"Creating your own natural starter or sourdough culture will take a few seconds of your time each day for a week. Once you have achieved a healthy, bubbling mass of starter, you are ready to bake. If you look after your starter properly once it is made, it will last a lifetime. This formula is based on one I learned at the San Francisco Baking Institute. It's really the simplest, most foolproof and sensible method I've found, after trying many. When working with natural starters, I like to use unbleached, organic flour, as it is apt to contain more wild yeast than bleached flour. This starter should have a batter-like consistency, something the French term a "liquid levain."
Ideally, feeding should be 12 hours apart from Day 1 to Day 4.
Day 1 Evening:
28 g (1 oz) (1/4 cup) rye flour
28 g (1 oz) (2 tbsp) water
1/8 tsp liquid honey
Stir well, cover and slow to ferment in a warm area.
Day 2 Morning: First Feeding
28 g (1 oz) (2 tbsp) of the mixture from above (discard the rest)
28 g (1 oz) (1/4 cup) rye flour
28 g (1 oz) (2 tbsp) water
Stir well, cover and allow to ferment in a warm area.
Day 2 Evening: Second Feeding
28 g (1 oz) (2 tbsp) of the mixture from above (discard the rest)
28 g (1 oz) (3 tbsp) unbleached all-purpose four
28 g (1 oz) (2 tbsp) water
Stir well, cover and allow to ferment in a warm area.
Day 3 Morning Through Day 4 Evening: Feeding
Continue feeding as above, twice a day, using unbleached all-purpose flour.
Day 5: Final Refreshments and Build-up Day
You should have an active, bubbling mass of goop that smells yeasty. (If not, keep up the twice-daily feedings until you have a powerful, active starter. It may take another day or two. I find that hot, humid weather is the best for getting a starter going; in the winter in tends to take a little longer).
Today is the build-up day, a day you will always need before your baking day to reactivate your starter with three refreshments and to build up it's volume. Feedings ideally should be 8 hours apart.
Morning:
28 g (1 oz) (2 tbsp) starter
28 g (1 oz) (3 tbsp) unbleached all-purpose flour
28 g (1 oz) (2 tbsp) water
Stir well, cover and allow to ferment in a warm area.
Midday:
28 g (1 oz) (2 tbsp) starter from above (discard the rest)
28 g (1 oz) (3 tbsp) unbleached all-purpose flour
28 g (1 oz) (2 tbsp) water
Stir well, cover and allow to ferment in a warm area.
Evening:
To the above add:
85 g (3 oz) (2/3 cup) unbleached all -purpose flour
85 g (3 oz) (1/3 cup) water
Stir well, cover and allow to ferment in a warm area.
Day 6: Baking Day
At this point you are ready to bake. Before you make your bread, you should reserve and feed some starter for your next bake.
Take:
28 g (1 oz) (2 tbsp) starter (reserve the rest)
Add:
28 g (1 oz) (3 tbsp) unbleached all-purpose flour
28 g (1 oz) (2 tbsp) water
Stir to mix, put in a jar and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours, then refrigerate. In the meantime, proceed to bake!
How To Use And Maintain Your Refrigerated Starter
If you are not baking regularly, you need to keep your starter alive by feeding it every 3-4 days. To do this, take 28 g (1 oz) (2 tbsp) of the starter you have save in the fridge (discard the rest) and an equal amount of flour and water. Stir, leave at room temperature for 2 hours, then return to the fridge.
To make bread with your refrigerated starter, begin at "Day 5" on page 41. You need a day to refresh and build up your starter, and then you can bake the next day.
If you are going to be away for an extended time, there are a few ways to keep your starter alive:
1. For a short absence of a week to 10 days, give your starter a final refreshment, using twice as much flour as you normally do. Essentially, you're giving it a lot to eat at once so it will keep longer without being fed.
2. You can make an even drier starter in your mixer or food processor by mixing in enough flour to make a powder. This dry starter will keep for several weeks in the fridge. You will need a few days when you return home to revive it--use equal parts flour and water, twice a day, to return to active liquid levain.
3. Some bakers freeze their starter, but I find it just as easy to make a new one. If you do freeze it, you'll need to thaw it and give it two or three refreshments a day for several days until you see that it is very active again. It should be kept at room temperature during this time."
