Sourdough Starter - CI

By norsegal8

It’s okay to occasionally miss a daily feeding in step 2, but don’t let it go for more than 48 hours. For the best results, weigh your ingredients and use organic flour and bottled or filtered water to create the starter. Once the starter is mature, all-purpose flour should be used to maintain it. Placing the starter in a glass bowl will allow for easier observation of activity beneath the surface. Discarding some starter before each feeding gets rid of waste and keeps the amount of starter manageable.

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups (24 3/4 ounces) whole-wheat flour
• 5 cups (25 ounces) all-purpose flour, plus extra for maintaining starter
• Water, room temperature

Preparation

Step 1

INSTRUCTIONS
MAKES 1 STARTER

1. Combine whole-wheat flour and all-purpose flour in large container. Using wooden spoon, mix 1 cup (5 ounces) flour mixture and 2/3 cup (5 1/3 ounces) room-temperature water in glass bowl until no dry flour remains (reserve remaining flour mixture). Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature until bubbly and fragrant, 48 to 72 hours.

2. FEED STARTER: Measure out 1/4 cup (2 ounces) starter and transfer to clean bowl or jar; discard remaining starter. Stir 1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) flour mixture and 1/4 cup (2 ounces) room-temperature water into starter until no dry flour remains. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.

3. Repeat step 2 every 24 hours until starter is pleasantly aromatic and doubles in size 8 to 12 hours after being fed, 10 to 14 days. At this point starter is mature and ready to be baked with, or it can be moved to storage. (If baking, use starter once it has doubled in size during 8-to-12-hour window. Use starter within 1 hour after it starts to deflate once reaching its peak.)

4A. TO STORE AND MAINTAIN MATURE STARTER: Measure out 1/4 cup (2 ounces) starter and transfer to clean bowl; discard remaining starter. Stir 1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup (2 ounces) room-temperature water into starter until no dry flour remains. Transfer to clean container that can be loosely covered (plastic container or mason jar with its lid inverted) and let sit at room temperature for 5 hours. Cover and transfer to refrigerator. If not baking regularly, repeat process weekly.

4B. TO PREPARE FOR BAKING: Eighteen to 24 hours before baking, measure out 1/2 cup (4 ounces) starter and transfer to clean bowl; discard remaining starter. Stir 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup (4 ounces) room-temperature water into starter until no dry flour remains. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 5 hours. Measure out amount of starter called for in bread recipe and transfer to second bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or up to 18 hours. Remaining starter should be refrigerated and maintained as directed.