients
- 50g Sourdough starter
- 25g Rye flour
- 25g Water
- 50g Rye flour
- 50g Water
1
When I make bread, I save around 50g of dough that becomes the sourdough starter for the next batch. I use 200g for my bread so I double the weight of my sourdough starter in two steps to be sure that it is in full activity.
50g Sourdough starter
2
The day before I make bread, I double the weight of my sourdough starter with equal weights of rye flour and water taking its weight from 50g to 100g.
25g Rye flour
25g Water
3
The day where I knead the bread, I take the sourdough starter to its final weight of 200g by adding a second time equal amounts of rye flour and water.
50g Rye flour
50g Water
Working method
1
Elise was brought to life in 2018 while I was studying for my master's degree in the United States. It was originally created from an organic rye flour that came from western Wisconsin and was fed only that flour. When I came back to Belgium in 2020, I continued feeding Elise solely with organic rye flour, but this time, the flour comes from Tollembeek in Belgium.
50g Rye flour
50g Water