Instructions: Yields 12.5 oz of firm starter.

Hand method:
1. Stir together the barm and flour in a mixing bowl until it forms a ball.

2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and kneed for about 4 minutes or until all the flour is incorporated and you have a smooth, sticky dough.

3. Place the dough, covered, in a clean, non-reactive bowl and allow to ferment at room temperature for about 4 hours. The dough should show definite signs of rising. Allow it to rise about 50% and then refrigerate it, well covered, overnight.

Mixer method:
1. Combine barm and flour in a mixing bowl and mix on low speed with a dough hook until it forms a ball. Add a few drops of water if necessary to make it come together. The dough should clean the bowl while the mixer is on, and the dough ball should sag off the hook when the mixer is turned off.

2. Mix on high speed for two to three minutes, until the dough appears smooth and homogeneous.

3. Place the dough, covered, in a clean, non-reactive bowl and allow to ferment at room temperature for about 4 hours. The dough should show definite signs of rising. Allow it to rise about 50% and then refrigerate it, well covered, overnight.

Here are the recipes for the San Francisco sourdough and the barm and firm starter. The recipe for the French levain will follow next week. Since the barm will take you a week to make, you dont really need either of the bread recipes until then, but here is one anyway.

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