All true sourdough bread is made with wild yeast. Bacteria captured in flour and water will create wild yeast. Given enough time it will become a mature starter and make you smile every time you see it.
MAKING A SOURDOUGH STARTER
Ingredients
- 100 g organic bread flour (or whole wheat, rye, or einkorn flour)
- 100 g room temp water
Instructions
- Day 1: Combine flour with water in a glass, crockery, or stainless steel container. Allow enough room for the growth of the starter. Stir together thoroughly; make sure there’s no dry flour anywhere. Cover the container loosely and let the mixture sit at warm room temperature (about 70°F) for 24 hours.
- Day 2: You may see no activity at all in the first 24 hours, or you may see a bit of bubbling. Either way, discard half the starter (about 50 g) and add to the remainder, 50g of flour and 50g of room temperature water. Mix well, cover, and let the mixture rest at room temperature for 24 hours.
- Day 3: Repeat
- Day 4: Repeat
- Day 5: RepeatHopefully, by the end of day #5, the starter should have almost doubled in volume with lots of bubbles. It should also have a beautiful tangy aroma. One sniff should take you back to your fondest memories of family drives on warm summer evenings that always seemed to end up passing Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee. Just me? Then nevermind.
- Day 6: Repeat
- Day 7: RepeatYou’ve made it a whole week and by now you’re probably really tired of building up your starter just to throw half of it out the next day. Once your starter is mature you’ll be able to use the discard starter in various recipes. Keep going, just one more week and your discard can be safely used in discard recipes.
- Day 8 – 14: RepeatOnce the starter is ready, give it one last feeding before use. If you plan to bake often you can store your starter in your pantry or on your counter. Be sure to say Hi to it every now and then so it knows it’s loved. If you plan to be more of a weekend baker. Store your covered starter in the refrigerator. The day before you plan to bake, take it out and feed the little darling. Feed it again in the morning and you should be good to go.
