Sourdough Starter Culture
Sourdough Starter Culture
Ingredients
Unbleached, unprocessed flour
Non-chlorinated water
Directions
Day 1. In a crock or container, combine 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Cover with a towel and allow to sit at room temperature (70 degrees F) for 24 hours.
Day 2. Feed with 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Cover with a towel and allow to sit at room temperature for 24 hours.
Day 3. Discard half of starter. Feed remaining starter with 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Do this twice daily (every 12 hours).
Day 4, 5, 6. Repeat Day 3 instructions. By day 6 your starter will be active, bubbly, fruity smelling and expansive. Your starter is ready to use in recipes on day 7.
Day 7. Discard half of the starter. Place the other half in a clean jar. Feed with 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cup water. Allow to sit 8 hours at room temperature to kick-start cultures. You may now cover and store your finished starter in fridge.
At least once a week pour off any liquid that comes to the top, discard half the starter and maintenance feed to refresh it. From here on out, maintenance feed your starter weekly with its weight in food. EX: ½ cup starter requires a maintenance feeding of 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water. Let starter sit at room temperature for a few hours to get the culture kickin’ before returning it to fridge. Alternatively you may keep your starter at room temperature. Maintenance feed it twice daily with its weight in food.
Recipes
Start with a well-fed, very active starter at room temperature. The first bread recipe is for traditional sourdough bread, made without yeast. The loaf looks beautiful and tastes like you bought it from an artisan baker. It’s amazing with bruschetta or brushed with garlic oil and grilled.
http://dickiebirdfarm.blogspot.com/2015/05/traditional-sourdough-bread.html
The second bread recipe is a yeast-based sourdough. It is fluffy, has a mild sourdough flavor and makes a good sandwich bead.
http://dickiebirdfarm.blogspot.com/2015/05/sandwich-sourdough-bread.html
The third recipe is a failproof pizza crust recipe. Perfect balance of chewiness! Make it thin or thick crust.
http://dickiebirdfarm.blogspot.com/2015/05/sourdough-pizza-crust.html
