Sourdough Starter

Get a container for the starter. Crockery is best, but just about anything
can be used, except metal. Try to get something with a lid. I use a vinyl
plastic food-storage container.

Mix flour and water (and optionally yeast). Let the starter sit (uncovered
or loosely covered) in a warm place until bubbly and sour, about 3-5 days.

If you do a lot of bread baking, there will probably be enough yeast spores
floating around your kitchen so that the added yeast isn’t needed. The
less yeast you add to the starter, the more “authentic” the flavor.

If the starter starts turning orange or green, throw it away. Other nasty
things have started growing in it!

After the starter is ready, it can be used immediately. Try to use some of
the starter once every few days, or it will start to die. The starter can
be refrigerated to last longer (use at least every other week). Make sure
the starter is at room temperature before using.

After using some of the starter, replenish what you take with equal amounts
of warm water and flour. Let the starter sit until nice and bubbly before
using again.

NOTES:

* Starter culture for making sourdough bread — Many people think of
sourdough as something from the Gold Rush days. Not so! Sourdough was the
first way raised breads were made. “Way back then,” there was no such
thing as yeast (dry), active, and all breads (along with a number of other
goodies) needed sourdough starter to rise.

There are a number of recipes for sourdough starter, but this is one I’ve
used, and it works fairly well. It came originally from the cookbook “The
Complete Sourdough Cookbook” by Don Holm.

* Usually, the first starter made will need a while to “come up to
strength.” Best bets for first recipes are ones that don’t require much
raising, such as pancakes, or ones that have additional yeast.

: Difficulty: easy.
: Time: 5 minutes preparation, 5 days waiting.
: Precision: no need to measure.

: Bill Turner
: Hewlett-Packard Personal Software Division, Santa Clara CA
: {hplabs!}hppsdc!bill