No Commercial Yeast For Me

Sourdough starter should be in the really old section. As a matter of fact it goes back to ancient times when flour and water were mixed and left sitting outside.

I thought that wild yeast came from the air and began the pool party of bacteria where a bubbly concoction is formed and harmful bacteria is pushed out.

Well, the bacteria is in the flour and activates when water is added and left in a warm place. Fresh milled flour works faster.

I was sailing the web searching for a sourdough rye bread recipe where my limited experience could somehow succeed.

I found carlsfriends.net You can get a dried starter from the 1847 Oregon Trail Starter. Just send a self addressed stamped envelope to the address on the website. You will also receive instructions on how to reconstitute it.

Two key take-aways when working with sourdough starter. First use spring water (no chlorine and it has minerals to benefit the bacteria). Second use a kitchen scale to weigh ingredients. I had never been successful with a wild yeast starter. Once I got this one going I got rid of my commercial yeast starter. There is a definite difference in the flavor of natural sourdough.

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My own version of increasing volume from the starter:

You will need 3 clean jars. Half pint, pint, and quart. The fridge starter is the discard jar.

Day 1 (1/2 pint jar) From starter in fridge weigh out 30 grams of starter 30 grams of flour and 30 grams of spring water. Stir well and leave on the counter overnight.

Day 2 (pint jar) From starter on counter weigh out 45 grams of starter 45 grams of flour and 45 grams of spring water. Stir well and leave on counter overnight. (any leftover starter goes back to the discard jar in fridge)

Day 3 (quart jar) From starter on counter weigh out 90 grams of starter 90 grams of flour and 90 grams of spring water. Stir well and leave on the counter overnight. (any leftover starter goes back to the discard jar in the fridge)

This feeding schedule should give you one cup of starter.

Note:

Most recipes I have use one cup of very active starter which is equivalent to a package of dry yeast.

Discards are not flushed or thrown out. They go into a quart jar which is stored in the refrigerator. Trot it out to begin feeding schedule. If I get a lot of discard, I make cookies with it. Don't need to feed it.

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Pirated from:

carlsfriends.net