Grape Starter

FIRST DAY
1/2 lb Stemmed red grapes
2 c Bread flour
2 1/2 c Water

THREE DAYS BEFORE USING
1 c Flour
1 c Water

-TWO DAYS BEFORE USING-
1 c Flour
1 c Water

ONE DAY BEFORE USING
1 c Flour
1 c Water

It takes 10 days to complete but is then yours for life. Wrap the grapes in
well washed cheesecloth, tieing the corners to form a bag; lightly crush
them with a rolling pin (to release the sugar to mix with the natural yeast
on the skins; just like making wine!) and immerse them in the flour water
mix. Cover tightly with a lid or plastic wrap secured with a rubber band.
Leave at room temperature for 6 days, stirring once or twice a day for the
six days.

The bag of grapes will eventually appear inflated, and liquid will begin to
separate from the flour base. The mixture will begin to taste and smell
slightly fruity, and the color will be strange. That is as it should be. By
the sixth day the bag of grapes will have deflated, the color will be
yellow, and the taste pleasantly sour; the fermentation is complete. The
starter is living but weak, and it needs to be fed.

Remove the grapes and squeeze their juices back into the starter. Stir it
up thouroughly and transfer it to a clean container. (Although you can use
it after just one feeding, the starter will be stronger and healthier with
the full treatment) You can refrigerate it until you’re ready to proceed.

Three days before you plan to use it, stir 1 cup flour and 1 cup water into
the container, blending well. Let stand uncovered at room temperature until
it bubbles up – 3 to 4 hours – then cover and refrigerate. Repeat this for
the second and third day.

Store the starter tightly covered in the refrigerator where it will keep
perfectly for 4 to 6 months.- after which it’s a good idea to pour off all
but 2 cups and give it another feeding. Before using the stored starter for
bread, however, give it the full 3-day feeding schedule once again to
restore it and to tone down excess sourness.

Sylvia’s comments: I bought a big bunch of black grapes for this (didn’t
remember that the recipe called for red grapes) and put them into 2
cheesecloth packages, which made cramming them into the container a bit
difficult. I wasn’t sure how much to crush the grapes, so only used a
little pressure with my hands, just enough to dampen the cheesecloth with
grape juice. Later note: I should have crushed more, after 6 days the
grapes were still pretty intact. I squeezed everything I could out of one
of my packets and threw it away, crushed the other more thoroughly and
stuck in back in the starter.