Sourdough Crumpets

If you've been maintaining a healthy starter, you have likely been left with somewhat of a conundrum:  What to do with the starter you have to replace with each feeding.

I just found a nifty recipe that I am about to try for making sourdough crumpets, and I am keen to try them.  If this works out, I will keep my starter at room temperature, feeding every day, and make a batch of these as my daily bread in between making proper loafs.


I have just taken my jar out of the fridge, after sitting in there for about a week, and this is what it looks like:

The sweat on the outside of the jar is natural condensation that formed on the still-cold jar.  The reason I posted this picture is in case anyone wonders what that brown liquid is on top.  That's what I described as "hooch" in the original post on the subject, and is quite literally about 30 proof booze as made by the yeast digesting sugars and producing alcohol and carbon dioxide.   Totally normal.  I don't think I would drink it, though.  In this case, once the starter is up to room temperature, mix the hooch back into the starter and extract one cup for our recipe before feeding it another cup of flour/water for a normal feeding.  Let the starter sit out for a day before putting it back into the fridge or repeating the process for more crumpets.

Here's the recipe in its entire:


Sourdough Crumpets

- 270 grams (1 cup) "100%" natural starter* -- it doesn't need to be particularly ripe, and may have been kept in the fridge for a few weeks
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- vegetable oil for greasing

Yields eight 9-cm (3 1/2-inch) crumpets.**

Place the starter in a large bowl, about 1 liter (1 quart) in capacity. Add the sugar and salt, and whisk to combine.

Place a lightly oiled skillet over medium heat, or preheat a griddle to 180°C (360°F). Grease crumpet rings well, if using, and place on the skillet to preheat.

When the skillet and rings are hot, add the baking soda to the batter and whisk it in. As the baking soda reacts to the acid in the starter, the batter will quickly start to foam and rise.

Using a measuring cup, a small ladle, or an ice cream scoop, pour about 60 ml (1/4 cup) of the batter into each crumpet ring, or directly onto the skillet if you're not using rings.

Cook for a few minutes, until the top is set; exact timing will depend on your stove, your skillet, and the thickness of your crumpets. (If your stove has hot spots -- and I don't mean the wifi type -- you may have to rotate the skillet every once in a while, and rotate each crumpet after a few minutes so they brown evenly.) As they cook, the crumpets will gradually shrink back from the rings.

Using tongs, lift the crumpet rings off the crumpets (wriggle them loose and/or use a knife to help loosen the crumpets if they stick a bit), and optionally (this is not traditional but I prefer them that way), flip the crumpets to brown lightly on the other side.

Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Wipe down the crumpet rings if necessary, re-grease, and place them on the skillet to preheat again before repeating with the remaining batter. (When you're done with the crumpet rings, handwash and dry them thoroughly so they won't rust.)

Crumpets should be toasted before eating.

The crumpets can also be frozen once cooled: freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet before putting them in a freezer bag so they won't clump. You can pop them in the toaster straight from the freezer.