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.