Smart Mama

Sharing my passions to promote my Passion

SmartMamaHome.com


Purchase Sourdough Starter

$6.00
USA
$7.50 International

 

 


Activating your sourdough from a dried powder:


Mix ½ cup flour, ½ cup lukewarm pure water, and about 1 tsp. of my starter powder in a 1-quart glass jar. Cover but don’t tighten the lid. Keep it at warm room temperature—70-80 F is ideal, but cooler is just fine. After two days you should see bubbles and signs of life. It’s alive.

Feeding your starter daily for about 5 days will help it reach full activity. Organically grown flour and non-chlorinated water are suggested because they contain no chemicals that might kill the wild yeast. At day five you may continue to keep your starter at room temperature If you feed it daily, or put it in the refrigerator and feed it every week or two.

 

 
 

1st Week Feeding Schedule:

Day 1 mix starter powder in 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water.

Day 2 add 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water

Day 3 add 1 cup flour and 1 cup water

Day 4 discard 1 cup of starter and add 3/4 cup flour and 3/4 cup water to the remainder.

Day 5 discard 1 cup of starter and add 3/4 cup flour and 3/4 cup water to the remainder.


This should give you about 2-3 cups of starter to store in the refrigerator. You may bake pancakes or other quick bread with the starter you discard on days 4 and 5. It will not have its full sour flavor, but it will be delicious.

If you are anxious to start baking, you may feed your starter twice on the second day—3/4 cup water and 3/4 cup flour in the morning and then again in the evening. Pour off 1 cup of the starter to use in baking.

 
Bubbling after 48 hours

 

 

 

Maintaining Sourdough Starter

You may keep your starter in a 1 quart wide-mouth, glass jar with a plastic lid (no metal). To keep your starter going you must feed it. Each time you use one cup of starter, replenish it with ¾ cup lukewarm water and ¾ cup whole wheat flour. Cover the jar and let it sit at room temperature for a few hours until bubbly and then put it into the refrigerator. If you bake regularly, the starter will remain alive and active. If you don’t, discard 1 cup of the starter and replenish it every week or two. The wild yeast will activate quickly and will grow stronger if you keep your starter fed. You may start baking with your starter in the first week.

The sour flavor will develop over time but the yeast will be active to raise bread after a couple of days. In my experimentation, I’ve found that it takes time for the reactivated dry starter to reach the same vitality as the parent starter.

 
 
 

 

 

© COPYRIGHT 2008 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED