I’ve been playing with sourdough breads the last several weeks. I found a recipe for a sourdough starter in Lauren Groveman’s I Love to Cook Book, (which I checked out from the library and loved so much that I immediately ordered my own copy from Amazon.)
This sourdough starter appears in Lauren’s recipe for Pane di Casa, which I haven’t made yet. I just wanted the basic starter, so I could play around with other recipes calling for it. Here’s the starter:
- 2 c. warm water
- 1 teaspoon, plus a little of mild honey
- 2 TBSP yeast
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, honey and yeast. When the yeast is dissolved and bubbly, stir in 2 c. flour until smooth. Add the rest of the flour 1/2 c. at a time, stirring until well-mixed each time. Cover the bowl securely with plastic wrap and let it sit. It will initially balloon up HUGELY, and then settle down. (Once it settled, I transferred it to a plastic ice cream bucket and put the lid on.) Let it sit and ferment for 4 days in a warm spot.
After 4 days, uncover the mixture and stir well. You can either store it in the refrigerator, in which case you have to “feed” it once a week, or on your counter, in which case, you feed it every day.
To feed the starter, take out 1 cup (after stirring it well) and either discard it or use it in a recipe. Then add 1 c. each of warm water and flour. Mix well and cover again. Note that, since you are removing 1 c. and adding 2 c. each time, the starter does grow gradually. I periodically take out more than 1 cup. Last night I gave 2 cups of it to a friend who was visitng, so that SHE could have her own little kitchen monster to feed.
I’ll soon be posting some of the recipes I’ve made using this starter–my family has been delighted by the unexpected abundance of fresh-baked bread recently. 
LB
6 Comments
December 3, 2006 at 2:54 pm
I have been using and creating my own sourdough starters for several years. I also use regular ‘domestic’ yeast to start a new brew. I have found every starter will end up developing it’s own character. Sometimes you will have a starter the ages into very fruity yeast, while others have a totally different smell. The breads made from the different starters will also have a subtle difference in smell and flavor. Every one is good but once in a while you can get something very exceptional.
December 3, 2006 at 5:14 pm
I chuckled at your description of a “little kitchen monster” because years ago, your cousin Cheryl gave me a couple cups of her starter with a recipe for a fruit bread. I couldn’t keep up with that starter, and started to feel like a gardener who went a little overboard with planting zucchini. (You know how when it all starts ripening at once people start to avoid you?) I couldn’t give the starter away fast enough and my family got sick of the bread recipe too. Have fun experimenting with new breads.
Joan
April 18, 2007 at 7:53 pm
[...] Starter Redux Last night Laura asked me, “Are you remembering that I posted about how to make sourdough starter last fall?” So I wracked my brains, smacked my forehead, and sure enough, found her [...]
May 7, 2009 at 9:43 am
(came from instructables.com)
I just started my first starter, I’ve always like the taste of sourdough bread and currently buy mine from a bio store (expensive, but great taste).
I could only find “instant yeast” and “rye flour”, and had to convert everything to metric, so I hope it works – it’ll save me a lot of money if all goes well and I can keep it up.
I remember my dad started one a few years back, but that got moldy after 2 days…
It’s sitting on my counter with a tablecloth on top of the bowl.
4 more days to go. I’d better read up on what to do with it once it’s done – do I take part of it and use it to make bread, and just keep stirring/feeding what’s left once a week if I put it in the fridge – and continue to take part of it to make a loaf of bread?
How long does the loaf stay good for (I’m on my own, not sure how big a loaf to make?)
June 29, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Wow! I will try it right now. Thanks!
June 30, 2009 at 1:20 am
I’m giving this a shot. Anything that can save me so much on tasty bread and give me major street cred is worth the effort!
Thanks for the info