Building and Maintaining a Sourdough Starter

By garciamoss

Ingredients

• 1 to 1 1/2 cups any flour
• 1 to 1 1/3 cups water
• 1 heaping tablespoon plain yogurt or a pinch of sugar (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Let the refrigerated starter come to room temperature. Stir the separated grayish-yellowish liquid back into the mixture. If you are only feeding the starter and have not used some of it, you may wish to discard half of it if you don't want to accumulate too much. Pour the remaining starter into a medium bowl. Add 1 to 1 1/3 cups of flour (unbleached all-purpose, medium to course-grind whole wheat, medium rye flour, or other, depending on the type of starter), and an equal amount of water. If I really want to increase the activity of the starter I also add a heaping tablespoon of plain yogurt or a pinch of sugar, as extra food for the yeast. If you have about 1 cup of starter to replenish, the proportions given here will mix into a thick, creamy mass.

Wash out the container in which the starter had been stored using soap and hot water, or run it through the dishwasher, to get rid of any remaining bacteria. Then return the starter to its original container and cover it with several thicknesses of cheesecloth held in place with a rubber band. Let the starter stand at room temperature, stirring several times a day, until bubbly, overnight to 2 days, depending on how sour you want it. It will continue to bubble and expand. If the starter turns color, has an unpleasant aroma, or grows any type of mold, the starter is out of balance and must be completely discarded. Do not leave the starter at room temperature longer than 5 days without feeding it.

After the starter has been allowed to stand at room temperature to ferment, cover it with a layer of plastic wrap held in place with a rubber band, or transfer it to a freezer-quality self-sealing bag, and refrigerate it. The best starters are those used and replenished daily to weekly.