Sourdough Starter
- 100 Gram plain flour
- 100 Gram water
- Start with a big jar or container
- Add plain flour and water, mix well, scrape down sides, cover loosely, leave on bench
- Wait 12 hours or so, tip out to leave about a cup left, then repeat
- You have to keep doing this every morning and night for a couple of weeks, then you can change to storing in the fridge and feeding weekly instead (refer to notes below)
- You know when it's at a good strength when it doubles after a feed and when a bit of batter floats in water
Now that it's going well, I've found that I don't need to measure anything, just add flour and water till it seems about right. Sometimes I feed a little bit, sometimes I feed a lot, it doesn't seem to matter.
If it's wetter, more bacteria grow and it's more sour, if it's drier, more yeast grow and it's sweeter
I take it out Thursday night, split it in two, feed both halves. Friday morning I feed both again. Friday night I put the master back in the fridge and make bread with the rest - usually I even have enough left over to double up for bread the next night as well
For good bread making, you need to know the % hydration your stater is at. if you feed equal weight water and flour then it's 100% so I measure very accurately now.
during winter I use a 10W heatpad that holds the temp around 22C