Real Sourdough Starter Recipes

SOURDOUGH STARTER

Steps:

• In a covered 4-qt. glass or ceramic container, mix flour and yeast. Gradually stir in warm water until smooth. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel; let stand in a warm place 2-4 days or until mixture is bubbly and sour smelling and a clear liquid has formed on top. (Starter may darken, but if starter turns another color or develops an offensive odor or mold, discard it and start over.) , Cover tightly and refrigerate starter until ready to use. Use and replenish starter, or nourish it, once every 1-2 weeks. To use and replenish starter:Stir to blend in any liquid on top. Remove amount of starter needed; bring to room temperature before using. For each 1/2 cup starter removed, add 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup warm water to the remaining starter and stir until smooth. Cover loosely and let stand in a warm place 1-2 days or until light and bubbly. Stir; cover tightly and refrigerate.To nourish starter:Remove half of the starter. Stir in equal parts of flour and warm water; cover loosely and let stand in a warm place 1-2 days or until light and bubbly. Stir; cover tightly and refrigerate.

SOURDOUGH STARTER

Steps:

• In large non-metallic bowl, mix together dry yeast, 2 cups warm water, and 2 cups all purpose flour and cover loosely.
• Leave in a warm place to ferment, 4 to 8 days. Depending on temperature and humidity of kitchen, times may vary. Place on cookie sheet in case of overflow. Check on occasionally.
• When mixture is bubbly and has a pleasant sour smell, it is ready to use. If mixture has a pink, orange, or any other strange color tinge to it, THROW IT OUT! and start over. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered until ready to bake.
• When you use starter to bake, always replace with equal amounts of a flour and water mixture with a pinch of sugar. So, if you remove 1 cup starter, replace with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour. Mix well and leave out on the counter until bubbly again, then refrigerate. If a clear to light brown liquid has accumulated on top, don't worry, this is an alcohol base liquid that occurs with fermentation. Just stir this back into the starter, the alcohol bakes off and that wonderful sourdough flavor remains! Sourdough starters improve with age, they used to be passed down generation to generation!
• Use this starter to make the Sourdough Chocolate Cranberry Cake, and the Sourdough Chocolate Cake.

SOURDOUGH STARTER

Steps:

• Day 1:To begin your starter, mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water in a jar or, better still, a plastic container. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, semi-uncovered, at room temperature for 24 hrs.
• Day 2:Mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water and stir into yesterday's mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, semi-uncovered, at room temperature for another 24 hrs.
• Day 3:Mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water and stir into yesterday's mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, semi-uncovered, at room temperature for another 24 hrs.
• Day 4:You should start to see some activity in the mixture now; there should be some bubbles forming and bubbling on top. Mix 50g flour with 50g tepid water and stir into yesterday's mixture. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and leave, semi-uncovered, at room temperature for another 24 hrs.
• Day 5:The mixture should be very active now and ready for making your levain (starter). If it's not bubbling, continue to feed it on a daily basis until it does. When it's ready, it should smell like yogurt.
• You now have a starter, which is the base to the bread. You'll need to look after it, but naming is optional! Keep it in the fridge (it will stay dormant) and 24 hrs before you want to use it, pour half of it off and feed it with 100g flour and 100g water. Leave it at room temperature and it should become active again. The longer the starter has been dormant, the more times it will need to be refreshed - the process of pouring off half the starter and replacing it with new flour and water - to reactivate. If your starter is ready to use, a teaspoonful of the mixture should float in warm water.The starter can now be used to make white sourdough bread.

