I have had sourdough pancakes only two times, both at a local pancake house, Pig N' Pancake in Newport, and they are incredibly good. I had to try a homemade version. They seemed like way more trouble than they are worth and are very cheap to buy, which often equals (to me) a really fun cooking project, like the lollipops.
I feel like I went about this a little backwards, making sourdough pancakes from homemade sourdough starter, not sourdough bread, but oh well. Now I have starter for bread, too. After a little research (there is so much out there about sourdough starter—I had to just stop) I decided to make a sourdough starter using only wheat flour and water. When it was ready, I then used this for the pancakes. There are many recipes out there for sourdough pancakes, and most of them use a starter made with commercial yeast, which you use to make a sponge, and then use for your pancakes. Like this recipe here. I want to try it as well, but I was so excited to make a sourdough starter, only using the flour and water, that I went down that road first
So, they were very good, but not quite sour enough for me. I made my sourdough starter only about 3 weeks ago, so I think I just need to wait more. I want to make sourdough bread next and then sourdough biscuits. Now that I have my starter, it will last in the fridge indefinitely, if I keep feeding it. I ended up using the sourdough starter recipe described in the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking
I also learned a ton from Amy's Bread regarding homemade starters—this book (the version I link to) was loaned to me about 3 years ago by my grandfather who was an avid bread baker, among many other things. He said it was THE book I needed (and he liked the title) and I glanced at it and thought it was amazing, if a bit over my head. Then it went on the bookshelf. When I needed sourdough starter info I looked in this book, and to my delight, found his handwriting and a turned down page marking which starter he had been making. I got a bit choked up—he passed away about a year ago. I love writing in my cookbooks—making notes and marking changes. I need to keep doing this. Having Grandpa's handwriting in there is priceless.
