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Traditional Sourdough Starter

Author Lynn / Turnips 2 Tangerines

Ingredients

  • 2 cups room temperature water, preferably bottled spring water
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions

  • Place ingredients in a glass bowl and blend well with a wooden spoon. Cover loosely with clean cheesecloth or clean towel. This allows air to enter the bowl so your starter can pick up wild yeasts from the environment. Place bowl it in a warm spot. Allow to sit 12 hours.
  • Once a day, at roughly the same time, remove half the starter and throw it away. To the remaining starter, add 1 cup flour and 1 cup room temp. water; stir well until most of the lumps are gone. Cover with cheesecloth. Allow to sit 12 hours.
  • After 3 to 4 days of replenishing the starter, it should be bubbly and have a pleasant sour smell. It is then ready to be used immediately or it can be placed in a clean, glass 1-quart canning jar with a loose fitting cover. Refrigerated for later use.
  • Before using the from the refrigerator, the starter must be "proofed." To do this, take the starter out of the refrigerator several hours before you plan to use it. Allow the starter to come to room temp. Stir well and pour out half.
  • Add 1 cup flour and 1 cup room temperature bottled water; stir well with wooden spoon. Cover loosely with cheesecloth and set it in a warm place to proof. The starter is ready to use when it becomes frothy and bubbly again and has a pleasant sour smell. This can take anywhere from 2 to 8 hours.
  • Since proofing times vary so much, if you want to bake first thing in the morning, you should set your starter out to proof overnight. Proofing time varies on conditions also such as: house temperature, water and/or flour used, and hydration. Some people like their starters to be as thin as a crepe batter while others like a thicker pancake batter consistency.