SOURDOUGH STARTER RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Day 1: Add 50 grams whole wheat flour, 50 grams bread flour, and 100 grams warm water to a clear lidded container with a capacity of 1 pint or more. Mix until there are no dry spots. Scrape down the sides of the container with a spatula. Cover with a lid.
• Use a rubber band or piece of tape to mark the mixture level. This will allow you to track any movement (eventually it will grow!) Set the starter in a warm spot. Let sit for 24 hours.
• Day 2: After 24 hours, open the container and look for signs of fermentation in the form of bubbles on top, volume growth, and/or a funky, slightly sweet acidic smell. If you see some of these signs, proceed to the next step. If not, cover the starter again and let sit for another 12-24 hours, until these signs appear. If the temperature in your house is cool, it may take a bit longer.
• Once the starter has gotten a bit bubbly and funky, it is time to discard and feed. Discard all but about 25 grams (2 tablespoons) of starter (see Note below on how to minimize waste!). Add another 100 grams warm water and stir to dissolve the remaining starter. Add 50 grams of bread flour and 50 grams of whole wheat flour and stir until there are no dry spots. Cover and let sit in a warm spot for another 24 hours.
• Days 3-15: Repeat the feeding process every day for 7-14 days. Eventually, a few hours after feeding, the starter will begin to grow, almost doubling in size, then deflate again. Once your starter is rising and falling regularly, it is in a good place.
• To test the readiness of the starter, do a float test: Fill a cup with cool water. Use a clean spoon to take a scoop of the starter (be careful not to stir the starter and deflate the air bubbles that make it float) and carefully plop it in the water. If it floats, it is gassy and alive and ready to make some bread! If not, don't despair, it can take a while to get going. Either wait longer if it has only been a few hours since feeding, or if it has been closer to 24 hours since feeding, discard and feed again.
• After passing the float test, the starter is ready to use for baking! You may find you like to use your starter when it is young, only a few hours after feeding when it just passes the float test. At this point it will smell sweet. If you want a more sour taste, use the starter 6-12 hours after feeding, when it will be more mature and smell a bit more vinegary and funky. This is up to you!
• Mold: If you see any fuzzy moldy spots on your starter that are black, red, or blue, unless it is very easy to scrape them off the top, unfortunately you need to start over. Sometimes, a while after feeding or being in the refrigerator, the starter will develop a dark, clear liquid on top. This is called hooch and is harmless. Just pour the liquid off!
• Flour: Use what you have. If you only have all-purpose flour, you can use that. If you only have bread flour, use that. If you only have whole wheat flour, you can use that, just know that you may need to feed more often because it gets funky more quickly.
• Discard: It may be tempting not to discard most of your starter every time you feed it because you don't want to waste, but we discard for a variety of reasons. We are giving the starter a lot of fresh food and water to eat. If we don't discard, the starter will retain a lot of that funkiness and also eventually grow to be huge if you just keep adding water and flour to it. I like to discard into another container and keep that container in the refrigerator until I need it for other baking projects. You can fold the discard into banana bread, pancakes, cookies, etc.
• Storage: Once your starter is up and running, you can either keep it at room temperature and feed it daily, or store it in the refrigerator. To store in the refrigerator, do a regular discard and feed, then place in the refrigerator. A day before you want to begin making bread, pull the starter out and let it come to room temperature. Then, discard and feed as usual.
• Scaling: This starter recipe calls for equal amounts of water and total flour by weight. You can scale this recipe up or down as needed, depending on how much starter the recipe you are going to make calls for.
• Enjoy!

GRANDMA'S SOURDOUGH STARTER

Steps:

• Soften yeast in warm water.
• Stir in flour, beer and sugar.
• Beat until smooth. ***Do not use metal utensils or bowls!***
• Place in a wide-mouth jar.
• Cover loosely with cheesecloth; let stand at room temperature 5 to 10 days, stirring 2 to 3 times a day. Mixture will foam and bubble. Time required to ferment depends on room temperature; If room is warm, let stand a shorter time than if room is cool.
• Cover loosely and refrigerate til ready to use.
• To keep starter going: For each 1 cup of starter used, add 3/4 cup water, 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, and 1 teaspoon sugar to remainder.
• Let stand at room temperature till bubbly, at least a day.
• Cover loosely and refrigerate for later use.
• If not used within 10 days, add 1 teaspoon sugar.
• Repeat adding sugar every 10 days.