No Commercial Yeast Starter Recipes

BASIC SOURDOUGH STARTER WITHOUT YEAST

Steps:

• Day 1: Combine a half cup of flour with a scant half cup of water. Stir vigorously to incorporate air. Cover with a breathable lid and allow to sit in a warm space for 12 hours. Repeat feeding with same quantities of flour and water.
• Days 2 & 3: Continue feeding starter as above at the same 12 hour intervals. By the third day a bit of life should show up. There should be bubbles. A sour smell will begin to be evident.
• Days 4, 5, & 6: Continue feeding starter as above, but discard all but 1/2 cup of the starter just before you feed it. (There are plenty of good uses for "discarded starter" in the Grains chapter of my book.) You should now see and smell signs of sourdough. More bubbles are forming, the starter is growing in volume in between feedings, etc.
• Day 7: Your starter should now be very airy when it hits its peak, 4-8 hours after a feed. Continue feeding as on days 4-6 and feel free to start baking! You have successfully made this easy sourdough recipe without yeast.
• Continue to feed once per day going forward, if the starter sits at room temperature and you wish to maintain an active starter for regular baking.
• Alternatively, if you won't be using the starter regularly, store it in the refrigerator and remove to bake with it as you need it. Just be sure to remove it 24 hours before mixing up your dough.
• To reactivate an inactive starter, remove it from the refrigerator, feed it with 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water, and allow to sit at room temperature. Maintain it as noted in step 5 above.

NO COMMERCIAL YEAST STARTER

Steps:

• Combine flour and spring water in a medium bowl; stir well. Cover loosely with a cloth and let sit on a kitchen counter for 2 to 3 days, or until bubbly.
• To use and feed your starter; take out the amount needed for your recipe and then replace that amount with equal parts flour and spring water. If you keep your starter at room temperature it should be fed every other day, and if refrigerated, fed weekly. If you accumulate more starter than you need, simply pour a few cups down the drain before feeding it.

SOURDOUGH STARTER ( NO YEAST KIND)

Steps:

• Take 1 cup skim milk, cover with a fabric cloth to keep dust out and set aside on the kitchen counter for 2 days until it smells sour.
• Then add 1 cup flour, stir mixture until blended and cover again. With in 2 days this mix will make bubbles and have a spongy look.
• If liquid has separated, stir it back into.
• mixture.
• If no bubbles show by the 5th day after putting out milk, throw out and start over.
• If you want to double the starter at this point you can add an additional 1 cup milk and 1 cup plain flour to the starter, then stir and set aside, loosely covered for a few more hours.
• Then refridgerate. You can bake bread with this at this point, but if a good sourdough flavor is desired, allow to mature in the refridgerator for another week.
• Can be used with my recipe for sour dough bread or any sour dough bread recipe.
• I would also like to mention that I have frozen this starter for as long as six months with good results and no need to feed it. Simply pour 1 cup of starter into a zip lock freezer bag and freeze. To use place on kitchen counter for a day to thaw and either use immediately or leave to foam for a few more hours.