Create a Sweet Sourdough Starter
This starter is good for "sweet" sourdoughs like pie crust, muffins, cinnamon buns,etc.
List of Ingredients
This entire process will take about 10 days. You will only need to go through the CREATE STARTER process ONE TIME.
Assemble: 4-cup size (or larger) glazed crock, glass bowl or plastic container, a wooden spoon, plastic or glass measuring cups and spoons. DO NOT USE ANY METAL BOWLS OR UTENSILS!!!
Ingredients for "Create Sourdough Starter"
1/2 cup WHOLE MILK, room temperature
1/2 cup UNBLEACHED FLOUR
1/8 cup SUGAR
1/8 teaspoon YEAST (not rapid-rise)
CREATE STARTER: In your glazed crock, glass jar or plastic container, combine about HALF of all ingredients (but use ALL the yeast). Stir slowly with a wooden spoon until most of the flour lumps are gone. Add remaining ingredients, stir slowly until smooth. DO NOT WHIP. Let rest uncovered for 5 minutes.
COVER LOOSELY! Your new starter must be able to breathe and let off gas. If the top to your crock has a rubber gasket, remove the gasket. If the lid to your jar or container screws or snaps on, place the lid on slightly cock-eyed. A tightly sealed crock, jar or container will result in an explosion of starter--and believe me...it is an UGLY MESS!
DO NOT REFRIGERATE CONTAINER!!!
Leave your new starter on the kitchen counter, out of the way, overnight. Remember to leave it loosely covered. On the second day, stir the new starter with a wooden spoon. The starter should be slightly "bubbled" or "pock-marked" on the top. You will notice that the starter has "separated" so be sure you get all the liquid stirred back into the flour and sugar. The starter should have a bit of a "sour" odor--if it smells like yeasty, spoiled milk, then everything is coming along just fine! Loosely cover your starter and return it to its cozy little place on your kitchen counter for another night.
If your starter has not shown signs of fermenting, it could be that the milk you used to create the starter was not at room temperature (or warm enough to activate the yeast). If this is the case, dispose of the new starter and start again. "Room Temperature" means the milk has been sitting out for at least 4 hours.
FEED YOUR STARTER
FEED Ingredients:
1/2 cup WHOLE MILK, room temperature
1/2 cup UNBLEACHED FLOUR
1/8 cup SUGAR
On the third day, you will "feed" your starter for the first time. This is an easy process. First, thoroughly stir the starter. Measure and set aside 1/2 cup of starter, DISCARD the remaining starter. Wash your crock, jar or container. Return the 1/2 cup starter to your clean container. Add HALF of the FEED ingredients to the starter and stir slowly, getting out most of the flour lumps. Add the remaining FEED ingredients, and stir slowly until the lumps are gone. DO NOT WHIP. Loosely cover the starter and put it back on the kitchen counter.
On the second day, stir the starter to remix the liquid with the flour and sugar. Cover loosely and return to counter. On the third day, follow the feed instructions again. This will make the SECOND time you have "fed" your starter.
REPEAT this feeding process: let the starter sit out one night, stir the next, then feed on the following day. You have now fed your starter THREE times.
When you are ready to feed the starter for the FOURTH time, you will need to increase the amounts of all the ingredients.
Standard FEED ingredients:
1 cup starter, room temperature
1 cup WHOLE MILK, room temperature
1 cup UNBLEACHED FLOUR
1/4 cup SUGAR
Follow the same general directions as before. Put 1 cup starter back into clean container, add HALF the ingredients, stir, then add the remaining half, stir. This is now a FULL BATCH OF STARTER.
YOUR STARTER IS NOW FULLY ACTIVATED!
At this point, you will begin to keep your starter refrigerated.
REFRIGERATE YOUR STARTER!!! Remember to leave loosely covered. It would be best to put your sourdough container in the back of the first shelf in your refrigerator. You should not notice any smell in your refrigerator. If you do, put the entire container, still loosely covered in a plastic bag. Seal the bag, but poke several holes in it near the top, enough so that your starter will continue to breathe.
LEAVE REFRIGERATED FOR AT LEAST TWO DAYS!!!
On the third day after refrigeration, your starter is ready to be used for your first batch of bread! Follow the link to my next web page where you will find my recipe for BASIC SOURDOUGH BREAD.
You must now begin to keep your starter "alive" by feeding it at least once each week. Use the ingredient list above for "Standard FEED Ingredients." You will learn that a full batch of starter is just a little more than two cups. This gives you one cup to feed and one cup to bake bread. If at any time you decide to bake MORE than ONE BATCH of bread on a single day, plan ahead and increase the Standard FEED ingredients proportionally (i.e., if you feed TWO cups of starter, multiply the other ingredients by TWO. This will give you almost 4 1/2 CUPS of starter, or enough to feed and bake THREE batches of bread).
Recipe
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