French Buttermilk Starter

By garciamoss

Ingredients

• For the first feeding:
• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
• Large pinch of active, dry, bread machine, or SAF yeast
• 1 to 1 1/4 cups lowfat buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose or bread flour
• 3 tablespoons water

Preparation

Step 1

Whisk together the flour, yeast and buttermilk in a medium bowl; the mixture should be thick like a pancake batter. Add a bit more flour to adjust the consistency, if necessary. Transfer to a plastic container or crock. Cover with a few layers of cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band; then cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours (80ºF is optimum). It will be bubbly, begin to ferment, and smell delightful. There will be tiny yellow dots of butter from the buttermilk on the top.

After 36 hours when the starter begins to smell sour, feed it with the 2 tablespoons of flour and the water; whisk to combine. Let stand for 1 to 2 more days, until the desired degree of sourness is achieved. This starter can be used 3 to 4 days after it is initially mixed. The longer you let it sit, the more sour it will be; you can judge how sour the starter has become by the way it smells. If you are not ready to use it after 3 to 4 days, let it stand a few more days to continue to sour, or store it in the refrigerator, covered loosely, until you are ready to use it.