So I took the plunge and finally decided to do a sourdough starter. It has been something I've been meaning to do for a few years, knowing how delicious and flavorful sourdough breads can be. But my lack of knowledge of breads and, frankly, I was just plain scared out of my wits, about sourdough kept me from doing it.
But tonight, I said, what the hell. If it succeeds, it succeeds! If it fails, at least I tried and will try again (hopefully)!
Here is what my starter looked like when I finished making it. It all took about 5 minutes to prepare. That's it. All this time of being scared, and it took 5 minutes to start.
I used the King Arthur Sourdough Starter. This recipe gives you a VERY large amount of starter. I suggest scaling it down.
The basic directions to keep this thing alive is as follows:
Day 1: Make starter! Wait 12 hours. Mix (because it does separate), then take out half and toss in trash.
(Yes. Toss it. At this stage, the starter hasn't matured enough for us to be able to use it. It won't reach this stage for a week. Too many foreign and nasty critters are roaming in our starter and the good guys need to have time to win.) So, when you've dumped out half, check how much you have left. I started with 4 cups of starter, will dump out 2 cups, so I have to give it equal parts of 1 cup flour, and 1 cup warm water to compensate for what was tossed. Don't use tap just yet. Wait another 12 hours.
Be sure to feed your starter twice a day every day! Don't give up on your yeast! It is a living thing that needs your help to get going every day. Much like coffee gets us going every day. If we don't get it, we don't move as well as with the caffeine in our system.
Day 2. Mix again. Dump out half again. Give it the appropriate amounts of flour and water. No tap. Wait another 12 hours. Dump out half again. Give it the appropriate amounts of flour and water. Wait 12 hours.
Day 3: This should bring you to day 3 if you've been good with time. Mix again. Dump out half again. Give it the appropriate amounts of flour and water. No tap. Wait another 12 hours. Dump out half again. Give it the appropriate amounts of flour and water. Wait 12 hours.
Day 4: Mix again. Dump out half again. Give it the appropriate amounts of flour and water. No tap. Wait another 12 hours. Dump out half again. Give it the appropriate amounts of flour and water. Wait 12 hours.
Day 5: Mix again. Dump out half again. Give it the appropriate amounts of flour and water. No tap. Wait another 12 hours. Dump out half again. Give it the appropriate amounts of flour and water. Wait 12 hours.
Day 6: Mix again. Dump out half again. Give it the appropriate amounts of flour and water. No tap. Wait another 12 hours. Dump out half again. Give it the appropriate amounts of flour and water. Wait 12 hours.
Day 7: Mix again. Dump out half again. Give it the appropriate amounts of flour and water. No tap. Wait another 12 hours. Dump out half again. Give it the appropriate amounts of flour and water. Wait 12 hours.
Hopefully, at the end of Day 7, your starter is well and thriving, and ready for use! I shall let you know day by day (hopefully) how mine is growing. See you on Day 2!
By the way, if these directions do not work, I apologize and will make any necessary changes as I venture into my own starter experience. These directions are the basic kind. You can do more research on how to maintain sourdough starter through google and such. Happy Yeast Growing!
-Joanna
Quick update!
I know it's only been about 30 minutes since I posted this, but a lot has happened within that half hour!
THIS is what happened.
So I gave it a new home.
Now, since it got a new home, I decided that weighing the sucker would probably be a good idea so I would know how many grams of flour and water to add in 12 hours. I decided to only stick with 142 grams of the original starter.
See you tomorrow!
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