Using Buttermilk / Milk Kefir for making Sourdough Starter

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breadmaking on 22 Jul 2023 at 14:30

Please help ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whGTP6YkRzg

 Our Gabled Home...

i came across this sourdough making website and was very excited, using butter milk /milk kefir. But towards the end of my reading it says if the bread does not rise add Yeast - commercial .

Am trying to avoid adding  commercial yeast.

Any of TFL members tried this or made SD starter with milk kefir or yogurt/buttermilk.

I like using the ingredients mentioned, except the yeast part.

Thank you for reading my post

I’ve made @txfarmer’s Sourdough White Sandwich Bread a number of times this year. Lately I’ve been using buttermilk instead of her specified whole milk. Works great, though I was initially nervous about having dairy at room temperature for the 36 hours I use to build the levain.

          Starter          Buttermilk          Flour

Gen 1        10                   19                 19          12 hours at room temp

Gen 2     Gen 1                15                  45         12 hours at room temp

Gen 3     Gen 2                57                  71         12 hours at room temp

Sorry about the weird numbers. I was scaling @txfarmer’s formula to yield 3 loaves, so was shooting for 240-ish g of 68% hydration levain…more like a biga than the 100% hydration liquid levains I mostly use.

But yes, buttermilk works here and for the rest of the recipe liquid. Final proof  has been from 5-7 hours! We love this bread which I think of as white brioche, though light on the butter.

Phil

 

Thankyou very much for the links Abe, foodforthought, JonJ and all your kind responses, will give the recipes a try. Appreciate all your kind help

Please need your help...

made bread with milk kefir, when i mixed all the ingredients it seem to rise but when i put the bread in the oven is was just flat - i did eat i though

 

not sure why anyway i requested for help with making rolls on another post

thank you for all the help - not sure where i went wrong.

Did you make a starter/levain? It needs some time to activate first and can then be used as a starter/levain. In the link I sent you mix the kefir and flour then leave it till active before using in the final dough. Just like prepping a starter before using by feeding it and allowing to mature. If done this way it works very well. 

Was the kefir made from kefir grains? 

EDIT:  If you have only used yeast till now and have jumped into "sourdough" by making a quick starter with kefir then you might not be used to the timings and procedures. 

Thank you Abe,

I did make it using milk kefir, and am comfortable using milk kefir very easy as such first attempt on making bread

I did all the feeding and it was very active very nicely and i also made a little SD starter out of the kefir even that worked very well and was active very well.

And when i mixed the flour it had risen then i kneaded it and let it rise again, but thereafter a slow rise.

the bread had become like a biscotte

Am struggling with this sd or milk kefir for health reasons, otherwise i would just purchase store bought ones

Thank you very much i did use multi grain flour not sure if because of it or not

 

Very grateful for all your help 

Just to be clear, when I say "buttermilk" I mean the cultured product that is sold in the US.  My buttermilk was a full-fat variety made by a local company, rather than a product sold in a supermarket.  I'm sure the supermarket variety would do just fine, too.

TomP