Sourdough Crackers

With consistent care, you can develop your own sourdough culture and use it to make homemade crackers.

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by John Moody

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sourdough starter
  • 1/4 cup palm shortening or lard
  • 1-1/4 cup spelt (or 1 cup whole-wheat), divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

  • In a bowl, thoroughly mix the starter and palm shortening or lard to make a somewhat watery dough. Combine 1/4 cup spelt or whole-wheat ?our and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and mix into the dough.
  • Add enough ?our to make the dough stiff — for whole wheat, it takes about 3⁄4 cup; for spelt, a bit less than 1 cup. Since you’ll be rolling the dough out thinly, it’s important that it’s ?rm enough to work. Allow to sit at room temperature for 7 to 12 hours.
  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Take about half the dough and roll it out on your baking pan or parchment, creating a thin, uniform thickness, depending on your preference. The entire tray must be about the same thickness, or some portions will burn and others may end up undercooked. Add more dough as necessary to ?ll the baking sheet. This recipe usually ?lls one large baking sheet with some left over. We roll the extra out onto a second baking sheet, taking care to keep the thickness uniform, especially on the edges. If the crackers along the edges are too thin, they’ll quickly burn.
  • Once rolled, the crackers will be ready for scoring. Again, the size is up to you. Uniformity doesn’t matter when scoring, so be creative and do as you please! Sprinkle the crackers with salt if desired.
  • Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the crackers are lightly browned. Note that thin crackers can go from almost done to burned quickly! When done, remove the crackers from the oven. You can cool them on the pan, but they may continue cooking if the pan holds heat well (like stoneware does); watch to make sure they don’t get too done. If you’re using stoneware or similar cookware, the crackers will crisp up a bit more during this time. You can also remove them immediately from the pan to cool.
  • Transfer the crackers to a bowl or dish and enjoy.
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Create your own fantastic sourdough starter doesn’t take great skill or expense. What does it take? Time and consistent care. Some people suggest creating a starter using particular grains, such as rye, but we used spelt and have had no issues achieving success.

Before Jessica started her sourdough culture, she read numerous resources, and was greatly helped by the tips given at the Traditional Cooking School. Our process is similar to the one it recommends.

Start with a clean pint glass jar or a small bowl. Clear glass is particularly useful, as it allows you to see activity in your new starter from the sides in addition to the surface. In the jar, combine 1/4 cup whole spelt or whole-wheat ?our and just under 1/4 cup water (or just over 2/3 cup, if you’re measuring). Some people like to measure by weight rather than volume. That takes more time and precision than we feel is necessary at this stage, but if you’d like to do that, measure an equal amount (by weight) of ?our and water; about
30 grams of each would be good for creating a new starter.

Mix the flour and water together thoroughly, scrape down the sides, and loosely cover the vessel with a clean cloth. We like to use a cloth napkin for this purpose, held in place by a rubber band. Allow it to sit for 12 hours in a warm spot out of direct sunlight.

After approximately 12 hours, remove half the mixture and discard; chickens or pigs, compost piles, or worm bins will all appreciate this healthy addition to their regular diet. Now, add another 1/4 cup ?our and just under 1/4 cup water. Mix them together thoroughly, scrape down the sides, cover it, and let it sit for another 12 hours.

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